Apple’s New Accessory Lets You Wear Your iPhone Like a Purse

Apple’s annual iPhone event had a lot in store for anyone in the Apple ecosystem. We got several new versions of the iPhone 17, including a first-ever slim variant in the iPhone 17 Air, a new Apple Watch Ultra, new AirPods Pro 3, and much more. But it’s not all about the hardware; it’s also about what you put on your new $1,000+ phone, and this year we got some of the weirdest accessories yet. Case in point? A phone leash, or a leash for you that your phone holds? It’s hard to say which one it is, really, but there’s definitely a leash that connects to your iPhone, and you definitely are supposed to wear it.

In case you missed it, I’m talking about the new crossbody strap that slings over your shoulder to connect to the sides of your iPhone case, allowing you to wear your phone like a purse. I know you’re probably rereading those words to make sure you didn’t miss something, but I can assure you that what I just wrote is what’s happening.

If that’s not your jam, maybe a sequel to Apple’s (unfortunately not very durable) FineWoven cases will be more your speed. TechWoven, as Apple is calling its follow-up, is meant to actually fulfill the promise of the FineWoven cases released in 2023 that turned out to be not a very big hit among (checks note) anyone who bought one. One of the main issues was that Apple’s FineWoven cases fell apart rapidly, which, coupled with the fact that they also didn’t come cheap, rubbed lots of people the wrong way. Like FineWoven, TechWoven is made of tightly knitted fabric with a protective coating and aims to fix issues in iPhone cases in the past with a new leather-free and hopefully durable Apple-made case.

Probably the most useful of any Apple accessory announced during Apple’s iPhone event is a MagSafe battery for Apple’s iPhone 17 Air, which is a new thin variant of its iPhone that comes with one tradeoff you’d expect from a device that’s 5.6mm thin—the battery is smaller. Does it seem silly to slap a battery that makes your phone thick onto a device that you just paid extra for because it’s thin? Yup, no getting around that. But who am I to stop you from contradicting yourself in the name of more battery?

Apple says its MagSafe Battery will be available for $99, while its Crossbody Strap will cost $59. Its TechWoven case with MagSafe will be sold for $59 for the iPhone 17 Pro. Apple didn’t provide any release date for those accessories yet, but we’ll keep an eye out for official availability.