Apple Smart Battery Case Guide

[Icaras]

In the third pic, it's just begging to have a headphone jack added.

I beg to differ. It’s just begging for three more speaker holes.

By the way, that picture probably keeps Jony up at night.

 

[CosmicRichy]

I’m wondering if it’s safe to use “fast chargers” with the case. I picked up the black XR Case and I love it. Also picked up a 12W Apple Charger to use, I’m done with the standard 5W chargers.

 

[punterab80]

Your post is Really a poor attempt to knock Tim Cook, even if you don’t like the battery case, that’s fine, but there’s no reason try to conflate Innovation and Tim Cook with this. Some people find the value in this battery case for those who don’t have access to a charging port throughout their day, especially if they’re heavily involved with their iPhone usage.

I agree, people just love any chance to slam Apple . I would rather spend 130 and know my $1500 iPhone isn’t going to get fried with some cheap 30 dollar battery . If you can’t afford something, or don’t like it , you don’t have to buy it.

 

[johnnygee]

Everything you need to know. $130.00 for a simple battery case.

Another overpriced Apple product.
Another innovation brought to you courtesy of Tim Cook.

I don't think it's too far out of line. The upcoming Mophie Juice Pack Access battery case costs $119.95. It has an open bottom and charges wirelessly or with USB C cable. The capacity is 2,200 mAh compared to 2,738 for the Apple Smart Battery Case. Looking at the illustrations on Mophie's website, it appears to have a bump on the back. The open bottom and the battery bump avoids the usual "chin" and speaker/mic ports on the front of the case typical on most battery cases.

 

[ohbenghuat]

I don't think it's too far out of line. The upcoming Mophie Juice Pack Access battery case costs $119.95. It has an open bottom and charges wirelessly or with USB C cable. The capacity is 2,200 mAh compared to 2,738 for the Apple Smart Battery Case. Looking at the illustrations on Mophie's website, it appears to have a bump on the back. The open bottom and the battery bump avoids the usual "chin" and speaker/mic ports on the front of the case typical on most battery cases.

And I don't think the mophie case will be using USB-C PD fast charge

 

[ta88ycat]

Please could we have the weight of the cases ?

 

[kingax1]

With these batteries being released and something of a mandatory for a group of people why doesnt Apple just release a phat version of the iPhone thats simply has everything you need from this case built in and then you can opt to use any other case in the world or simply not use a case at all?

But then again, people would want a battery case for the phat version anyways so you end up stuck in the same boat.

 

[Tekzilla]

If this had been released when my xS max just came out and if it was $99 I would very likely have gotten this. But since I'm on the upgrade program, $129 for 8 months is not appealing at all. A pretty easy pass.

 

[Warren Buffduck]

The biggest advantage this case has going for it is the fact that it uses the case battery before the phone battery, preserving long-term battery health. However, you could basically get 2 battery replacements for the same price.

Or 10 ext. powerpacks

 

[daveathall]

Can you wirelessly charge your phone with this case fitted?

 

[metsjetsfan]

Is it waterproof? IP rating ?
[doublepost=1547910256][/doublepost]

The biggest advantage this case has going for it is the fact that it uses the case battery before the phone battery, preserving long-term battery health. However, you could basically get 2 battery replacements for the same price.

Is that true? Doesnt it still need to pass thru the iphones own battery cells? Is this confirmed somewhere? Am curious to know. You bring up an interesting point
[doublepost=1547910344][/doublepost]

Can you confirm if the two cells are wired in series or parallel?
Some sites say the cells are wired in series which will double the voltage.
So if the phone is using the power from the battery case first, the phone is getting power at double the voltage than it normally would. This doesn't seem right.
If true, how is this affecting the phone?

It is series for sure. The verge reported it and I would assume they confirmed it with Apple or a teardown publication.

https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2019/1/16/18185283/apple-iphone-battery-case-size

 

[simidene]

iPhone X owner here. So far it works perfectly! No complaints. I'll update this review if I notice anything significant.

you are using this case on an iPhone X? I thought that this was for the XS, XR, XSmax?

 

[rlucky]

I dont understand people criticizing the price of this case.. the Mophie has always started at 100 bucks... this is a superior product and its sold by Apple for only 30$ more. I am not understanding the outrage here.

$150? I get it.. but $30 more for the better product isn't that bad to me.

Agreed. I’ve used mophie for the past several years and now the new Mophie for the XS Max, which is soon to be released this quarter (juice pack access?) is only $10 less than the Apple case. I bought the Apple Smart Battery Case yesterday because of the integration with iOS, access to the lightning port to use all thing lightning, it’s “intelligent” charging and how it fits the Max like a glove. The battery capacity on this thing is insane! Based on my limited knowledge on batteries and what I’ve read, the 10.1Wh is a tremendous amount of capacity. I’d likely get close to two days use in one full charge of both phone and case in my average use. One cool feature which would be nice would be to turn off the use of the battery via iOS. When I had the Mophie, I could use a manual switch to turn the battery on and off.
I found that the way Apple designed the lightning port on the battery case ingenious. It’s essentially an extension cable embedded into the case and if you look at how the male side (inside the case) aligns with the female plug (at the bottom of the case), they are slightly offset. You can also charge the case separately via Qi or lightning cable (there is an LED inside the case to show you the charge state).
For those who are concerned about size, all battery brand cases with significant capacity will add noticeable weight and some bulk. For the Max smart battery case, it is not as long as my previous Mophie case so now my phone sticks completely inside my front pocket without a part of the battery case showing. In addition, the silky, rubbery texture combined with the battery gives me a more comfortable grip with my phone. Keep in mind that I am used to using a phone with extra weight and grip due to my prior Mophie experiences. I suppose the question for me is: with the already fantastic battery life of the Max, should I buy this case? I think this case may be worth keeping for me based on the aforementioned features and may also add value for my long days of heavy use and other activities such as backpacking, camping and climbing trips.

 

[simidene]

I dont understand people criticizing the price of this case.. the Mophie has always started at 100 bucks... this is a superior product and its sold by Apple for only 30$ more. I am not understanding the outrage here.

$150? I get it.. but $30 more for the better product isn't that bad to me.

I only own apple products, but Apple deserves the some flack over the price of this case!!! The case only has a total of 2.738mAh?? If you are unable to see that Apple products are not overpriced, then unfortunately you have been brainwashed!

 

[kingax1]

Agreed. I’ve used mophie for the past several years and now the new Mophie for the XS Max, which is soon to be released this quarter (juice pack access?) is only $10 less than the Apple case. I bought the Apple Smart Battery Case yesterday because of the integration with iOS, access to the lightning port to use all thing lightning, it’s “intelligent” charging and how it fits the Max like a glove. The battery capacity on this thing is insane! Based on my limited knowledge on batteries and what I’ve read, the 10.1Wh is a tremendous amount of capacity. I’d likely get close to two days use in one full charge of both phone and case in my average use. One cool feature which would be nice would be to turn off the use of the battery via iOS. When I had the Mophie, I could use a manual switch to turn the battery on and off.
I found that the way Apple designed the lightning port on the battery case ingenious. It’s essentially an extension cable embedded into the case and if you look at how the male side (inside the case) aligns with the female plug (at the bottom of the case), they are slightly offset. You can also charge the case separately via Qi or lightning cable (there is an LED inside the case to show you the charge state).
For those who are concerned about size, all battery brand cases with significant capacity will add noticeable weight and some bulk. For the Max smart battery case, it is not as long as my previous Mophie case so now my phone sticks completely inside my front pocket without a part of the battery case showing. In addition, the silky, rubbery texture combined with the battery gives me a more comfortable grip with my phone. Keep in mind that I am used to using a phone with extra weight and grip due to my prior Mophie experiences. I suppose the question for me is: with the already fantastic battery life of the Max, should I buy this case? I think this case may be worth keeping for me based on the aforementioned features and may also add value for my long days of heavy use and other activities such as backpacking, camping and climbing trips.

I heard there are antennas in Apple’s battery case so no loss of reception...if I got that right of course which is a big win over others.

 

[lex22]

When I plug my phone+battery case into my Mac, I get the attached popup telling me I need to install software, but when I say ok, it tells me the software is not available. Any thoughts on this? Oh, and while my phone shows up in iTunes, when I click on the phone icon, nothing happens.

 

[svendobbelaere]

When I plug my phone+battery case into my Mac, I get the attached popup telling me I need to install software, but when I say ok, it tells me the software is not available. Any thoughts on this? Oh, and while my phone shows up in iTunes, when I click on the phone icon, nothing happens.

Apple probably needs to release an update to iTunes, just like they do when there's a new phone out. That would be my guess

 

[xxray]

[doublepost=1547910256][/doublepost]
Is that true? Doesnt it still need to pass thru the iphones own battery cells? Is this confirmed somewhere? Am curious to know. You bring up an interesting point
[doublepost=1547910344][/doublepost]

The MacRumors article says this:

“When you have the Smart Battery Case on your iPhone, your iPhone will use all of the charge in the case before expending its own battery.”

Therefore, it would preserve the battery health of the iPhone since it would be used less.​

 

[DeanCorp]

Excuse my ignorance but how do I connect CarPlay in my car with this iPhone Charging Case on? I have tried my USB-C cable which I use for my iPad Pro (2019) and it doesn’t fit.

 

[imax2k2]

Haven’t read the thread but today I got the battery case for my iPhone X which was on 11.xx, after plugging the phone in, the phone wouldn’t charge after dismissing the message/warning, restarting etc. I had to update to 12.1.2 and at that point it started working as expected. Fortunately I didn’t need to update to the beta firmware for it to work. Only thing I don’t like is to look at battery % left you have to go to swipe left from home screen, it doesn’t show up in control system, which is a general experience irrelevant to me using it on the iPhone X.

Has a good feel with microfiber lining inside. I’m planning to keep the case. If anyone has any questions about it using it on the x or general, please post I’ll reply when able.

 

[David Jones 34]

Forgive me if I missed this somewhere in the thread. Apple call this a "Smart" battery case, but is it as "smart" (dumb) as the last one (for the older phones)? My testing has shown that the iPhone will draw power from the older "smart" cases as if it were plugged in to mains power -- that is, it doesn't throttle anything as if it were on "battery" (backups, photo syncing, etc). Is that still the case with this newer so-called "smart" case?

 

[chudiddy]

I received mine today and just put it on. I have an XS Max and it makes the entire phone heavy AF. Sorry i don't have the exact weight but its actually uncomfortably heavy. Not sure about this. Ill give it a week and reassess my decision about keeping it.

 

[Abazigal]

I only own apple products, but Apple deserves the some flack over the price of this case!!! The case only has a total of 2.738mAh?? If you are unable to see that Apple products are not overpriced, then unfortunately you have been brainwashed!

Did you just argue that Apple products are fairly priced?

Double negatives for the win!

 

[jeffwingo]

I absolutely love the Apple battery case. I had one for my iPhone 7 and then for my 8. Up until this one came out, I was using a Lux case. It worked well but you had to turn it on to charge the phone. The reason the Apple case is so nice is that you don’t have to think about...it just works.

 

[mistasopz]

It looks like a tumor... Also, I guess this is part of Timmy's plan to squeeze more profit out of users -- first remove the headphone jack and use thinness and waterproofing as an excuse (hasn't seemed to slow down Samsung), then sell expensive battery cases to recoup the loss in battery life.