B&O offers free iPhone 5 Lighting upgrade for pricy BeoPlay A8 dock

Ever wondered whether it's worth shelling out the extra cash for a Bang & Olufsen system rather than cheaper rivals? B&O's free Lightning upgrade deal for the BeoPlay A8 might convince you; the company has confirmed that all existing and new owners of the eye-catching iPhone and iPod speaker-dock will get a free Lighting adapter that seamlessly switches over with the legacy 30-pin Dock Connector.

Apple's justification for the new Lightning connector is that it's significantly smaller than the old port – which dated back to 2003 – and is all-digital. It can also be plugged in both ways around, though that's probably not so useful for a speaker-dock where you're more than likely going to want to see the screen.

B&O's dock section is interchangeable, useful foresight when the A8 itself is a hefty $1,149 to begin with. Alternatively, if you're living in Apple's wireless world and don't want to physically dock your device at all, the connector can be removed altogether.

The A8 Dock Upgrade Program is currently taking pre-registration details, with B&O saying the company will be in touch with owners when it knows more on the dock adapter's availability. There's more on the new iPhone 5 here, meanwhile, while we also have hands-on with the 5th-gen iPod touch which has also been upgraded to Lightning, and the 7th-gen iPod nano, which also bears the new port.