- PopSockets Unveils Its Thinnest iPhone MagSafe Grip Yet
- It is 2.6 mm thick
- It comes in 12 colors and is available exclusively at the Apple Store, for now
Every device has an origin story, but PopSocket’s Low-Pro iPhone Grip might be special. Introduced today in the Apple store, it’s an idea as old as the PopSockets brand, but one that waited almost a decade, until the original grip became an icon of the smartphone industry, adorning the back of hundreds of millions of phones.
PopSockets makes a wide range of grip styles, and some, like the Kick-Out & Grip, are fairly low profile, but nothing compares to the 2.6mm-thick Low-Pro, which PopSockets VP of Marketing Lisa Li calls “a labor of love.”
The idea for the Low Pro dates back to the early months of PopSockets, when founder and CEO David Barnett was already percolating ideas for an ultra-thin grip. But to understand that notion, you need to know why and how Barnett developed the PopSocket grip in the first place.
Blame it on the wired headphones
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Barnett, a former philosophy professor at the University of Colorado, had a pair of headphones he frequently used with his iPhone that got tangled in his pocket. As a solution, he bought a pair of large coat buttons and glued them to the back of his iPhone 3G (I saw it, it’s real). Then he wrapped the headphone cable around them.
Problem solved. That spark of ingenuity ignited a small flame of innovation: Barnett realized he could do more with his phone’s cable holder and envisioned a pair of foldable, attachable grips. He even taught himself CAD and created a 3D print of a 2.1mm thick disc. The print was a bit of a fail because it didn’t expand and was basically a hard drive that I now sometimes carried around.
Even when Barnett began handing out prototype grips to his students and they began using them as grips, Barnett couldn’t shake the idea that he could be thinner. He told a friend his idea:
“He was visibly upset and scolded me. I still remember he was basically yelling at me in this coffee shop. He said, ‘You’d be a complete idiot if you turned your attention and started developing a new product when you’re sitting on something that could be a big hit here.'”
Barnet took their advice to heart, ditching the ultra-thin idea and turning PopSockets into a popular brand and, for some, a must-have smartphone accessory.
Those damn skinny jeans
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He never abandoned the idea either, and while talking to customers over the years, he noticed a strange trend among potential male users who said that while the product looked cool, they wouldn’t use it because it would get stuck in their pockets.
“That’s funny…what are you talking about? I slip it into my pocket. I just put my hand on it like that.” [and] I put it in my pocket,” said Barnett, who added that he’s never had one of his PopSocket grips stuck in his pockets.
Still, Barnett and company soon realized there might be a market opportunity if they returned to that ultra-slim idea, a grip so low-profile that it has barely any edges and would never get stuck in a pocket.
However, getting there wouldn’t be easy. Removing a few millimeters from its current thinnest design, possibly the PopSockets Kick-Out & Grip holder (6mm), would require redesigning an OG component: the two-step expansion accordion section between the base of the button – it’s where you slide your fingers to grab the… uh… grip.
The result is a PopSocket grip that feels unlike any before it. Instead of a satisfying two-step pop-up to snap into place, the Low-Pro grip has an action, and when open, the button floats or moves on what honestly looks like a very flimsy rubber platform. It’s not even a single piece of material attached to the thin base that sits inside an equally thin steel ring. Like previous PopSocket grips, the ring and base are joined by a hinge. Instead of the button opening as a support, the metal ring does that job, opening to virtually any degree.
Barnett assured me, by the way, that the $39.99 PopSocket Low-Pro is stronger than it looks.
To perform a pull test, the PopSockets team taped the base to a phone and then pressed the button. Withstood up to 30 pounds of pressure. In the real world, the magnet would detach a MagSafe iPhone before the Low-Pro would snap in half.
They also opened and closed the Low-Pro 100,000 times without problems.
The new grip is so thin that MagSafe charges can still work through it, although charging speeds may slow. The magnetized face is strong enough to hold firmly to other magnetic surfaces, meaning you can mount your iPhone to a metal cabinet or your metal refrigerator.
All about the iPhone, for now
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Unlike classic PopSockets, which are platform-independent and used to attach to phones and phone cases with an adhesive base, the Low-Pro is designed for MagSafe and therefore the iPhone. In fact, the PopSockets Low-Pro grip launches exclusively at the Apple Store today in six colors, arriving at Best Buy and Target on July 12, and at all other retailers on July 29. By then, it should be available in 12 colors.
It’s a relatively big change for PopSockets to take a familiar and beloved design and basically throw it away (at least for Low-Pro) to attract new customers who demand thinness at all costs, but Barnett has faced harsh criticism before, and it seems he’s finally won it over.
When Barnett shared the prototype of his first grip with his wife, she told him, “It was the stupidest thing she had ever seen and no one was going to buy one,” he recalled.
A decade later, he previewed the Low-Pro. “His reaction,” Barnett said, “was that it’s the best invention since the credit card. He said everyone was going to buy this.”
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