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
68,589
39,460



While reports today suggested that Apple's new Smart Battery Cases for the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max have lower battery capacities than previous versions for iPhone 6 and iPhone 7 models, it turns out the new cases actually have larger capacities than the old ones when taking voltage into consideration.

smart-battery-case-xs-800x656.jpg

The new iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max cases are rated at 1,369 mAh, lower than the iPhone 6/6s case at 1,877 mAh and iPhone 7 case at 2,365 mAh, but according to Rene Ritchie, there are actually two such cells in the case.

As a result, the new cases run at a higher voltage that yields a total of 10.1 Wh of energy compared to 7.13 Wh for the iPhone 6/6s case and 8.98 Wh for the iPhone 7 case.

Also, New Battery Cases have more/higher density batteries than previous generations.They use 2 cells now instead of 1. So, you're getting around 1.4 additional watt hours and almost 400 more milliamp hours.BUT power efficiency is WAY more important than quantity these days. pic.twitter.com/VfZCaVWPz8 - Rene Ritchie (@reneritchie) January 16, 2019
Some more context: while the mAh rating is lower, the Wh rating (10.1 Wh) is higher because it's operating at a higher voltage. 7.13 on 6, 8.98 on 7 (they didn't list V).My colleague @marksmirniotis goes into the differences between the measurements: https://t.co/BdqeWpLr3f https://t.co/rW9LYJzjzW - Nick Guy (@thenickguy) January 16, 2019

Paired with Smart Battery Cases, Apple says the iPhone XS gets up to 33 hours of talk time, up to 21 hours of internet use, and up to 25 hours of video playback, while the iPhone XS Max gets up to 37 hours of talk time, up to 20 hours of internet use, and up to 25 hours of video playback.

Of course, real-world testing will prove more valuable than tech specs, so we'll see how the new cases truly stack up in the coming days.

Apple introduced Smart Battery Cases for the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR yesterday. All three are priced at $129 in the United States, with deliveries and in-store availability slated to begin this week. Apple says the cases are not compatible with the iPhone X, but results have varied so far.

Article Link: Correction: iPhone XS and XS Max Smart Battery Cases Have Larger Capacity Than Previous Versions
 
Sad the article writers here lack basic technical knowledge.

The 13" MacBook Pro has a 5,086 mAh battery. The iPhone Xs has 2,6858 mAh. Did anyone think they were actually comparable without looking at Whr?
 
See what happens when you jump the gun to get clicks?
[doublepost=1547671086][/doublepost]
Sad the article writers here lack basic technical knowledge.

The 13" MacBook Pro has a 5,086 mAh battery. The iPhone Xs has 2,6858 mAh. Did anyone think they were actually comparable without looking at Whr?
Yes, literally almost everyone posting in the other thread thought that, including the writers.

Sad.
 
What a ugly case.:eek:
Looks like my Nokia extended battery I once had (1997).
Tidbit: Which btw, was more expensive than a new iPhone XS 256 GB (or maybe even the Max) now.


View attachment 816058 Is it normal for the case to arrive with 0% charge?

Also, I think it will take time to get used to the bump for me when typing. Other than that, though, it fits and feels good! And the bump isn’t *that* big.

Software bug or a dud.
 
So is Apple's better than the one Mophie is releasing soon or what?

Yes, I would think so. As I wrote in the original thread, because it's made by Apple, the iPhone is able to know when it's plugged into an Apple battery case and use the case's battery first before switching to its own internal battery (at least if it’s anything like Apple’s last Smart Battery Case), which means less wear and tear on the iPhone’s battery. This also means that this is the only case that doesn't cause the iPhone to act like it's plugged into the wall when it's in the case and start doing battery draining stuff like iCloud backups and syncing photos to the cloud and such.
 
So is Apple's better than the one Mophie is releasing soon or what?

Well yeah. The Apple battery case connects via Lightning whereas the Mophie one leaves the bottom open and connects wirelessly, losing efficiency due to wireless charging. The Apple case has provisions in iOS to charge smartly, whereas the Mophie would just be seen as any old wireless charging pad.

The Mophie is also bigger and ugly, but the latter is a matter of preference.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MrUNIMOG
It's smaller! Let us burn Tim Cook in effigy immediately!

(What's that? Oh. It's bigger? Oh. Ok.)

It's bigger! Yay us for noticing!
 
  • Like
Reactions: SigEp265
Googled around to find out the Wh of the XS phones.

For reference:
“The iPhone XS comes with a 2658mAh/10.13Wh battery, while the XS Max has a capacity of 3174mAh/12.08Wh”

So no factoring in efficiency losses, neither phone will get a full charge from the smart cases?
 
A slight improvement in the hump’s positioning and width has made a huge difference in the estetics.
Looks much better than the previouse Igore battery case.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sasparilla
Googled around to find out the Wh of the XS phones.

For reference:
“The iPhone XS comes with a 2658mAh/10.13Wh battery, while the XS Max has a capacity of 3174mAh/12.08Wh”

So no factoring in efficiency losses, neither phone will get a full charge from the smart cases?

Was that a claim or requirement?
 
  • Like
Reactions: MrUNIMOG
The one who looks worst in this is Nick Guy, the Wirecutter writer who first tweeted without context. Everyone else (except the iMore guy) only compounded the situation by taking it at face value.

The Wirecutter is the site that includes a "Why you should trust us" section in each of their stories.

Maybe not...
 
I was also confused when it was first reported because the overall bump of the battery looks bigger than the old ones.
 
I can appreciate MacRumors/authors releasing the article for the ‘correction’, but they need to slow down before posting and research more thoroughly. This hasn’t been the first time this has happened, but altogether, at least this wasn’t an ‘update’ in the article, and this new article was to correct the wrong information about the battery.
 
  • Like
Reactions: decypher44
It’s a question based off an observation.

If I recall the previous cases didn’t give a full charge so I wouldn’t have expected the new ones to.

They didn’t and it seems like Apple skirts the question of whether it provides a full charge by having the iPhone draw power from the battery case first. In this way, it extends the iPhone battery.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.