NEW cases and Accessories

Since the iPhone 4 body design is completely different from earlier models, it is physically incompatible with the majority of cases that were previously released for iPhone and iPhone 3G/3GS devices, save for sock-styled elastic sleeves. New cases have been announced by many leading manufacturers and are expected to be in stores within three or four weeks of iPhone 4’s debut. Early releases from Speck Products, Hard Candy Cases/Gumdrop, Incipio and United SGP are already available in some stores.
Apple has released its own “cases” for the iPhone 4 called iPhone 4 Bumpers, which sell for $29 each and come in six colors. The Bumpers are two-tone plastic and rubber bands that fit around the stainless steel edge of the iPhone 4, covering all of the metal while slightly recessing the device’s glass front and back in the process. Apple describes them as “a fun and unique way to personalize your iPhone 4,” and sells the six colors separately, without making any promises as to their protective virtues. They’re unimpressive for the price, and we wouldn’t recommend them except to especially desperate users.
iPhone 4 is electronically compatible with the various Works With iPhone (now Made For iPhone) speakers that have been released over the last several years, and has its own Universal Dock Adapter insert, sold in three-packs by Apple for $9. It also remains compatible with car kits, headphones, and other accessories that have been released for the iPhone: as the included Earphones with Remote and Mic suggest, the headphone port continues to support Apple’s three-button remote controls and microphones. Charging continues to work with prior-generation iPhone chargers.
Like the iPhone and iPhone 3G/3GS, iPhone 4 also has its own Dock, which is considerably smaller than Apple’s device-agnostic Universal Docks, and designed solely to hold the iPhone 4 without a case—it doesn’t work with Bumpers, either. Mesh-grilled bottom vents enable the speakerphone to work while in the Dock, and as always, Dock Connector and line-out ports are found on the back. It’s the smallest iPhone dock yet released, and one of the smallest docks Apple has ever released for a portable device.