Insane Apple Accessory Pricing Continues With $39 iPhone Lightning Dock

by Brandon Hill — Tuesday, May 19, 2015, 02:00 PM EDT

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).

Tags: Apple, iPhone, Lightning, iPhone 5, iPhone 5S, (NASDAQ:AAPL), iPhone 6, iPhone 5C, iPhone 6 Plus, lightning dock, mgrm2am

Brandon Hill

Brandon received his first PC, an IBM Aptiva 310, in 1994 and hasn’t looked back since. He cut his teeth on computer building/repair working at a mom and pop computer shop as a plucky teen in the mid 90s and went on to join AnandTech as the Senior News Editor in 1999. Brandon would later help to form DailyTech where he served as Editor-in-Chief from 2008 until 2014. Brandon is a tech geek at heart, and family members always know where to turn when they need free tech support. When he isn’t writing about the tech hardware or studying up on the latest in mobile gadgets, you’ll find him browsing forums that cater to his long-running passion: automobiles.

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