Apple released its official dock for the Apple Watch in mid November, making it more convenient to charge the device and use it as a bedside clock.
The white, circular dock, which looks like a CD, keeps the Watch in place with a magnetic puck in the middle, which is where you can leave your Watch to charge and use it in portrait mode. You can push the magnetic puck up from the bottom to make it stand up if you want to leave the watch on its side. Doing this activates Nightstand mode, which was released in September in watchOS2. When on its side, the dock helps the Watch act as a bedside clock. One especially handy feature the Watch has in Nightstand mode is that the Digital Crown acts like a snooze button for the alarm.
But the dock comes with a hefty price tag at $80. It’s more expensive than the dock for the iPhone, and there are a lot of cheaper third-party alternatives like the docks from ElevationLab, Forté from Twelve South, or even the Native Union Dock, which has a basic $60 dock and a $120 marble one.
The dock comes with a 2-meter Lightning cable, which connects to a power adapter, the same one that came initially with the Watch.
The dock could be one way Apple is trying to boost sales for the Watch, which saw a $50 discount when purchased with an iPhone, an unusual move from the company that typically doesn’t offer deals on its products. The sale ended November 15, but B&H and Best Buy just announced a sale of up to $25 or $30 off on stainless steel Apple Watch and aluminum Apple Watch Sport models.
If you’re in the market for a dock, the Apple Watch Magnetic Charging Dock is available online now or you can pick it up at a store on Friday.
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