If you didn’t get up before dawn on Friday, you sadly missed your chance to buy an iPhone Pocket, an accessory that divides Apple fans. It’s been relentlessly mocked online — but sold out immediately on launch day.
Love it or hate it, it’s hard to argue with results like that.
Phone Pocket vanishes from shelves: Apple’s newest accessory sells out instantly
iPhone Pocket is an ultra-premium accessory designed to carry your iPhone with the same ceremony once reserved for luxury handbags. Crafted from high-end materials and obsessively engineered, it turns a simple phone pouch into a fashion statement, complete with a minimalist design and an unmistakably Apple aesthetic.
While its functionality is straightforward — keep your iPhone safe, accessible and stylish on the go — the real appeal lies in its blend of branding, craftsmanship and aspirational flair, making it as much a status symbol as a practical accessory.
In Japan, crossbody phone straps are in vogue, and people snapped up Apple’s new accessory and posted about it online:
いつも黒とかグレー系の服着ること多く「楽しさがない！これではイカン！」とショールとかで差し色してたけど引っ越しでショールが出てこない。そんな中、iPhone Pocketのサファイアが良い差し色を足してくれてる。Suicaも使う場合はロングが使いやすいかも？ pic.twitter.com/hs1bXzCVq0
— Nobi Hayashi 林信行 (@nobi) November 14, 2025
iPhone Pocket、ピンクを購入。 pic.twitter.com/dwv8b7B80N
— David (@David_M7_) November 14, 2025
Adding tremendously to the product’s cachet in Japan is that it comes from Miyake Design Studio, which was founded by the Japanese fashion designer Issey Miyake, who has iconic status in his home country.
But the appeal is clearly felt in the United States, too. iPhone Pocket went on sale early Friday and disappeared in mere moments. Every single variant of the crossbody strap — all the color options of the long and short sizes — was soon listed as sold out on the Apple Store.
That said, judging popularity from how quickly a product sells out is a dicey business at best. There are no figures for how many iPhone Pockets Apple had ready to ship Friday. It’s listed as a “Special Edition,” so Apple surely didn’t have millions on hand.
A quote attributed to various venture capitalists and tech bros over the years says, “You can sell 30,000 of anything.” In other words, selling a limited number of a product isn’t a guarantee that it’s a blockbuster.
Let the mockery commence
iPhone Pocket is truly controversial. It obviously has fans who are wearing it on the streets of Tokyo today. But, oh my goodness, so much mockery.
Influencer iJustine poked fun at Apple’s marriage of a scarf with a sock. An image that looks like Borat wearing one as a swimsuit went viral.
And watch the latest Cult of Mac CultCast for some heavy mockery of the iPhone Pocket (and Apple’s pretentious press release about the accessory):
Much of the criticism isn’t toward crossbody iPhone straps in general, but toward Apple releasing one that costs $230.
Ed Hardy has been writing full-time about tech for 25 years, and using it for much longer than that. His intro to Apple was a Macintosh Classic II (which he still has), but now he uses a 13-inch iPad Pro as his primary computer. He’s written for NotebookReview, TabletPCReview, and Brighthand, as well as other sites.
