Apple is prepping a magnetically-attached battery pack for MagSafe iPhones: iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max.
Mark Gurman for Bloomberg News:
Apple has been developing the attachment for at least a year and it has been scheduled to launch in the months following the release of the iPhone 12 line, according to people with knowledge of the product.
The battery pack would attach to the back of an iPhone 12 using the MagSafe system, which all the new phones use for charging and pairing other accessories like cases and wallets. Some prototypes of the battery pack have a white rubber exterior, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the product isn’t yet public. The new accessory would differ from Apple battery add-ons for previous iPhones in that it only provides additional battery life and doesn’t serve as a full protective case.
Evidence of a magnetic battery accessory has begun to appear. A beta version of Apple’s upcoming iOS 14.5 software update included a vague, later-removed reference to a battery pack, according to a finding by developer Steve Moser.
New ‘Mobile Charge Mode’ in iOS 14.5 beta 2 for an as-yet-unannounced ‘Battery Pack’ and not a case presumedly because it uses MagSafe for charging iPhone 12 devices. Also interestingly it keeps your iPhone charged to 90% for ‘battery efficiency’. https://t.co/CPZXkBXkEc pic.twitter.com/jHHrrz4Qir
— Steve Moser (@SteveMoser) February 16, 2021
MacDailyNews Take: When and if the MagSafe battery pack is released, Apple will need boatloads to satisfy demand (although we’re finding it impossible to deplete the battery in our iPhone 12 Pro Max units which easily last a full day of use).
Only Apple can pull off a kludgy add-on backpack as a desirable super glam-on device.
Only Dimler can pull off a kludgy series of badly done art as an undesirable super crap-on bonfire fodder material