Apple’s Lightning Dock is a handy iPhone accessory in a post headphone jack world. The Lightning Dock, which incorporates its own 3.5mm port, is designed to allow you to charge your iPhone and listen to music via headphones simultaneously.
The latest-generation Lightning Dock is a not a new product, but the new gold color option is. Supplanting the previous yellow gold and rose gold colors, the updated metallic hue is specifically matched against the refined gold color of the iPhone 8. Watch our brief hands-on video to see how the new color looks.
Specifications
- Price: $49.00
- Aluminum design
- Available in black, silver, space gray, and gold
- 3.5mm port for headphones or speakers
- Lightning port for charging or syncing with Mac or PC
- Works with all Apple-designed cases
- Rubber bumper to protect iPhone finish
- Bottom rubber surface to prevent sliding
- Weighted design keeps iPhone upright
- Works with all Lightning-enabled iPhones
The Lightning Dock isn’t cheap, but it looks and feels high quality, and it brings practical features to the table. In the wake of the iPhone 7 dropping the 3.5mm headphone jack, the dock’s ability to both charge and simultaneously accommodate wired headphones is arguably the accessory’s headlining feature.
Video walkthrough
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The much-improved gold finish found on the iPhone 8 is perfectly matched by the new gold finish on Apple’s Lightning Dock. Both metallic finishes, the surface area of the dock, and the aluminum band around the iPhone 8, feature a gold color that changes depending on the lighting environment.
This isn’t the first gold Lightning Dock that Apple has sold, as its produced both yellow gold and rose gold docks in the past. With the launch of the iPhone 8, it has consolidated these gold colors into a new classier option. You can still find the other gold colors on Amazon if you’re interested in those models. If you want the new gold, it’s best to stick to Apple retail until the new color fully propagates to third parties. There are also space gray, silver, and black options available.
The Lightning Dock features a very simple design, but it’s well thought out. For starters, it’s heavy enough to where the iPhone 8 won’t easily tip over or wobble when connected. There’s also a tacky rubber surface on the bottom of the dock to help prevent it from sliding around your desk.
Another thoughtful area of the dock’s design has to do with the Lightning connection, which isn’t inset in a crevice like older Apple iPhone docks. This allows the Lightning Dock to easily accommodate an iPhone with an official Apple case, and even features a bumper area surrounding the Lightning connection to protection the iPhone’s finish when connecting it to the dock.
Users who wish to utilize wired headphones will also be happy to note that the Lightning Dock works as a standalone option for connecting wired headphones via its 3.5mm input. In other words, you can connect your favorite pair of headphones without needing to power the Dock with a Lightning cable.
As a satisfied owner of the AirPods, however, I’ll primarily use the Lightning Dock as an iPhone 8 charging stand by connecting it to a 12W USB Power Adapter via a Lightning cable (neither included in the box). The dock features an input voltage of 5V and a maximum current of 2.5A, hence, it won’t work with Apple’s new fast charging option, as anything above a 12W USB Power Adapter is overkill.
What are your thoughts on Apple’s new gold color option for its iPhone Lightning Dock? Do you think it’s a good match for the iPhone 8?
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