The iconic phone grip has been redesigned and is on sale today in Apple Stores.
Brigitte Carey Editor-in-chief
Bridget Carey is an award-winning journalist who helps you improve your life while having a great time being entertained. Her CNET-exclusive videos take you behind the scenes as she covers new trends, experiences and original gadgets. His weekly video show, “One More Thing,” explores what’s new in the Apple world and what’s to come. She started as a reporter at the Miami Herald with columns in syndicated newspapers for product reviews and social media advice. Today, she’s a mom who also stays on top of trends in the toy and robot industry. (Kids love robots.)
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- Bridget spent more than 18 years as a consumer technology journalist, hosting daily technology news shows and writing columns for syndicated newspapers. She is a frequent guest on national radio and television networks, including ABC, CBS, CNBC and NBC.
Since their launch in 2014, PopSockets have always been a quirky (and slightly bulky) grip for phones. They’re adored by those who love to accessorize their phone with their interchangeable designs and by those who love to fidget with their accordion-style pop-out piece. But the company now hopes to attract a new customer base with the Low-Pro, a new grip design so thin that when folded, it sits lower than the camera bump on my iPhone 17 Pro Max.
The Low-Pro goes on sale Tuesday for $40, first in Apple Stores and on PopSockets.com, with other retailers arriving in late July. You can learn more about how it works in the latest episode of One More Thing, embedded below:
Watch this: Flat PopSockets could attract more men: practical with Low-Pro handles
I’ve been using the MagSafe Low-Pro for the last week and I can see the appeal this will have for people who just want something that slips effortlessly into their pants pockets. Like other PopSockets, it still attaches with the MagSafe magnetic holder. The front has a soft matte finish, and while it doesn’t ‘pop’, a flick of your finger in any direction will lift the disc to reveal a single, split, flexible piece of polymer. A metal ring around the edge becomes an adjustable swivel stand to support your phone in portrait and landscape mode.
Once opened, the Low-Pro handle is designed to handle fidgets who want to twist, push, and pull it (well, up to about 30 lbs of pull).
PopSocketsWhen the Low-Pro is enlarged, it reminds me of a kid’s paper lantern making project. Thinner materials make it feel like it will be weaker, but no matter how I twist, pull, or try to drill the holes, the material holds up. Good news for fidget enthusiasts: It seems to be able to handle all my stretching — and the PopSockets team tells me it was designed to withstand more than 30 pounds of pulling pressure in testing.
To start, Apple Stores will offer the Low-Pro in four exclusive colors: Blue Aura, Electric Fuchsia, Black and Navy.
PopSocket is not the first to offer a flush magnetic phone grip. The OhSnap company gained popularity with its Snap Grip, priced at $30, which uses a metal hinge to fold flat. But since I’ve been using both, I prefer the PopSocket design because it’s easier to open with one finger from any angle and it has an extra kickstand.
I sat down with PopSocket inventor and founder David Barnett to learn more about the pivot to Low-Pro. Although the PopSockets company continues to manufacture the existing design (the one that actually appears), Barnett said the big motivation here for a new model was to attract men who have told him over the years that they never gave PopSockets a chance because of their size.
PopSocket inventor David Barnett didn’t start out with the goal of creating phone grips. Here he’s holding the creation that inspired the PopSocket: giant buttons on the back of an iPhone 3GS to help wind up long headphone cords.
Carly Marsh/CNET“They were like, ‘Oh, it would get stuck in my pocket,’ and I was like, It never got stuck in my pocket,” Barnett said. “Ultimately, I wanted a solution that would address this challenge of not being perceived as thick and bulky.”
This slimmer design has an added benefit: you don’t need to remove your Low-Pro if you want to connect it to a MagSafe mount for charging. Don’t rely on fast charging: the more things there are between your phone and the charger (like a case and a grip), the slower the flow of power to your device will be.
But I often use MagSafe mounts to prop up my phone at work. And for once, that meant I didn’t have to remove my PopSocket for it to magnetically snap into place.
Bridget Carey is an award-winning journalist who helps you improve your life while having a great time being entertained. Her CNET-exclusive videos take you behind the scenes as she covers new trends, experiences and original gadgets. His weekly video show, “One More Thing,” explores what’s new in the Apple world and what’s to come. She started as a reporter at the Miami Herald with columns in syndicated newspapers for product reviews and social media advice. Today, she’s a mom who also stays on top of trends in the toy and robot industry. (Kids love robots.) See full bio
