Sonos Considered a MagSafe Speaker for iPhone, But Scrapped It

Sonos, known for its range of high-end speakers, considered developing a speaker that would connect to the iPhone via MagSafe, reports The Verge.

magsafe battery pack on iphone
Engineers at the company prototyped a tiny, iPhone-compatible speaker that would attach directly to the device, with music that would play over a Bluetooth connection. According to The Verge, the prototype speaker had a square shape, and it was similar to the look of Apple's now-discontinued MagSafe Battery Pack, but thicker.

Some employees thought the speaker product would resonate with Gen Z, and expected it to deliver good sound regardless of the compact size. Sonos ended up scrapping the project, though, due to "technical limitations, questionable appeal, and a limited target market."

Sonos has been working to expand its product lineup. Last year, Sonos introduced the Sonos Ace headphones that compete with high-end headphones like the AirPods Max, and later this year, it is rumored to be planning to introduce a set-top box similar to the Apple TV.

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Top Rated Comments

slicktor Avatar
8 months ago
Sonos out here doing side quests when the main story needs attention.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mansplains Avatar
8 months ago
What a shame, we need more bluetooth speakers playing in public spaces and nature /s
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
LogicalApex Avatar
8 months ago
The iPhone already has pretty impressive speakers for its size and whatnot. Improvements on that would need something larger and more substantial. This wouldn't be it.

Good thing it was scrapped.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
turbineseaplane Avatar
8 months ago

Why do they show the Apple MagSage battery in the picture? Totally different product by a totally different company.
I think they were trying to show "something" that is MagSafe and maybe about the size of what a speaker on the back could plausibly be
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
holmesf Avatar
8 months ago
it's not the dumbest idea. The wife and I go running at night sometimes in the wilderness and the music helps scare off the coyotes and mountain lions and helps make the run more enjoyable. If it were possible to build a better speaker in a package like that I'd buy it.

There is a product that does this made by a company called Chargeworx but the reviews aren't inspiring. The iPhone's speakers are actually pretty good on their own. Doing better needs something pretty high quality.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
turbineseaplane Avatar
8 months ago
Interesting idea

Aside from this idea, which sounds interesting for travel usage in particular, I would still like to see a larger MagSafe speaker dock of some kind, from somebody
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)