Do iPhone docks still exist?
February 11, 2025 12:34 PM Subscribe
I walk into my kitchen. I pull my iPhone from my pocket. I plug it into a... thing. It plays my podcast or music over a speaker and charges my phone. It's an iPod dock like it's 2012 but it's for my iPhone. Bluetooth is not involved. My phone's microphone is not involved. My thermostat is not involved. Cables are not involved other than the power cord that goes from the wall to the thing. The phone sits on its lil' USB C throne and sound flows out and electricity flows in. What is this thing?
The web has become garbage and I can't take wading through any more AI-generated video-only SEO bullshit. Please help.
The web has become garbage and I can't take wading through any more AI-generated video-only SEO bullshit. Please help.
I don't think you'll find what you want. The choices I know of are wired docking station without speaker or wireless with speaker.
posted by dobbs at 12:56 PM on February 11
posted by dobbs at 12:56 PM on February 11
Android has been USB-C for many years so it may help your searching to remove iPhone as a parameter and sub in Android or Samsung.
posted by dobbs at 12:57 PM on February 11
posted by dobbs at 12:57 PM on February 11
The Klipsch The One Plus appears to have USB-C audio with passthrough charging capabilities. It isn't a dock, so you'd need to plug your phone into it rather than just set it on top, but otherwise it seems to do what you need. It does have Bluetooth, but it doesn't look like you need to connect to it that way if you don't want to.
posted by papayaninja at 1:21 PM on February 11 [1 favorite]
posted by papayaninja at 1:21 PM on February 11 [1 favorite]
This might be fairly close enough - it's not a "dock" but it is a hard connected speaker (not bluetooth) and has passthrough charging.
I think, if I am reading correctly, the same as you would simply plug your phone into the dock and get both charging and speaker at the same time, you would plug the cord from this speaker into your phone and obtain the same thing. You were very clear that you only want the 1 cord to power on the device however, and I respect that, but since you would still have to plug the phone into the dock, maybe this substitution is okay with you.
posted by fennario at 1:23 PM on February 11 [2 favorites]
I think, if I am reading correctly, the same as you would simply plug your phone into the dock and get both charging and speaker at the same time, you would plug the cord from this speaker into your phone and obtain the same thing. You were very clear that you only want the 1 cord to power on the device however, and I respect that, but since you would still have to plug the phone into the dock, maybe this substitution is okay with you.
posted by fennario at 1:23 PM on February 11 [2 favorites]
I don't think this really exists - bluetooth is what has replaced the wiring to speakers. I think you can avoid bluetooth or your phone's built in speakers, but not both. Happy to be proven wrong though, as i'd love for something like that as well.
My current setup uses devices that charge wirelessly like this (first one from amazon that looks similar to mine) but rely on the iphone speaker.
posted by cgg at 1:25 PM on February 11 [1 favorite]
My current setup uses devices that charge wirelessly like this (first one from amazon that looks similar to mine) but rely on the iphone speaker.
posted by cgg at 1:25 PM on February 11 [1 favorite]
A slightly janky solution would be a USB-C to USB-C+headphone adaptor, like this one, with the headphone jack output plugged into any regular powered speaker with aux-in or line-in.
posted by kickingtheground at 1:32 PM on February 11 [2 favorites]
posted by kickingtheground at 1:32 PM on February 11 [2 favorites]
With an adapter like that (well, with the Apple version at least), you can simultaneously plug a USB-C cable into it and plug the other end into a charger, which would get you the phone charging part (but not the no-cables part).
posted by box at 1:51 PM on February 11
posted by box at 1:51 PM on February 11
Loads of options for iPhone speaker docks that use the magsafe connector. You just "thwack" the phone onto the cradle: https://www.google.com/search?q=iphone+magsafe+dock+with+speaker
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 2:16 PM on February 11 [1 favorite]
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 2:16 PM on February 11 [1 favorite]
What about a (now discontinued) Bose SoundDock Series 3, with a Lightning to USB-C adapter? Might have to 3D print a riser or adapter for the phone cradle, to allow for the adapter.
posted by xedrik at 2:29 PM on February 11
posted by xedrik at 2:29 PM on February 11
The problem with a dock is that it has to be specific to a particular phone or else it is far too fragile. You have a fragile male USB-C plug sticking up and you have to slide your phone onto it in such a way that it doesn't break the plug. That's only possible if the dock itself holds the phone in exactly the right position, which only works if the dock is specifically designed for that particular model of phone, which makes it impractical to produce such docks because even in the iPhone world, there are a lot of different models of phone that people might have at one time (plus many, many different Android phones). Even then, a USB-C plug is still quite fragile and would probably be broken if you grabbed your phone too quickly without carefully sliding it up. This kind of worked when most people had the same iPod and those used a less fragile connector, but it doesn't make much sense any more.
So either you live with a wireless solution (Bluetooth audio and wireless charging) or you live with a solution that requires you to plug in the phone to a cable (either to a dedicated USB-C audio with charging cable as linked above or to a USB-C to 3.5mm adapter with a charging port). The advantage of the USB-C to 3.5mm adapter is you can use basically any speaker system you'd like.
posted by ssg at 2:30 PM on February 11 [4 favorites]
So either you live with a wireless solution (Bluetooth audio and wireless charging) or you live with a solution that requires you to plug in the phone to a cable (either to a dedicated USB-C audio with charging cable as linked above or to a USB-C to 3.5mm adapter with a charging port). The advantage of the USB-C to 3.5mm adapter is you can use basically any speaker system you'd like.
posted by ssg at 2:30 PM on February 11 [4 favorites]
even in the iPhone world, there are a lot of different models of phone that people might have at one time (plus many, many different Android phones)
And cases. So many cases.
posted by box at 2:36 PM on February 11 [6 favorites]
And cases. So many cases.
posted by box at 2:36 PM on February 11 [6 favorites]
Yes, the issue is the variable thicknesses of one device to another, and that’s not accounting for cases. The charging “pin” has to be exactly X mm from the rear supporting wall or you get problems. Since all phone models have different depths, there’s no universal X mm even though the interface may be universal.
posted by dobbs at 2:36 PM on February 11 [1 favorite]
posted by dobbs at 2:36 PM on February 11 [1 favorite]
Welcome to the world of USB-C!
Everything is now in a "hub", not a dock.
Here is an example. It has a built-in DAC (digital to analog converter, i.e. headphone jack). Bring your own speakers!
posted by dobi at 2:47 PM on February 11 [2 favorites]
Everything is now in a "hub", not a dock.
Here is an example. It has a built-in DAC (digital to analog converter, i.e. headphone jack). Bring your own speakers!
posted by dobi at 2:47 PM on February 11 [2 favorites]
I think apple believes that wireless charging + bluetooth audio replaced any need for any sort of docking station.
I would take a look at etsy. I feel like i’ve seen some “nightstand” phone chargers that might be close to what you’re thinking of? usually they’re wood or 3d printed and they’re usually for charging but I bet you could use an adapter (lightning to 3.5mm?) as mentioned above to send out sound to wired speakers. even my old bluetooth speakers have aux-in, so I would say this is definitely a thing you can do. I have an old ipad that would be perfect for this actually, if I could find a dock or some sort of wall-mount…
posted by one-half-ole at 3:19 PM on February 11
I would take a look at etsy. I feel like i’ve seen some “nightstand” phone chargers that might be close to what you’re thinking of? usually they’re wood or 3d printed and they’re usually for charging but I bet you could use an adapter (lightning to 3.5mm?) as mentioned above to send out sound to wired speakers. even my old bluetooth speakers have aux-in, so I would say this is definitely a thing you can do. I have an old ipad that would be perfect for this actually, if I could find a dock or some sort of wall-mount…
posted by one-half-ole at 3:19 PM on February 11
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posted by freethefeet at 12:49 PM on February 11