£220 'for a cut-up sock' — Apples's new iPhone Pocket ridiculed online

The article mentions MKBHD calling it a "litmus test," but it's more than that: it's a "brand anchor."

This product's primary purpose is to generate this exact wave of online ridicule and media coverage (like this BBC article).

It makes Apple's other "expensive" accessories (e.g., a $129 FineWoven case) seem perfectly reasonable by comparison.

It generates millions in free PR, all centered on the theme of "Apple as an exclusive, luxury brand."

They aren't selling a sock for $230. They are selling the conversation around it. As others have predicted, it will sell out.

MKBHD's point is that this would have worked the way you describe it a decade ago, but is Apple's brand and fans the same as they were back then? At some point doing something like this just makes you look greedy and out of touch.

If Microsoft had tried to sell a "limited edition" zoom sock for $220 it would have produced a lot of mockery and no sales.

> but is Apple's brand and fans the same as they were back then

Yes Apple is still an up-market brand. You can be a luxury company that sells products that start priced in the middle while offering high end stuff that also sells very well... or better, iPhone 15 Pro Max was their top selling individual item last year, not the standard iPhone 15.

Having a subset of the influencer/trendmakers who buy only the high end stuff helps push up the brands popularity. Even if it's only more novelty stuff like this.

This 'sock' is a very loud fashion item that will show up in celebrity photos and youtube videos.

If Microsoft had tried to sell a "limited edition" zoom sock for $220...

That's the entire point, though. Microsoft can't do this.

This move only works precisely because Apple is not just a tech company anymore, but (as dmix also points out) a luxury/fashion brand.

The fact that Microsoft would fail is the proof. This isn't a "tech accessory" play; it's a "luxury brand" play, where the "ridicule" from outsiders (i.e., tech-focused people) is part of the marketing that signals exclusivity to the target audience (fashion-focused people).

You're both right. You're describing it from Apple's point of view, he's seeing it as a normal person who isn't one of the marks.

Spot on! It's exactly how you sell a $200 t-shirt. You put it next to a $900 t-shirt.

True, but that doesn't make it any more ridiculous. It is exactly this 'exclusivity' vibe that has always turned me off from Apple as a company. It's just some gear, and instead they want you to believe it is a whole different world when you're using their devices. People even use it as a filter to determine each others' social worth.

Rory made an excellent remark about how Rolls-Royce stopped showing their cars at car shows and instead shifted towards private jets and yachts events.

As he put it - when you're shopping for a $100M yacht, a $2 car is almost an impulse buy.