Earlier this week, Apple released a new iPhone Dock. Back in the day, the third generation iPod came with a dock, and nearly two years ago Apple released iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C docks. Those old docks had a 30-pin or Lightning connector, respectively, as well as a 3.5mm line out connector. As I like to use my iPhone on my nightstand as a clock while it charges (Analog Digital Clock for the win!), I took a knife to my 5S Dock and managed to make it fit an iPhone 6. But I ended up using the dock fairly rarely because docking requires getting my iPhone out of its case—which I use religiously with the iPhone 6.
The new dock is sightly different from the old ones. Rather than having a recessed area that fits and supports the device the dock is specifically made for, the new iPhone Dock supports all iPhones and iPods with a lightning connector running iOS 8. It does this by having a flat top with a little mound on it that holds the lightning connector. So the iPhone is only supported through its lightning port. As a result, it wobbles a bit side-to-side when touched. Fortunately, that doesn't seem to affect the electronic connection between the phone and the dock. The iPhone sits fairly stable in the front/back direction. Still, I'm glad I get to use the dock with an iPhone 6 that's still under warranty. The great thing about this design, apart from being both future- and past-proof (a rarity in Cupertino!), is that it lets the iPhone dock while it's in Apple's silicone case. There's actually room for slightly bigger cases.
An interesting change from the previous docks is that the line out port is now a headphone out port. When you put the iPhone in the dock and there's nothing connected to the headphone out port of the dock, the iPhone uses its speaker, which comes through loud and clear. Remember, the iPhone's headphone out port is at the bottom, so you can't use it while the phone is docked. The microphone also works normally.
But when you connect a cable to the 3.5 mm port, the iPhone detects this and will route its audio through that cable. You can still use the port to connect speakers that expect a line level signal by simply turning the volume up all the way. Although the iPhone says it's using "headphones", the same as when attaching headphones to the iPhone's own headphone port, it does in fact remember the audio level used with the dock and with the iPhone's headphone port separately, so it won't blast audio at the top volume when you use the iPhone's own headphone connector later.
Turns out, the headphone port on the dock is a real headphone port: connect your Apple Earpods or other headphones with a microphone and clicker, and you can change the volume, play/pause audio and even use the microphone in the headphones to make calls and talk to Siri.
This also means you can connect your guitar or bass to the dock using the right cable and then use the iPhone as a guitar/bass amp. I would be slightly worried about launching the dock with the iPhone attached into the crowd during a particularly intense solo, though.
So even though the iPhone sits somewhat precariously on top of this new dock, if you want a dock, you can't ask for much more than what this one delivers: it works with cases and Earpods, is compatible with current, past, and likely future i-devices, and doesn't obscure the TouchID sensor. Apparently, Apple thinks that, too, because they're charging no less than $39 in the US and £35 for Ars UK readers. Ouch.
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