Sonos explored creating a MagSafe speaker for iPhones
Not long before last yearâs software quagmire thrust the company into controversy, Sonos tinkered with an idea that some employees believed might resonate with Gen Z customers. Engineers at Sonos prototyped a miniature speaker that could magnetically connect to the back of Appleâs recent iPhones.
At least conceptually, the since-abandoned product sounds rather similar to JBLâs Soundboost speaker. Released back in 2016, that MotoMod accessory was designed to attach to Motorolaâs Moto Z lineup of smartphones. Any time you placed it on the phone, music and other audio would automatically play through the Soundboost, which offered louder and more powerful sound than a phoneâs very small speakers.
But the MotoMod system used pogo pins for routing audio and other data to accessories. MagSafe does not offer audio passthrough capabilities, so the Sonos speaker wouldâve relied on a Bluetooth connection (Trying to integrate Wi-Fi like the Roam wouldâve been too much of a battery drain.) This idea isnât without precedent in the iOS world; Scoscheâs BoomCan is a circular speaker that can latch onto iPhones with MagSafe. You can also find similar gadgets on Amazon or Temu …