Insane Apple Accessory Pricing Continues With $39 iPhone Lightning Dock

In addition to the revised 15-inch MacBook Pro and 27-inch iMac with 5K Retina Display news from this morning, Apple has introduced a new accessory for all Lightning-equipped iPhones: the iPhone Lightning Dock. The addition of the dock is surprising for two reasons. First, why did it take so long for Apple to release a Lightning Dock compatible with the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus? Secondly, is Apple out of its Vulcan mind by charging $39 for a hunk of plastic?

To add insult to injury, Apple doesn’t even include an extra Lightning USB cable in the box; you’re on your own on that front. For $39, you’d expect a little extra love from Apple, but I digress.

With that said, the iPhone Lightning Dock includes an audio line-out port so that you can connect you iPhone to powered speakers while it’s docked and Apple says that you can still access Touch ID while docked and perform speakerphone calls.

I guess we shouldn’t be too surprised by this latest development from the Apple camp. After all, this is the same company that charges $19 for a one-meter-long Lightning cable and charges $79 for a simple plastic adapter that adds a full-size USB 3.0 port and HDMI-out to the 12-inch MacBook (two features that Apple axed with on its latest ultra-portable machine).

The iPhone Lightning Dock is available now via the Apple Store and ships within 1 to 3 business days for free (hey, now that is a plus).