Apple Watch Magnetic Charging Dock now on sale at Apple Stores for $79 [u]

Posted:
in Apple Watch edited November 2015
Having only been leaked a day prior, the official Magnetic Charging Dock for the Apple Watch was already on sale at some Apple Stores on Wednesday, and has now arrived at the U.S. online store. [Updated with pricing]




Update: The official Apple Watch dock can now be purchased from Apple's website for $79 U.S.

A video posted to YouTube, or instance, shows the product being unboxed and tested at a German Apple Store. As anticipated in the leak, the accessory costs 89 euros ($95).

A tip received by AppleInsider, meanwhile, suggests that the device is on sale at the Covent Garden Apple Store in London for ?65 ($99).

The dock is disc-shaped with a magnetic charging ring in the middle. Although a Watch can just be laid flat over the disc, the ring will also pop out to allow charging a Watch on its side, triggering watchOS 2's Nightstand mode.



It's not yet clear if the accessory is available at any American retail outlets. It is, however, absent from Apple's U.S. online store.

Apple's dock comes nearly seven months after the launch of the Watch. Third-party options have available the entire time, but have generally relied on threading the Watch's bundled charging cable, and often don't support Nightstand mode.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 37
    cicocico Posts: 14member
    Oooohhh the middle thing *rises*! Now it makes more sense..
  • Reply 2 of 37
    msanttimsantti Posts: 1,377member
    Expensive Apple accessory?

    Do tell......
  • Reply 4 of 37
    This is nice but unbelievably expensive. In fact, I would think they could include much of this functionality just be selling a padded disk with a little stand mechanism where you insert your existing charger. To charge $50 for a felt pad (incremental cost over a $29 charger) is absurd. Who would buy this vs. a new strap or two?
  • Reply 5 of 37
    calicali Posts: 3,494member
    Wow I hope Apple can keep more products as secret as this one.
  • Reply 6 of 37
    It's beautiful! Just ordered one for Friday delivery. Thanks for the news, AI.
  • Reply 7 of 37
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    sog35 wrote: »
    This is crazy expensive.

    $49-$69 would be a reasonable price

    I swear Apple doesn't really care about making money off accessories these days. If they did this stuff wouldn't be so crazy expensive. The iPad mini smart case is more expensive than the iPad Air 2 smart case. That's nuts. Apple is just driving people to 3rd party options with these prices.
  • Reply 8 of 37

    Ouch. $99 CDN for this. Seems a little strangely priced considering the iPhone Lightning Dock is only $59 and pretty much accomplishes the same thing.

  • Reply 9 of 37
    maestro64maestro64 Posts: 5,043member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by sog35 View Post

     

    This is crazy expensive.

     

    $49-$69 would be a reasonable price




    do not worry there will be knockoffs. They just might not be here for xmas though. 

  • Reply 10 of 37
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by rare comment View Post



    This is nice but unbelievably expensive. In fact, I would think they could include much of this functionality just be selling a padded disk with a little stand mechanism where you insert your existing charger. To charge $50 for a felt pad (incremental cost over a $29 charger) is absurd. Who would buy this vs. a new strap or two?



    Apple is in the business of making the best and charging for it. The recognize that some will want cheaper accessories, which is why they license some of their technology and sell third-party accessories in their stores. But in general, we shouldn't be surprised that Apple branded accessories come with a price tag, much like their core products.

     

    I will say this: Accessories (usually replacement ones of which I lost the original) that I've bought from a third-party just because they were cheaper (rather than providing any additional functionality) have rarely lasted as long as the Apple version.

  • Reply 11 of 37
    Update now says a $79.00 price....and for what??? Don't much of a benefit over the stock unit unless you are buying it solely for the NightStand mode....
  • Reply 12 of 37



    you can also wear it as a c*ck ring.

  • Reply 13 of 37
    Agreed I don't really get it I was thinking you could place it anywhere and it would change but nope it still has to be connected to the magnetic disc charger. It seems like a pillow.
  • Reply 14 of 37
    To people complaining about the price, consider this: Have you looked at your grocery bill lately? Are Apple's products and accessories really "overpriced", or is the purchasing power of our money pathetically low?
  • Reply 15 of 37
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by fastasleep View Post

     



    you can also wear it as a c*ck ring.




    well, maybe YOU could. :smokey:

  • Reply 16 of 37
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SpamSandwich View Post



    To people complaining about the price, consider this: Have you looked at your grocery bill lately? Are Apple's products and accessories really "overpriced", or is the purchasing power of our money pathetically low?



    Also people willing to spend 2000 dollars a year on a phone+plan and another upwards of 1000 dollars (or more) on certain watches can't really have an issue with an "overpriced" accessory, can they?

  • Reply 17 of 37
    richlrichl Posts: 2,213member

    All of the artwork is on Apple's UK website but the 'Stands' product category is empty. Weird.

  • Reply 18 of 37
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by sog35 View Post

     

    This is crazy expensive.

     

    $49-$69 would be a reasonable price




    I see a trend in Apple's approach to accessories, and software features where they leave room for third party to make money.  One of the selling points to Apple products is third party support, and having more aggressive pricing on accessories like this could reduce their motivation to develop.  Pricing it high, leaves room for others to still be profitable and incentivized to continue to support Apple's core business.  

  • Reply 19 of 37
    Can’t believe people are surprised. Apple has a high end brand & charges for it accordingly despite their lack of functional superiority. This allows 3rd parties to innovate for a lot less and have a chance. This means: the people who are more about looks and brand than functionality when considering value are happy they can have their brand name, while those who are more about functionality determining value than brand can be happy spending half as much for accessories with more capabilities. Apple doesn’t have to compete with them because its reputation isn’t built on accessories but their HW/SW combos.

    This gives smaller manufacturers a chance and a viable marketplace to differentiate on features, price, styles & gives Apple the easy money. The 3rd parties don’t have to compete with what could be an Apple “ginsu” accessory & Apple doesn't have to do anything but look pretty to make their products viable to sell since they have high margins with less expensive manufacturing costs. Plus Apple can point to the wide gamut of choices the same way PC users used to hold over Apple users heads when comparing platforms for viability. Everyone is happy, & most people are none the wiser.
  • Reply 20 of 37
    rogifan wrote: »
    I swear Apple doesn't really care about making money off accessories these days.

    And you claim they are just being greedy.
    The iPad mini smart case is more expensive than the iPad Air 2 smart case.
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