Remember iPod socks? Those brightly colored woolly wraps that swaddled your iPod like it was an infant? Apple sold them starting in 2004 for the better part of a decade. In things we did not have on our bingo card for 2025, Apple has decided now is the time to bring back the knitwear for the latest iPhones.
Meet the iPhone Pocket: a glorified yarn sling for your phone and whatever else you can cram in there without stretching the poor thing into oblivion. If we’re being catty, it does look a bit like a sweater you shrank in the wash and then tried to stretch out. Or maybe a mankini.
But hey, it could just be the zhuzh you’re looking for.
Watch this: Putting Apple’s iPhone Pocket to the Test
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The iPhone Pocket is on sale now, but you can’t walk into just any old Apple Store and get it. Apple is selling it in 10 select shopping locales, like SoHo in New York, Regent Street in London, Marché Saint-Germain in Paris and Orchard Road in Singapore. Everyone else will just have to order it online like it’s from Temu.
High fashion does not come cheap. The short strap design will set you back $150, while the long strap version costs $230.
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Getting our hands on an iPhone Pocket
On Friday, the first day the iPhone Pocket went on sale, CNET’s Bridget Carey picked up one each of the long and short versions (blue and pink, respectively) at the Apple Store in fashion-centric SoHo, the only Apple retail store selling it in the US. Customers there could go hands-on with the woven slings, giving the Pocket a stretch or sample slipping their iPhones into it.
The backdrop bag for this short pink iPhone Pocket is an Issey Miyake Bao Bao bag.
The longer, crossbody model held Carey’s phone securely, and she felt confident wearing it around New York throughout the day. She also put it through some impromptu testing. “I’ve been swinging it around and stuffing other items in it,” she said. “I’ve even tied it around my neck as a scarf and put it on my foot as a sock.”
So far, the Pocket has kept its shape. The material has some spring to it, and Carey thinks she could take it on errands with her kids and not have to worry. But it’s not tough enough for the washing machine. Instructions inside say the Pocket is to be hand washed and should not go in the dryer.
One of Apple’s suggestions for accessorizing with the iPhone Pocket, if you’re not doing crossbody, is to tie it onto the bag you’re carrying. That was not Carey’s first inclination. “I’m not sure I would feel comfortable hanging my phone like a keychain on my bag,” she said. “But I still wanted to get a short Pocket because, well, I wanted to have a bit of fashion history. And I love pink.”
If she does go the bag-Pocket route, Carey said, “I’ll hook my Labubu off it, too. After all, this is Apple’s Labubu now, a hard-to-find fashion accessory that hangs on your bag.”
The fashion sense of the iPhone Pocket
Apple designed the iPhone Pocket in collaboration with fashion brand Issey Miyake, the designer behind the endless supply of black turtlenecks worn by Steve Jobs (and an Apple employee uniform that almost happened).
I’m no fashion expert, but fashion writer Tiffany Lo is, and she told me “the design embodies Issey Miyake’s signature pleat pattern and the idea of crafting it from a single piece of fabric. It’s instantly recognizable.”
It certainly has a questionable design. At least there are plenty of colors you can pick from.
The iPhone Pocket is a stretchy 3D-knitted pouch with ribbed textures that hugs your iPhone. It’s see-through when you tug at it, so you can glimpse your lockscreen. But Apple wants you to put more than your iPhone in this accessory. You’re encouraged to slip in AirPods, lip balm, a key fob, breath mints or any other pocketable item. The shorter iPhone Pocket is more like a wristlet bag, while the longer one turns your iPhone into a crossbody accessory.
The wearable tech pouch is certainly a fashion statement if you decide to drape it across your torso, perhaps like a sash of questionable decisions. Whether you carry it in-hand, tie it to your bag, or sling it on like a fashion-forward postman, you will definitely get some looks, perhaps confused ones. The short strap version comes in eight colors: lemon, mandarin, purple, pink, peacock, sapphire, cinnamon and black. The long strap comes only in those latter three colors.
If nothing else, you can’t claim that Apple hasn’t put some thought into the available colors.
So who is the iPhone Pocket for? Lo says it “could appeal to younger generations thanks to the design that allows users to wear it as a crossbody.” Given that Apple released crossbody straps for all its iPhones earlier this year, maybe it has some insights into what Gen Z really wants. Is it worth the $230, or even $150? Yes or no, it’s a far cry from the $29 the iPod socks went for back in the day.
