Review: Apple goes high fashion with Apple Watch Magnetic Charging Dock

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  • Reply 21 of 48
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Fotoformat View Post



    This is the most erotic review I've read since leering over an Anne Summers' brochure as a teenager, "rubberized sheathing, velvety cloth... soft touch rubber skin pulls down from... gently curving lines... It's soft, flexible... a plump dumpling... flipping the puck up... the thin loop of excess rubber... to activate nightstand mode... cord free experience..."



    I had to stop reading when I reached, "provides friction to keep the puck stable and is silky smooth in operation."

     

  • Reply 22 of 48
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by DanielSW View Post

     



    White goes with everything.


     

    And it shows off the object with shadows. The Greeks knew this.

     

    What I want to know is if the center puck is spring loaded. Does it click up and down like a pen? Or is it moved manually?

  • Reply 23 of 48
    fallenjtfallenjt Posts: 4,053member
    eriamjh wrote: »
    It's a $5 piece of plastic connected to Apple's $29 cable.  Using Apple-math, that adds up $79 retail.  I hope it adds to Apple's stock price.

    Considering no one sells copy-cat Apple Watch changing cables, it's probably a reasonable deal for a very stylish item.  
    Forgot about the charging puck? Duh! Oh yeah, tell the third party to make that charging puck too. So far third party docks were ugly and cheap made.
  • Reply 24 of 48
    dreyfus2dreyfus2 Posts: 1,072member
    The review is of course right in saying that the product does include a 2m / 6ft Lightning cable, but the calculation does still not really work, as adding a Lightning cable to any 3rd party dock does achieve nothing (can't charge a Watch with those). The relevant point is that you need a Watch charging cable for those stands, and the same length model is almost $50 alone.

    I bought the Twelvesouth Forte stand (as the steel and leather design is a better fit for my furniture) and added a charging cable (for a combined ~ $120) since you really can only put the cable into the cable management once (looks like an accident thereafter).
  • Reply 25 of 48
    danielsw wrote: »


    No, it doesn't. It reveals your own questionable dietary propensities.

    First of all this has nothing to do with dietary propensities. Second, whether one eats pancakes or not it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see the correlation between the two. Third, believe it or not it's actually humanly possible to not agree with all of Apple's design choices.
  • Reply 26 of 48

     



    Quote:



    Originally Posted by DanielSW View Post

     

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by portcity View Post



    High fashion, elegant, revelation in design? Haha. It looks like one of iHop's mini pancakes.

     

    No, it doesn't. It reveals your own questionable dietary propensities.

     



     

    Yes, it does.  I can see that, and I've never even been to iHop.  I am a rabid fan of Apple's industrial design, but calling this "high fashion" and "elegant"?  Sorry, I don't see it.  Perhaps its quality is better conveyed in person, but I think it looks like a saggy beanbag or a 1970's dining room seat cushion. UFO?  Campus 2?  This looks more like the underside of a white cardboard insert Apple would create to carry a premium glazed donut if they ever sold them.  It looks like packaging.  It looks awkward and blasé. 

  • Reply 27 of 48
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by anantksundaram View Post



    Unusual choice of color, since the Watch does not come in white. (But it will go with the white sport band though).



    Yah, I agree with that. I don't like how my white Apple accessories look less clean after extensive use, but that's just my own lack of discipline talking there. :)

     

    And I'm not a fan of how you must lift up the dock just to flip up the charger. It should be spring-loaded with a "click-click".

  • Reply 28 of 48
    Again, an unusual accessory offering considering the upright and floating in midair presentation of the Apple Watch at retail. I'd much rather see an upright "jewelry store"-style holder for the home.

    And this review is oddly packed with superfluous flourishes, giving me the impression the reviewer was being slyly sarcastic.

    That's what I thought! To come up with a full article with those flourishing adjectives about a charging dock had me wondering.
  • Reply 29 of 48
    dreyfus2dreyfus2 Posts: 1,072member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by macwise View Post


    I am a rabid fan of Apple's industrial design, but calling this "high fashion" and "elegant"?  Sorry, I don't see it.  Perhaps its quality is better conveyed in person, but I think it looks like a saggy beanbag or a 1970's dining room seat cushion. UFO?  Campus 2?  This looks more like the underside of a white cardboard insert Apple would create to carry a premium glazed donut if they ever sold them.  It looks like packaging.  It looks awkward and blasé.

     

    Well, the author put quite some effort into describing why he thinks so. I can't say if he's right, but I do not rule it out at all based on only some similarity in shape with something else.

     

    Many elements of design don't work in pictures. The alumin(i)um of a MBP and several Dells, Acers etc look almost identical in pictures, touching and seeing the real objects shows dramatic differences. A mass produced white porcelain cup from some sweatshop and one from a quality Japanese or German manufacturer might look identical, picking them up; feeling and seeing them would reveal why the former is $2 and the other is $100. Not everybody will appreciate the difference, even those who do might not be willing to pay the difference. And that is fine, it just does not eliminate the difference.

     

    A round shape is the obvious choice to accommodate a watch placed sideways (ads the least amount of wasted space to the footprint), and white is an obvious choice since it has to work with many different materials and colors. Listing a million items which are also round and flat does not really change that.

  • Reply 30 of 48
    I think the two-meter charging cable is $39 at Apple, making the effective cost of the dock $40.
  • Reply 31 of 48
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    macwise wrote: »

    Here's a review from someone on MacRumors.

    http://forums.macrumors.com/threads/new-watch-dock-by-apple-metal-link-band-compatible.1938870/page-2#post-22278151
    Ok, I have softened on my negativity towards the Apple Watch Dock. I looked at it in person at the Apple Store and it's pretty sweet. Not too big like I thought, although the footprint on my nightstand is larger than my previous dock, the Elevation Labs dock. And the Apple Dock is N-I-C-E. Very luxe. So as often happens, after seeing it in person I bought it.

    It's solid. Heavy. Feels like it was made from a block of metal, not hollow or cheap. Nice suede bottom to keep it from slipping or sliding. And the top where the watch sits is also a suede-feeling layer of material. Not at all spongy or mushy. It's definitely solid. The base won't slip on a smooth surface and the watch won't slip off the stand or get scratched. Pretty nifty piece of engineering - elegant in it's simplicity. The charging plate is permanently attached, flipping up or down flush with the top of the base if you want to charge your watch laying flat. And Apple includes a long lightning cable to attach to an a/c adapter, but the adapter is not included. I have half a dozen of them lying around so it's not an issue for me.

    Yes, it's pricy. But the quality is off the chart. Cheaper docks will accomplish the same thing, but they are exactly that; cheaper. I highly recommend the new Apple Watch Dock.
  • Reply 32 of 48
    Ok Mikey Campbell get your hands away from under the keyboard.
  • Reply 33 of 48
    evilutionevilution Posts: 1,399member
    Ive must have been off the day that this was designed.
  • Reply 34 of 48

    It should be an automatic 0 for failing to support the QI standard.

    http://www.cultofmac.com/398423/apple-forces-you-to-buy-its-own-apple-watch-wireless-chargers/

  • Reply 35 of 48
    mobiusmobius Posts: 380member
    Did anyone else read this superlative strewn review as intentional sarcasm? Read that way it was quite a humorous article. If it was sarcasm free then I can only fear for the sanity of the reviewer. It's a charging dock, not a Silken Favours luxury cushion.
  • Reply 36 of 48
    macwise wrote: »

    Wow. Guess pancakes, confections, and such are really hot topics for some!
  • Reply 37 of 48
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    imac.usr wrote: »
    It should be an automatic 0 for failing to support the QI standard.
    http://www.cultofmac.com/398423/apple-forces-you-to-buy-its-own-apple-watch-wireless-chargers/

    BS. You can get any charger that's part of the made for watch program. The last thing Apple needs is lawsuits because someone used some cheap Chinese charger and it wrecked their device. Oh and since no one is forced to buy an ?Watch they're not forced to buy any wireless charger from Apple.
  • Reply 38 of 48
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Fotoformat View Post



    I had to stop reading when I reached, "provides friction to keep the puck stable and is silky smooth in operation."

     

    I suppose we should be thankful that you did not feel compelled to explain why you needed to stop reading but I suspect it had something to do with not having a cover on your keyboard.

  • Reply 39 of 48
    analogjack wrote: »
    I suppose we should be thankful that you did not feel compelled to explain why you needed to stop reading but I suspect it had something to do with not having a cover on your keyboard.

    Such a colorful thing, language, isn't it?
  • Reply 40 of 48
    cpsrocpsro Posts: 3,192member

    The nipple rotates to a right angle* to provide succor to the Apple Watch in nightstand mode.

     

    *Bite on that, Mr. Newson.

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