JBL Launches First Lightning-Compatible Speaker Docks

I honestly cannot believe that this entire concept needed to be spelled out why people would enjoy a docked solution.

really people... REALLY?

come home at end of day. phone has 10% charge. Put on playlist of enjoyable tunes, plug into dock. walk away.

Dock simultanieously charges, while playing music through audio system. No need to look for my charge cable. no need to plug it into the wall, since my dock is always on the desk and plugged in.

I'm not saying that doing it another way is bad, you can do it that way if you awnt. But I love having a dock at home with my iPod. it goes right in. and automatically charges, then wakes me up in the morning to my music.

A buddy has the 30 pin version of this dock...The smaller of the two pictured here. The sound from such a small device is really impressive. Good solid construction too...What with airplay etc. I can't really justify buying one, but they look and sound terrific.

MacRumorUser said:

Definitely thinking of getting the OnBeat Venue LTE to replace my trusty old JBL that is now redundant thanks to the old 30pin connector.

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Try getting a lighting to 30 pin adapter

I don't understand why people would want a dock. The main issue I have with a dock that you cannot use your phone while listening to music. To me, it makes zero sense to give up being able to use your phone for the sole purpose of music listening, especially when there are much better options available.

Second, you're stuck with the speakers the dock comes with. If you want better speakers, you need a new dock. Furthermore, due to the size the sound quality is usually far less than a 'standard' stereo set for your home, if you do want good sound you need to pay a lot of money and really only your iPhone/iPod benefits from it, for other devices it's inconvenient.

Airplay is a much, much better solution. You can use it on an exisiting stereo set, you don't need an additional dock and adapter, sound quality is usually better if you already have decent speakers, it's wireless so you can use your phone like you normally would (put it in your pocket, on the table), if you want to change the song you don't need to walk to the dock, etc.

And oh, if you really, really want to charge your phone while listening music, just charge it... I don't see why listening music and charging your phone should be correlated.

Can someone tell me one reason why docks can be better than airplay? I can't think of one.

stewartlittle said:

To me it makes complete sense to still have a dock. If I am going to be sitting at home enjoying music, I would most likely want to have my phone charging. Having a dock is a much cleaner option than running a cord from the back of the unit, or plugging it in elsewhere in the room. A dock is great just for simplicity. I agree, bluetooth and Airplay are not bad options. I simply prefer to charge my phone while listening.

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If you don't need to charge, then you can have the 'remote' for the music, changing tracks and volume, in your pocket. Convenient. And you have the choice.

KanosWRX said:

Why do they still make these with docks, I don't get it, use bluetooth and everything will work. Then just put a usb plug on the back incase people want to charge their device. Doesn't make any sense to make it proprietary. But I guess people will buy whatever without thinking.

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Bluetooth sound quality sucks, also drains the battery to fast. Why is it wrong to want to plug in a device and have it charge, look nice in a room without wires all over the room and having superior sound quality??

Koodauw said:

but your point is mute. plug it in and stream. Now its charging and playing AT THE SAME TIME. woa.

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The expression is "your point is MOOT." Not MUTE. I'm sorry, that was bothering me. As you were...

Just to join in here - anyone who does anything differently to me, is an idiot. I care nothing for your reasons as to why you might want to do things differently to me.

Does that cover the "Hur Hur. Why you want dock?" brigade?

And someone's point may be moot, not mute

Someone give me a cheap alarm clock with lighting and ill be happy

Dorfdad said:

Bluetooth sound quality sucks, also drains the battery to fast. Why is it wrong to want to plug in a device and have it charge, look nice in a room without wires all over the room and having superior sound quality??

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Then use Airplay. Sound quality is perfect and it's completely wireless. Plus, why would you want an extra device for listening to music when you already have speakers?

Nothing is more 'plug & play' than Airplay, which literally requires only two taps on your phone and saves you the hassle of walking to your dock and the docking itself.

stewartlittle said:

To me it makes complete sense to still have a dock. If I am going to be sitting at home enjoying music, I would most likely want to have my phone charging. Having a dock is a much cleaner option than running a cord from the back of the unit, or plugging it in elsewhere in the room. A dock is great just for simplicity. I agree, bluetooth and Airplay are not bad options. I simply prefer to charge my phone while listening.

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Yeah it makes sense. Just as it makes sense to want a clearer screen for the Mini. Or transit directions on maps. Don't let people tell you otherwise.

Now we got Nexus 4 buyers telling us how useless LTE is.

Good thing there is choice. Wait for a better dock. Wait for a better Mini or use the better ipad. Use a different Maps app.

SvenSvenson said:

Just to join in here - anyone who does anything differently to me, is an idiot. I care nothing for your reasons as to why you might want to do things differently to me.

Does that cover the "Hur Hur. Why you want dock?" brigade?

And someone's point may be moot, not mute

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That's not the sentiment I see in this topic. There are alternatives for docks which are superior on (almost) every aspect, it makes sense that people ask why others might want a dock.

Mr. Gates said:

That tiny connector seems a bit flimsy to support the weight of the phone.

Seems like a lot of stress on the part

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The iPhone 5 isn't that heavy.

thedeejay said:

Try getting a lighting to 30 pin adapter

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I did, sadly for me whilst it allowed charging - the audio wasn't able to be played back.

Plus the extra height it adds means the iPhone 5 and the mini were very top heavy with nothing to support them other than the new adapter which I could see causing too much stress on the lightning ports over time and possibly breaking something.

D.T. said:

I thought BT would allow higher throughput than that [for music]? Doesn't A2DP (over BT) specify 320kbps for stereo?

I do know the OOTO BT max bitrate on OSX is craptacular, but there's a simple fix (made a huge difference on our Supertooth speaker).

Though to your point: that's a big perk of using the proposed Airdrop-like tech on audio devices, massive amounts of bandwidth vs. BT (plus far better range).

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It does.... See my earlier comment...

Rudy69 said:

While Airplay makes a lot of sense, it's also nice to be able to charge the phone at the same time

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Personally, I would rather charge with the regular charger and cable and have all the sound/alarm clock/etc connections go through Airplay. This way, I don't have to ever take the case off if it doesn't fit in the dock.

Emperor Palpatine of Star Wars fame doesn't need a physically connecting dock for his iPhone, because he has UN-LIMITED POWERRRRRRRRRRrrrrr!!

Others may have different circumstances though.

I have this case:
http://www.macally.com/EN/?page_id=5991

Very light, thin, and durable. Definitely feel the weight difference compared to the thin InCase cases or the one from SwitchEasy. Doesn't feel bulky either.

Probably not the BEST protection, but much better than most. The sides of the phone are protected and even bends upwards into the front face. It doesn't block the top or bottom of the phone, so feel free to plug in anything.

I know a lot of cases prevent you from using a lot of the lightning adapters, not so with this case.


Just wanted to let everyone know of a case that doesn't limit while being sleek.

AirPlay seems the safe way to buy speakers. No worries about new form factors or connectors changing.

Non Emperor Palpatines just need to have the device plugged using the cable / power technology that ships with the product.

D.T. said:

I thought BT would allow higher throughput than that [for music]? Doesn't A2DP (over BT) specify 320kbps for stereo?

I do know the OOTO BT max bitrate on OSX is craptacular, but there's a simple fix (made a huge difference on our Supertooth speaker).

Though to your point: that's a big perk of using the proposed Airdrop-like tech on audio devices, massive amounts of bandwidth vs. BT (plus far better range).

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I'm open to that

Mr. Gates said:

That tiny connector seems a bit flimsy to support the weight of the phone.

Seems like a lot of stress on the part

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You would think so, but when you actually feel how secure and strong the small connector feels, the worries all disappear!

Docks are useful (and save polar bears)

I have a dock next to my bed. My iPhone alarm is already set to wake me up at the right time 7 days a weak (which is different times each day.) The dock makes sure my iPhone is loud enough, 2) my iPhone is charged, 3) reinforces the good habit that my phone is right were I want it every morning.

Also wired connections use less electricity. There really is no need to do everything wirelessly. We waste a ton of electricity when there is no need.

Remember when apple included docks with our iPhones?

Those were the days... F u apple

Question for this crowd: I bought the JBL Flip Bluetooth speaker and it doesn't seem to always be "listening" for audio coming from my Mac. It sounds like the connection "sleeps" when no audio is playing and then when I play something, it takes a few seconds to "wake up" and start playing audio.

Is this normal for Bluetooth speakers? Just a way to conserve battery life?

Any way to get it to "always listen" for audio to avoid this delay? If not, I'll just use an auxiliary cord...

PS - There is also latency between the mouth of a person in a video and the audio from the speaker. Not always but frequently...is this normal as well?

TC03 said:

Can someone tell me one reason why docks can be better than airplay? I can't think of one.

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Perhaps in an office environment where there is also no wireless network?

There are multiple reasons why some would prefer Airplay over docked and vice versa. I don't think one is necessarily better than another.
... with the exception of bluetooth, due to potentially degraded sound quality.