Apple unveils £220 iPhone Pocket resembling ‘insanely expensive sock’

The release of the pocket, designed by Issey Miyake and ‘inspired by the concept of a piece of cloth’ left some baffled as to its purpose and hefty price tag

It is either the perfect Christmas gift or just a very expensive sock — for your phone.

Apple has launched an Issey Miyake-designed sling to carry your iPhone that costs up to £220, prompting ridicule from some quarters.

The iPhone Pocket “is born from the idea of creating an additional pocket” and “inspired by the concept of a piece of cloth”, the company said.

Miyake, the Japanese designer who founded the label, was known for producing garments from a single 3D-knit piece of fabric.

A person wearing a light grey top and black pants, with an iPhone Pocket in teal blue attached to their side.

It revives the link between the two companies that was created by Steve Jobs, whose love of Miyake’s black turtlenecks became his signature style, along with blue jeans and white trainers.

At one stage he approached Miyake to design a vest for Apple staff, which would have been considered a uniform. But, in a biography, Jobs says he was “booed off stage” by employees when he floated the idea.

The pocket, which comes in a short (£140) and long version (£220), appears to be Apple’s attempt to cash in on a growing trend for phone straps. The company launched a £59 “crossbody” strap in September.

The actresses Scarlett Johansson, Eva Longoria, Gal Gadot and Naomi Watts have been photographed wearing designer phone straps.

An iPhone Pocket, made of purple 3D-knitted material, holding a white iPhone.

Ben Wood, chief analyst at CCS Insight and creator of the Mobile Phone Museum said: “It seems that people love hanging their phones around their necks at the moment.

“Ultimately I guess it depends on your attitude to risk. I certainly worry more these days that someone is going to grab my phone.”

Users on Reddit debated the issue. “London’s scooter-riding phone thieves are gonna love this,” one said. “Strapped phone bags are usually seen as a theft deterrent,” another replied.

A third said: “Usually true, but they also usually fully encase or connect the strap to the phone. This thing is easier to pick than a regular pocket. The phone is practically falling out of it.”

On X, comparisons were made between the iPhone Pocket and the mankini worn by the Sacha Baron-Cohen character Borat.

The pocket is also reminiscent of a fabric iPod holder called the Sock, released by Jobs in 2004, which he joked was to “keep your iPod warm”.

The analyst MG Siegler called the pocket “an insanely expensive sock” in his Spyglass newsletter. He wrote: “I think the most important/interesting aspect of this product is actually the continuing trend of turning the iPhone into a wearable. What started with arm bands for runners back in the day is now more of a daily wearable strap for many people, it seems.”

Siegler, whose iPhone was snatched by a thief in London this year, said he owned a cross-body strap, which gave him more peace of mind than carrying the device.

Apple said the pocket is designed to “fully enclose iPhone, while expanding to fit your everyday items. When stretched, the open textile subtly reveals its contents and allows users to peek at their iPhone display”.

The company said that the iPhone Pocket can be worn in a variety of ways — “handheld, tied onto bags, or worn directly on the body”. It goes on sale on November 14.

A row of eight ribbed, 3D-knitted iPhone Pockets in bright yellow, orange, purple, pink, turquoise, royal blue, brown, and black, with a blue iPhone visible in the blue pocket.

Apple and Issey Miyake reinvent the pocket — but did anyone ask?

In today’s example of “things you absolutely don’t need but might want anyway,” Apple’s limited-edition collaboration with the prestigious Japanese fashion house Issey Miyake taps into a current consumer trend for quirky but utilitarian items whose usefulness can be used to justify the price of looking cool, writes Susie Lethbridge. Not a case, not quite a bag, the 3D-knitted mini tote pocket cradles your iPhone in Miyake’s signature pleats, with a “peek” panel, so you can discreetly check notifications without fully removing your phone. Miyake has long pioneered efficient and innovative design for modern life, from its pack-flat pleated items to modular clothing and its cult Bao Bao tote, so if any fashion house were capable of re-inventing the wheel, it is this one. Apple has built a brand by attracting design nerds as well as the tech variety and they will be thrilled.Yet the link between Apple and Miyake runs deeper too: the late Steve Jobs was famously devoted to the brand’s black polo necks. These neon-bright pleated pockets might not have been to his personal taste but he’d no doubt appreciate the ingenuity — and the fun — of them.As for customers, the iPhone Pocket by Miyake lands during a boom in the phone-accessory market, now worth about $94 billion and projected to hit $142 billion by 2033. It’s little wonder Apple wants in. Once purely functional, phone cases and straps have become fashion accessories in their own right. We are so glued to our tech, most of us barely even have it in a pocket let alone in our bags.Brands such as String Ting, Casetify and Keebos have turned hands-free phone straps into a global trend — seen swinging from the wrists of Dua Lipa, Gigi Hadid and more. The LA it-girls Devon Lee and Sydney Carlson have built a cult following with Wildflower Cases, which pulled in more than $24 million in sales last year.Still, the eight retina-searing shades of the Miyake pocket raise an obvious question: do we really need to draw more attention to our phones? In London, where snatch-and-grab theft has become a commuter sport, flaunting your tech in a fluorescent pleated pouch feels brave. But if the aim to get your phone out of your hand — and tear your eyes away from its screen — more often, then here’s a trend-setting way to do so.