Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
63,194
30,135



Mophie today introduced a new line of iPhone battery cases that support wireless charging through a bundled-in charging pad. Called the "Charge Force," Mophie's new wireless charging ecosystem begins fueling up a device the moment it's set down on a compatible charge pad, and prioritizes an iPhone's charge before moving over to the battery case.

mophie-charge-force-2-800x395.jpg

The new Charge Force-compatible cases aren't limited to Mophie's pad, either, giving users the ability to charge up their iPhone anywhere that supports Qi and "virtually all wireless charging standards." The company also announced its own series of charging pads, including a vertical one for an office desk, a vent mount for the car, and a basic flat model for the home. Powerful magnets hold the iPhone in place securely at any angle, even on a bumpy road trip in a vehicle.
"Wireless charging is being integrated into our lives at coffee shops, restaurants, airports, in furniture, cars and so on," said Shawn Dougherty, mophie COO and Co-Founder. "By providing a diverse range of wireless charging options, we've taken the performance and convenience of mobile power even further."
On the iPhone battery case side of things, Mophie said that all of the latest juice pack products support Charge Force so users can take advantage of wireless charging with juice pack's "compact design." There aren't any differing design options to choose from at launch, however, with a simple black colorway available for those interested who have either an iPhone 6/6 Plus or iPhone 6s/6s Plus.


A bundle with a juice pack case and Charge Force charging base for the smaller, 4.7-inch iPhone 6 and 6s costs $99.95, while the same bundle for the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus and 6s Plus will run users $129.95. Those bundles come with the basic home charging base, which is sold separately for $39.95. Alternative pads for a desk and a car vent are available for $59.95 each.

Article Link: Mophie Launches Wireless 'Charge Force' Battery Cases and Charging Pads
 

BigMcGuire

Cancelled
Jan 10, 2012
9,832
14,022
I'm very interested. As an Ingress player, as someone who doesn't like to charge their phone a lot - $126 sounds interesting. That said, $126 can buy a lot of Anker batteries (external - which I already have). So I couldn't justify it. :(

I wonder how much the wireless charging will heat up the phone.
 

Swampthing

Suspended
Mar 5, 2004
651
575
If I still have to place the iPhone on a specific charging mat that's plugged into an electrical source, there isn't much difference between that and plugging in the charger itself.

I'm much more interested in the wireless charging technology that can be done anywhere in the room without the need for placement on a specific mat. Similar to wifi. That technology will truly revolutionize cell phone charging.
 

xizdun

macrumors 6502
Nov 13, 2011
270
464
All that's needed is a Lightning connector now, Mophie... come on, already!!! It's been years I've been waiting for a damn Lightning connector on your products. Won't buy one until then.
 
  • Like
Reactions: B4U

zorinlynx

macrumors G3
May 31, 2007
8,133
17,434
Florida, USA
If I still have to place the iPhone on a specific charging mat that's plugged into an electrical source, there isn't much difference between that and plugging in the charger itself.

I'm much more interested in the wireless charging technology that can be done anywhere in the room without the need for placement on a specific mat. Similar to wifi. That technology will truly revolutionize cell phone charging.

Look up the Inverse Square Law. The reason you cannot have that is physics. As you move away from a source of radiation, the intensity of that radiation goes down with the square of the distance. Filling even a small room with enough energy to charge a phone anywhere in it would be so wasteful as to be pointless.

Not to mention you'd probably be uncomfortable from the resulting heat.
[doublepost=1464720002][/doublepost]
All that's needed is a Lightning connector now, Mophie... come on, already!!! It's been years I've been waiting for a damn Lightning connector on your products. Won't buy one until then.

I think Apple has a tight grip on the female lightning connector and doesn't allow third parties to implement it.

I've seen zero MFI devices with a female lightning connector. Only the Apple branded docks and battery case.
 

macduke

macrumors G5
Jun 27, 2007
13,100
19,598
I think there's a pretty good chance of wireless charging being in the 2017 iPhone. It's probably why they're moving back to a glass design. Even if it only worked in a three foot radius, that would be enough for my desk and nightstand. Could even put one behind my couch.

It would be neat if Apple implemented this with their rumored Amazon Echo competitor. You could have a few of these placed around your house, wirelessly charging your gadgets and responding to Siri commands. That would be especially useful for home automation. I don't always carry my phone everywhere with me in my house, although I do have an Apple Watch. It would also be neat if those could be used as BT or WiFi bridges for HomeKit devices as well as extending Airport networks. If it did all that, I'd buy 3-4 at $79-99 a pop to put around my house.
 

boshii

macrumors 68040
Jul 6, 2008
3,699
784
Atlanta, GA
I think Apple has a tight grip on the female lightning connector and doesn't allow third parties to implement it.

I've seen zero MFI devices with a female lightning connector. Only the Apple branded docks and battery case.
I don't think it's Apple's fault as this MFi gamepad uses it. The Beats Pill+ uses it as well but they're owned by Apple.

I'm sure there are others as well.
 

Glassed Silver

macrumors 68020
Mar 10, 2007
2,096
2,567
Kassel, Germany
If I still have to place the iPhone on a specific charging mat that's plugged into an electrical source, there isn't much difference between that and plugging in the charger itself.

I'm much more interested in the wireless charging technology that can be done anywhere in the room without the need for placement on a specific mat. Similar to wifi. That technology will truly revolutionize cell phone charging.
Not only that, but also public charging, which I imagine will take off similarly to how public WiFi took off.

In the future you won't even be looking for public WiFi anymore, it'll be a standard.
Public wireless charging will be the new hotspot and it'll rock, especially considering how our iPhones seem to be damned to go through the "make it thinner" limbo as Apple struggles with their anorexia problem all while we wait for better battery technology to mature.

Imagine not bringing a charging cord for a city trip or a long train ride or flight.
Imagine battery banks becoming unnecessary anywhere urban. Sign me up!

Glassed Silver:mac
 

Swampthing

Suspended
Mar 5, 2004
651
575
Look up the Inverse Square Law. The reason you cannot have that is physics. As you move away from a source of radiation, the intensity of that radiation goes down with the square of the distance. Filling even a small room with enough energy to charge a phone anywhere in it would be so wasteful as to be pointless.

Not to mention you'd probably be uncomfortable from the resulting heat.
[doublepost=1464720002][/doublepost]

I think Apple has a tight grip on the female lightning connector and doesn't allow third parties to implement it.

I've seen zero MFI devices with a female lightning connector. Only the Apple branded docks and battery case.

Dude. Read your history. Tesla invented this technology decades ago. Other companies have recently demonstrated it is possible now.
 

delegagtor

macrumors regular
Oct 5, 2015
103
204
All that's needed is a Lightning connector now, Mophie... come on, already!!! It's been years I've been waiting for a damn Lightning connector on your products. Won't buy one until then.

It isn't Mophie's fault -- it's Apple controlling the market with their proprietary connector. That's why nobody else is allowed to officially license the "female" lightning port. At least, last time I checked the cases that had lightning ports were either by Apple (their ridiculous Hump case) or by questionable companies (read: Chinese knock-offs that don't care that much about licensing or actual compatibility).

If it was just a matter of paying $4 to license the female port, you can bet Mophie would already have done so.
 

Shirasaki

macrumors P6
May 16, 2015
15,501
10,728
If I still have to place the iPhone on a specific charging mat that's plugged into an electrical source, there isn't much difference between that and plugging in the charger itself.

I'm much more interested in the wireless charging technology that can be done anywhere in the room without the need for placement on a specific mat. Similar to wifi. That technology will truly revolutionize cell phone charging.
Then this is equivalent to transmitting electricity over air, which is currently not so practical outside lab.
 

Elijen

macrumors 6502
May 8, 2012
465
898
It's NOT wireless when you need a wire to power the station up and then put your phone directly on the station in order to charge it ...
 

whatsthatnow

macrumors newbie
Jun 2, 2016
1
0
If I still have to place the iPhone on a specific charging mat that's plugged into an electrical source, there isn't much difference between that and plugging in the charger itself.

I'm much more interested in the wireless charging technology that can be done anywhere in the room without the need for placement on a specific mat. Similar to wifi. That technology will truly revolutionize cell phone charging.

Good luck with that, Newton.
 

cygy2k

macrumors regular
Jun 13, 2005
213
432
It's NOT wireless when you need a wire to power the station up and then put your phone directly on the station in order to charge it ...

I hate this argument. It IS wireless for the phone because you are not plugging the wire into the phone itself. It doesn't say it's "contactless" charging.

Contact <> Insertion... ask any high school lovers;)
 

daijholt

macrumors 65816
Jun 14, 2013
1,113
343
Wales, UK
I've had this case for a few days now and I'm beyond impressed with it. It just does everything right. Using an iPad wall adapter (2.5amp output) in the base it charges the phone just as fast as the standard adapter supplied with the iPhone. The magnet on the base is strong enough to hold the phone, but the base has enough weight to stay down when you pick up the phone.

The case itself is sturdy, has lips at the top and bottom to protect the screen when face down, and the sides are at the perfect level to maintain the 3DTouch edge functionality (where you can 3dtuch at the left edge to reach multitasking).

As for the charge capacity; the case boosted me from 27% to 83% WHILST actively browsing safari and hot spotting on 4G LTE to another device. In theory, it should get even more without those usage factors.

Very impressed with this case. The fact it has micro-USB is all but forgotten, which is great because this is the only reason I didn't buy mophie before. Its compatibility with all Qi accessories is a big win also, as my workplace is filled with Qi pads thanks to selling them and the phones that support them.

As a sidenote, the material the case his made of does not stick to your pockets, like the official Apple smart battery case does. This was the biggest drawback of that case, as it always pulled my jeans pockets with it when taking it out.

For all intents and purposes, I've found the Charge Force Juice Pack Wireless for the iPhone 6s to be perfect in every way, which is quite an achievement, as Im an extremely fussy user.

I own the Juice Pack Helium for the iPhone 5s as well, and the charge force case feels like the result of years of engineering and trial & error. Have to give mophie credit for actually evolving as they've gone along.
 
Last edited:

OnTheInterwebs

macrumors newbie
Jun 9, 2016
1
1
KY
DO NOT BUY UNLESS YOU WANT TO WAIT A MONTH AND DONT CARE ABOUT SERVICE OR SUPPORT!!! So excited for this device to come out, I've been waiting for a wireless charging battery case since I bought the 6S+. I was so excited to see this released. Placed an order on Mophie's site 6/3. They offered free shipping with a 1-2 day processing time, so I patiently waited until 6/6 for an email that it shipped. NOTHING. Their site still listed the item as 'submitted.' But the site now showed the item on back order. Uh-oh! Good thing I got my order in early, right? So I shot an email to support to check the status. Waited 24 hours. NOTHING. So I called Mophie's 800 number. Left a voicemail. No live person, just voicemail. Another day passes and I get an email from Mophie "technical support." "...it appears your order did not make it to shipping prior to that back order. At this time, our best estimate is the product will be shipping within the next 2-3 weeks." Wow. No "I'm sorry you've waited all week for an item that's still a month out." No "I'm sorry we didn't contact you sooner." No "I'm sorry we seriously underestimated demand before bringing this product to market." In fact, there was no "I'm sorry" at all. Look, I get that these things happen, and when they do, it's usually to me. But how hard is it to shoot an email to all those whose orders were unable to be filled. Couldn't be that difficult, right? So today, I get a voicemail from Mophie. It basically told me the same thing, if I had paid for expedited shipping, I would likely have it by now, but between my order and their shipping, they ran out of product. The funny thing is, the guy who left the voicemail from "customer support" was the same guy who sent the email from "technical support." Maybe that explains the unreasonable delay in responding and the lack of proper notification that my item is on back order and I'm giving their company an interest free loan for a month. Maybe they plan to use it to hire more help? Either way, I requested a refund. If this is how they service and support their customers, I want no part of this company. It's amazing how they are hyping this item and they have no supply. I guess they are trying to be like other companies, creating that desire and inaccessibility. The thing is, when those companies ran out of product, they were prepared to react and respond to the customers who got lost in the gap, they made them feel valued. Mophie has one guy. I don't feel valued. I feel angry. And I want a refund. I'm still waiting on that, two days later. Makes you wonder where all the profit goes from.a $130 phone case. Certainly not to improving customer service. Good luck if you plan to get this. I'll wait for a competitors knock off, it will probably have a better battery anyway.
[doublepost=1465522332][/doublepost]
I've had this case for a few days now..."

Just curious, when did you order and what shipping speed?
 
  • Like
Reactions: BigMcGuire

icsedge1

macrumors member
May 29, 2003
80
3
40.69489 -73.94290. 49 feet
Hello 2017! Just got this for my 7+, along with the flat charging base. Love it. Amazon sold me the case (retail $99) for 80 bucks, while the other colors were all $93 plus. Fine, my personality and school love all black anyway. Yes, it's wireless charging, not plugging a cable into the phone. Regardless, this is the third Mophie case I have had over the years, and they do build their things - like Apple does. Of note, no longer a switch on the case to turn the battery on, just holding down the status button now does that. So net, smooth lines all the way across the case. Yes, not having lighting in there is sad, but as other have stated, that is all on Apple. Oh well, I never really plug my phone into my Mac (iCloud 200 gigs), and now that the base station is plugged into an iPad plug (with the micro sd cord), the charging is quick and always with Mophie cases, phone first then case. This case will be with me until sometime this fall, whenever the iPhone X comes out, which, again as others have pointed out, should be wireless on it's own. Well, wireless sitting on a charging base. Yup, Tesla was onto this back in the day. Sad he died penniless.

Sedge
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.