“Mophie’s brand of external battery packs and cases for iPhones have become synonymous with the product category,” Jonny Evans writes for Computerworld, “but this morning Apple took a chunk from the business by introducing its first ever iPhone case with a built-in battery pack.”
“Dubbed the Smart Battery Case and designed specifically for iPhone 6 and 6S smartphones, Apple claims its $99 solution delivers protection and up to 25-hours talk time, 18-hours browsing and/or up to 20-hours audio or video playback,” Evans writes. “Critics will probably spin reality with the FUD that by offering its own battery pack for iPhones, Apple is tacitly admitting battery life in its devices is a challenge. I’d argue the move simply shows Apple accepting reality.”
“Every manufacturer faces battery life constraints and this is why most reputable ones try to tweak their devices to deliver maximum performance for minimal power outlay, rather than packing them with battery life devouring high-spec features that just don’t work well,” Evans writes. “It appears Apple plans to eat Mophie. That’s an inevitable conclusion when you consider most iPhone accessory makers do between 40%-60% of their business in the few weeks before Christmas.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Poor Mophie and the other iPhone battery case makers. Well, at least there’s always the power-hogging fragmandroid crowd to service. Too bad they’re so notoriously cheap. Good luck with those margins!
Oh, if you’re planning on getting an Apple Watch this Christmas, hold off on iPhone battery cases. You’re likely to find you’ll use your iPhone less frequently and battery life will therefore cease to be an issue, if it even is an issue for you currently.
SEE ALSO:
WSJ reviews Apple Smart Battery Case for iPhone 6/6s: Battery life nearly doubled – December 8, 2015
Apple releases Smart Battery Case for iPhone 6/6s, adds up to 25 hours of power – December 8, 2015
Apple Watch increases iPhone battery life significantly; likely to affect future iPhone purchasing decisions – May 22, 2015
Biggest thing why I havent bought Mophie is that they do not use Lightning. They use mini-USB and for me that is no go. This is probably the reason why Apple desided to step up. I would buy this but now the problem is that my main iPhone is 6S+ and second iPhone is 5S and of cours this is made for 6 and 6+ =| I desperately need more Juice but only Lightning Juice.
This has to be the ugliest Apple product ever. My god, another TC product. Another product I won’t be buying. Who on earth designed that thing? Is this a joke? Please let it be a joke… I’m in disbelief that this is a real product.
They just took a rectangle battery and stuck it in some plastic!
Killing off the 30-pin connector was not a mistake. It was almost a decade old and its time had come. In that same time period phones and devices using USB changed 2 or 3 times (standard A or B, to mini, then to micro).
“Killing off the 30-pin industry…”
You must have been absolutely devastated when the SCSI interface was MD’d back in the early 90s.
I was. I had 5 external SCSI devices at the time. I lived.
Not sure what this is all about, but of course Mophie uses Lightning.
Fugly.
Just make the whole phone thicker so it can use the same camera as the Plus size phones and make all of the extra thickness battery. I remember seeing the video from Apple showing how they can make batteries practically any size now.
You may be right that thin is no longer “in”. Thinness has never been a smart phone requirement for me. Seems to have mostly been a Jonny Ive challenge. Apple could also consider making a special thicker iPhone model with a bigger battery for those who need it. An iPhone 6S Plus XL or something.
According to the WSJ review, “Apple even integrated a passive antenna into the case so cellular reception doesn’t suffer.”
Perhaps Apple used the camel-back approach to avoid impacting the performance of the phone?
I’m curious about that. Do other non-metallic or battery cases cause reception problems? I haven’t heard it being an issue before.
Now, if this passive antenna *boosted* cell reception above normal, then we’re talking.
I am calling this one the “Camel Back” case.
Now will there ever be a two hump version?
So this is the dromedary then. Waiting for the Bactrian might be like waiting for Godot.
It would seem to me that this offers an opportunity for Apple to support wireless charging. They could add that feature to the case now, and add it to the phone later in a future revision, should it prove popular.
I doubt Mophie is in much trouble. This case can’t even charge the phone to 100%. I do like the lightning connector though, but not $100 worth of like.
Most battery cases these days offer a lighting port, even the super cheap ones. Got my 10000mAh for less than 20$ and it charges my phone two times over, or more!
What do you use? I need one.
is Apple getting ready for the VERY THIN iPHONE 7?
This could have been avoided by just making the iPhone thicker and making the battery bigger.
Making it thinner and then producing a battery pack – another idea from sales team ?
What next, adding a micro usb slot in the cover as well ?
It’s ugly! What is with the square hump? Perhaps they could have taken a design note from anker ultra slim. Good lord apple. At least it uses the lightening connector vs usb like competition. Trying to find something positive in this Victor Hugo Quasimodo inspired design.
Stunningly inelegant. I wouldn’t trust whoever designs MDN with judgment on these issues.
With that design no one is being threatened!
Inevitable. It took Apple long enough.
Keep kicking butt Mophie!
Fitz could have done better.