Apple iPhone dock revealed: charges Bluetooth headset too?

Looks like the inclusion of a handy YouTube button isn't the only fresh news on the iPhone front this morning, as two strangely protective photos of the iPhone dock attempt to show off an accessory that could be dangling by your wallet whilst waiting in line to check out next Friday. The two pictures of the unsurprisingly white device (one shown after the break) fail to reveal any ports or connections whatsoever, but "sources" over at ThinkSecret are suggesting that a charging port will indeed be included to give iPhone dock purchasers a single base to juice up their mobile and headset. Not too many details beyond that just yet, but don't expect such a useful hunk of plastic to run you cheap when it lands.

[Via Think Secret]

[Sneakz @ Jun 20th 2007 10:19AM]

And why do we care? Because Engadget loves to talk about Apple, even if its the smallest thing nobody really will notice.

[BoZs13 @ Jun 20th 2007 10:20AM]

You whiners are getting old.

I care.

[Fatima @ Jun 20th 2007 11:32AM]

I care, and so do a lot of people, who isn't 12 yrs old like you.

[fontendet24 @ Jun 20th 2007 12:11PM]

MORE! MORE! More iphone news!
With iphone you don't needed sex!
Have sex with your iphone!

[D3L3T3D @ Jun 20th 2007 12:15PM]

I care as well...
and by the amount of comments iPhone stories get, I'd say a LOT of others do as well. It is smart for Engadget to post stories that garner many comments, wouldn't you say? Now stop crying about it, and skip the articles related to the iPod/iPhone & Apple & go directly to whatever it is you are interested in. You claim that engadget is pandering to Apple, but the fact is, Apple tends to make the news more often than most other tech companies, because they keep coming out with things, be it updates, hardware or announcements. Pretty smart of them too, just take a look at their stocks, and compare it to other PC manufacturers. See the difference? No, you probably don't...

[Camperton @ Jun 20th 2007 4:39PM]

you obviously cared enough to click the link, write your opinion. receive the verification email and click on that too. by definition you care quite a bit.

[sanctus @ Jun 20th 2007 10:20AM]

I care...

[brendan Sheehan jnr @ Jun 20th 2007 4:13PM]

You guys are doing it all wrong, it's iCare.. now take care.

[Neo @ Jun 20th 2007 10:23AM]

I care, and I bet millions of potential buyers care too.

[KM @ Jun 20th 2007 10:35AM]

At least hundreds of iphone idiots, Apple employees and stockholders.

[KM @ Jun 20th 2007 10:35AM]

At least hundreds of iphone idiots, Apple employees and stockholders.

[emiliano @ Jun 20th 2007 10:23AM]

Shouldn't the dock be the same color scheme as the iphone? It looks ugly in white.

[randy @ Jun 20th 2007 12:28PM]

No. It's an extension of the Mac, so it would match that color scheme.

[emiliano @ Jun 20th 2007 12:48PM]

@randy

ohhh ok. So the white will match perfectly with the black macbook and black/silver iphone. Gotcha.

[emiliano @ Jun 20th 2007 12:49PM]

@randy

ohhh ok. So the white will match perfectly with the black macbook and black/silver iphone. Gotcha.

[randy @ Jun 20th 2007 3:57PM]

If the Macbook had a dock, it too would be white.If the Macbook had a dock, it too would be white.

[PeteC @ Jun 20th 2007 10:26AM]

Can I have one in black or does that whop the price up another $10? :-P

[BoZs13 @ Jun 20th 2007 10:28AM]

Hahahah :) Good One...actually made me laugh. I can't wait to get one.

[Britboyj27 @ Jun 20th 2007 10:26AM]

That's awesome, except it won't charge anything but Apple's headset, which I understand, you can't cater to EVERYONE, but the price of the headset, plus dock AND phone itself?

Makes me shudder, and I'll be in the line on the 29th.

[Jesse S @ Jun 20th 2007 10:28AM]

OH MAN A DOCK! SOMETHING THAT IS A BASIC ACCESSORY TO MANY DEVICES! THIS IS SUCH IMPORTANT GADGET NEWS!

AplGadget is such a great site!

[Xzavier @ Jun 20th 2007 11:24AM]

Hey, don be so sarcastic. I work in I.T. and when cingular bought AT&T or vise versa, over and over... none of the Blackberry 8700 comes with a docking station, however before the previous buy out, merger, acquisition, or whatever you want to call it, they use too... btw, a docking station is not a ACCESSORY it use to be STANDARD. Today people will cough up the extra dough for something they should have had in the first place. People will be more than happy to pay... just watch! I will be more than happy to pay too… why… because they have something I want/need… a DOCK!

[John Doe @ Jun 20th 2007 11:40AM]

Lets be fair. Its a hell of a lot more interesting then "Automatic waffle maker hits version 2.0"

Then again. Maybe not.

[Jesse S @ Jun 20th 2007 11:59AM]

I was trying to say that it is, or rather should be, standard.

But, is this news post really necessary? The iphone is essentially a useless smartphone. It has no where near the features or functionality of the xv6800 (Mogul) or i760 (Robin).

Why is engadget flipping out at a product with a mere mention of iphone in it?

I want my gadget news, not this useless bandwagon fanboy news.

[Peter @ Jun 20th 2007 10:29AM]

iCare

don't waste your time commenting on an article that you seem to hate so much... just skip it.

[KM @ Jun 20th 2007 10:43AM]

Well at least after almost a whole day without having to hear about the iphone, we're due to be inundated with this marketing crap from Apple Corp today.

At least it's not the near constant drumbeat of iphone 24/7 on another gadget website that shall be nameless cough* Giz...*Cough

[mrsalty @ Jun 20th 2007 10:32AM]

what other phones have docks?

[Beef Stallmer @ Jun 20th 2007 10:36AM]

Most other phones have docks. And you can get them for on your desk or even *gasp* in your car. Apparently the Apple crowd is not too phone-savvy. But then again.. otherwise they probably wouldn't fall for the iPhone scam.

[Fraser Drew @ Jun 20th 2007 10:38AM]

Not many. This is a great thing. Some Sony Ericssons do, but normally the dock doubles as speakers so they are like £60.
I'd love to say i think this will come with the iPhone, but Apple being Apple, it just won't...
They have a hugely anticipated and in-demand product, so people WILL pay the price, whatever it is. Meaning they need no incentives or freebies (such as a dock). Which is unfortunate for us consumers.

[Jon @ Jun 20th 2007 10:45AM]

Cradles already exists since the 90s for phones and PDAs. Hell even the Ipod has one. But I am sure Apple apologists will claim this to be 'revolutionary'...

On a serious note, bundled cradles are a good deal, as companies rarely bundle cradles with their products nowadays. But considering that the battery isn't removable, they do need to include a separate AC for travellers.

[John @ Jun 20th 2007 10:41AM]

So it's a charger/data-cable that props up the phone. OOOooooo00000oooOOOOO INNOVATIVE. It's also WAY too expensive. So expensive that I dont think it will come down to a reasonable price. Not sure what your idea of reasonable is, but mine, for a disposable device is about 150. You'll drop it, and the glass will crack within a week and Apple will issue a recall. I remember my desktop Hibachi called the PowerBook 5300. I dont make mistakes like that anymore. *cough* no PS3.

[Xzavier @ Jun 20th 2007 11:42AM]

The glass part is very questionable. I remember having a pair of eye glasses made out of real glass. I drop them once and that was the end of my glasses. I never went back to having real glass in my eye glasses again. Every notice how the back of the iPod is so slippery? I don’t how many times I drop my iPod, however when it finally broke, I simply move on and never look back. No more iPod. Apple knows what they are doing!

[Tony Bowman @ Jun 20th 2007 10:42AM]

i thought his Steveness said in the original announcement that the dock would be a pack-in that you get for free when you buy the iPhone?

[Rick @ Jun 20th 2007 10:44AM]

I care. But I don't care very much about Clearasil and I'm sure many of you do.

[Ben @ Jun 20th 2007 10:47AM]

my prediction is that people will treat their iPhone as an idol, so having a mis-matching color dock might throw their daily worship.

Let just hope that having multiple sources charge the phone won't accelerate inevitable battery memory loss. Maybe it'll be smart to go ahead and buy an extra battery for it? I mean if you're going to throw down 6 bills on a phone, whats another $50?

[TQ @ Jun 20th 2007 10:57AM]

The iphone has a removable battery? haha.

[KM @ Jun 20th 2007 10:56AM]

It really shouldn't have to be charged – as someone else said before me “It's the first phone powered by Hype”

[Zeeliv @ Jun 20th 2007 11:30AM]

As for "battery memory loss", that is a thing of the past, and has been for quite some time now. Only NiCad batteries did that, NiMH and Li batteries don't have the memory effect: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_effect

[Negs @ Jun 20th 2007 10:47AM]

DO NOT WANT

[zoara @ Jun 21st 2007 9:29AM]

O RLY?

[Lee @ Jun 20th 2007 10:52AM]

I think it's important to remember that the iPhone was founded under inspiration of the iPod. Thus, many things will probably port over (the headphones and the dock so far, for example).

[Neo @ Jun 20th 2007 10:56AM]

KM, I hope you have your medicines ready, because this iPhone coverage and Apple marketing is only going to get more intense as we approach the iPhone launch day. For those people like KM who can't stand hearing about iPhone, an easy solution is to stop reading Engadget and/or other blogs, or move to the mountains.

[TQ @ Jun 20th 2007 11:01AM]

Resistance is futile.

[KM @ Jun 20th 2007 11:03AM]

This thing is based on Touchscreen technology – first developed in the 1970's – for you iphone idiots, that's over 3 decades ago.

And yet Apple Corp. and you (probably one and the same) act as though they just invented the wheel

[Similar @ Jun 20th 2007 11:36AM]

@KM - Yeah, and DLP technology was developed in the 70's too. The thousands upon thousands of people who are buying DLP TV's must be idiots as well.

[Neo @ Jun 20th 2007 11:38AM]

KM, forgot to take your medicine today? Better get more, it's not gonna be easy without them now the iPhone is coming. It would be sad to see someone get a heart attack from hating iPhone. lol.

[Xzavier @ Jun 20th 2007 11:46AM]

Does anybody know when the wheel was invented?

[Neo @ Jun 20th 2007 11:01AM]

Oh, let me say it again, I care, and for good reason. With the dock, it will be super easy to charge and sync the phone with iTunes just like the iPod. Just plug it in and select what you want to sync from iTunes. Of course, Apple is not forcing you to use the dock to enjoy using your iPhone, they are giving you an option.

[Beef Stallmer @ Jun 20th 2007 11:05AM]

You mean "They're giving you an option(tm)"? As if the fact they'll charge you extra for an accessory is somehow a revolutionarily good thing for the consumer? Apple can't do no wrong for some, it seems.

[Neo @ Jun 20th 2007 11:28AM]

So you think the dock should be free? I would love to have the dock for free, but the fact that I have to pay for it does not make me start hating Apple. Companies make a decision about whether or not to include an accessory, and consumers decide whether or not it's worth the money. America is still capitalism, right?

[Jeff Lewis @ Jun 20th 2007 11:29AM]

You mean.. like when I connect my WiMo phone to my PC and ActiveSync comes up and automatically syncs all my contacts and stuff - or when I run WMP and my phone is connected it just says 'hey - your phone is a media player - wanna sync it?'
then lets me drag the music and videos I want to the player's list and bang - it's synced?

iTunes may have done it first, but it's hardly the only easy sync system out there anymore. In WMP11, you can even sync between systems - my main PC sees my laptop as a media device and will sync to that if I allow it to - and any WMP system will act as a server for all other systems in the network, if you want it to.

On the flipside, iTunes on the PC has always been a cranky application. It tends to crash a lot. It's so-so at converting files. And you can't use your iPod on a Mac AND a PC since for some reason, each version insists on formatting the iPod differently and installs different firmware.

While you can't sync my phone to iTunes, you can just copy music to the memory card on a Mac and voila stick it back into the phone and voila - it just works.