Apple had not previously sold any musical instruments on its website, even though many of its devices and apps are directly related to or essentially about music. In an agreement with one of the legendary electric guitar brands, the Apple Store will sell Fender Squier Stratocaster guitars compatible with iOS and Mac or PC.
There are many guitars on the market that connect via USB. This will be one of them, with the unique feature that this Fender model will only be sold through Apple stores, under an exclusive contract, for €209 . Fender has released a video so we can see it in action.
The guitar has a USB output , and the package includes two cables for this output: one with a USB connector on the other end for connecting to a Mac or PC, and another with a 30-pin connector that allows you to connect it to most Apple mobile devices, such as iPads, iPhones, or iPod Touches. If you have one of the latest generation devices with a Lightning connector, you'll have no choice but to buy an adapter. We imagine this decision is based on the desire to reach a wider audience directly. In addition, you can also connect it via the classic 6,3 mm guitar jack for amplifiers , and you can use headphones directly by connecting them to the 3,5 mm jack.
As for the controls on this guitar, we have to say that it has everything you'd expect: pickup volume control, pickup tone control , and headphone volume control.
It seems that it has been designed to be used especially with Garage Band, but it could work perfectly with other music creation and management applications without any problem.
Shipping is free, although it's not yet available online. We don't know if it will arrive in Apple physical stores, but it seems reasonable given that many people don't like the idea of ​​their instruments arriving by mail. Here's the link to the product on the online store.
Source: Apple Store / Fender