iPhone Air MagSafe Battery Hits $59.99 Low Price

[Beanoir]

I bought one of these and still have only used it twice. The battery on the iPhone Air is not as bad as people like to make out - it’s doing me just fine and I don’t find it any worse than my previous iPhone 15 Pro.

 

[Epoon4]

Really?
I wonder why Apple doesn't say that in the specs?

It can't possibly benefit them to not be marketing the battery pack to all potential buyers.

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[ThailandToo]

I see these on FB Marketplace for $20, routinely.

The only thing harder to sell on FBM than the iPhone Air is the iPhone Air battery pack.

So strange to lean into an external battery pack design that only works for the Air.

It’s fake as people sell fake stuff on there all the time. Anything Apple can be fake especially if it’s too good of a deal to be true.

 

[ThailandToo]

Great point. Why release an Air-only battery pack if the Air battery life is good?

I haven't felt the need for a pack until recently (I got the Air on launch day). I'm getting the '20%' and '10%' warnings pretty regularly now, and earlier than before. I don't feel my usage has gone up. I find myself trying to remember to charge while driving, something I didn't have to do before.

When I saw this article and then found a BNIB OEM pack for $30 on eBay, it was an easy buy for me. I'm good the until Ultra/Fold now, haha!!

I would pay the $59 for when traveling. I love my Air. I really never have a battery problem - however when traveling I could see the need. I hate carrying those huge battery packs. And most alternative batteries get hot quickly or don’t charge as fast as Apple.

 

[mlayer]

Wonder how much this battery killed the demand for the phone.

Due to the fact that Apple made a battery especially / only for the Air I assumed the battery life would be horrible and bought a similar model from Anker.

I have still not found myself in need of it.

Probably more than a few people who thought the same but decided that if an external battery is needed then they rather get another phone..

It was a Catch-22 for Apple. If they didn't sell the external pack, the Air alone would have sold with some questions, which would have multiplied over the last six months. Maybe they would've had the pack waiting in the wings, probably not because Apple isn't the kind of agile company to do drops. So they released it with the Air, hoping to head off some of the criticism and giving the tech press an "a-ha" moment to question the battery life even if it's not necessary the vast majority of the time. It was a no-win situation as we're conditioned to want the biggest batteries regardless of circumstances. Same goes for electric cars.

I only use battery packs when I'm traveling long distances - say for a weekend or longer - and I don't know where the next electrical outlet will be located. For me that goes back to the iPhone 12 mini. I have two packs, the OG MagSafe pack and a generic USB-C one that plugs into the bottom of the phone and provides 5,000 mAh. If it wasn't for the infrequent use of those two packs I might pony up for the Air-specific new one.

 

[Mrkevinfinnerty]

Bury it all in the desert.

 

[gamerdude]

It's good value at this lower price. It's a battery extender which means this is drained first before the Air starts using it's battery. This generates way less heat. But I wish it worked with other iPhones.

 

[mulatosnarf]

Shame they didn’t make one that worked for all models

 

[applefan8254]

I really don't understand this product. A charging solution via a rear-positioned smart connector would have made more sense. It would be more efficient and generate less heat.

Plus it could be both. It could have a smart connector right in the center of the magsafe ring so that when used on the air, it would be more efficient and generate less heat, but still be backward compatible with magsafe qi2 when used on non-smart connector devices.

 

[svish]

While the price seems to be enticing, not going to buy a battery pack that works only with one iPhone. Apple should have designed it in a way that it is compatible with all the latest iPhones.

 

[Sanmi]

It was a Catch-22 for Apple. If they didn't sell the external pack, the Air alone would have sold with some questions, which would have multiplied over the last six months. Maybe they would've had the pack waiting in the wings, probably not because Apple isn't the kind of agile company to do drops. So they released it with the Air, hoping to head off some of the criticism and giving the tech press an "a-ha" moment to question the battery life even if it's not necessary the vast majority of the time. It was a no-win situation as we're conditioned to want the biggest batteries regardless of circumstances. Same goes for electric cars.

I only use battery packs when I'm traveling long distances - say for a weekend or longer - and I don't know where the next electrical outlet will be located. For me that goes back to the iPhone 12 mini. I have two packs, the OG MagSafe pack and a generic USB-C one that plugs into the bottom of the phone and provides 5,000 mAh. If it wasn't for the infrequent use of those two packs I might pony up for the Air-specific new one.

They could have simply made a battery case for all iPhone 17 models

No need to specify for the air alone to highlight the fact it has a deficiency

 

[iMac The Knife]

If you need to attach a battery pack to your phone in 2026, you've bought the wrong phone.

 

[Happy_John]

If you need to attach a battery pack to your phone in 2026, you've bought the wrong phone.

It really depends on the situation.

You shouldn't need a battery pack for your phone in 2026, if you're going about your normal day and have the possibly to charge you phone within a 24 period.

Battery packs are useful in situations where you are not in a position to be able to charge your phone in a 24 hour cycle , but are relying on your phone and using it intensively.

Not that many plug sockets up a mountain, in a desert or in a jungle, but these are situations where having a device for information and communication, even through a satellite connection, can be essential.

 

[iMac The Knife]

It really depends on the situation.

You shouldn't need a battery pack for your phone in 2026, if you're going about your normal day and have the possibly to charge you phone within a 24 period.

Battery packs are useful in situations where you are not in a position to be able to charge your phone in a 24 hour cycle , but are relying on your phone and using it intensively.

Not that many plug sockets up a mountain, in a desert or in a jungle, but these are situations where having a device for information and communication, even through a satellite connection, can be essential.

I agree with you. But, the people I know that use these have never seen a jungle, nor have they been in the desert or hiked up any mountains lately. I would argue that most people that use these don't do any of those things often, if ever. I think they need to put their phones down and touch some grass! 🙂

 

[surferfb]

If you need to attach a battery pack to your phone in 2026, you've bought the wrong phone.

Personally speaking, I'd rather put on a battery pack on my phone for a couple of hours the one time a month I might need it and have a svelte phone that feels great in my hand the other 99.9% of the time than carry around a bunch of extra battery I don't need.

Understand others may look at the same situation and make a different choice, but I definitely bought the right phone for me even if I (very) occasionally need to attach a battery pack to it.

 

[Scottish_Scrooge]

I'm an iPhone user and I have a problem.

Charging is my obsession. If this was available for all phones I'd have bought this in an instant. Using my phone a lot as a hotspot is quite draining on train journey as one such example.

I set the limit to 80% yet attach a MagSafe Anker battery pack to it. Yes.. I know...

 

[Sallah]

I bought this battery with my Air because of all the talk about poor battery life on the Air. I bought it just in case I needed it at the end of the day. Well, the Air’s battery life has been great. Better than my previous 14 Pro, and that’s good enough for me. Still haven’t used the external battery yet.


And yes, the Air is awesome. Super happy with it.

 

[Wahlstrm]

It was a Catch-22 for Apple. If they didn't sell the external pack, the Air alone would have sold with some questions, which would have multiplied over the last six months. Maybe they would've had the pack waiting in the wings, probably not because Apple isn't the kind of agile company to do drops. So they released it with the Air, hoping to head off some of the criticism and giving the tech press an "a-ha" moment to question the battery life even if it's not necessary the vast majority of the time. It was a no-win situation as we're conditioned to want the biggest batteries regardless of circumstances. Same goes for electric cars.

I only use battery packs when I'm traveling long distances - say for a weekend or longer - and I don't know where the next electrical outlet will be located. For me that goes back to the iPhone 12 mini. I have two packs, the OG MagSafe pack and a generic USB-C one that plugs into the bottom of the phone and provides 5,000 mAh. If it wasn't for the infrequent use of those two packs I might pony up for the Air-specific new one.

They could’ve just released a MagSafe battery working with all the new iPhones.

“For anyone who needs a few extra hours of battery life on the go”.

Skipping the implications that the Air’s battery life is so terrible that they couldn’t release it without making an external battery for it.

 

[GDF]

Wonder how much this battery killed the demand for the phone.

Due to the fact that Apple made a battery especially / only for the Air I assumed the battery life would be horrible and bought a similar model from Anker.

I have still not found myself in need of it.

Probably more than a few people who thought the same but decided that if an external battery is needed then they rather get another phone..

Agree, bought the Apple battery for my Air and have never once needed it. The Air lasts as long or slightly longer than my 16 Pro did. Wasted my money on the Air battery pack and the price I paid was even lower than what MacRumors just posted.

 

[mlayer]

They could’ve just released a MagSafe battery working with all the new iPhones.

“For anyone who needs a few extra hours of battery life on the go”.

Skipping the implications that the Air’s battery life is so terrible that they couldn’t release it without making an external battery for it.

They beefed up the batteries on all of the other 17 models in order to avoid needing a battery pack. Sure they could offer it anyway. But as you've probably noticed, Apple doesn't need all of the accessory sales out there so they'll let Anker/Ugreen cover that and take a small royalty from the MagSafe license. Remember how Apple used to have those unsightly battery cases? No one including Apple wants to revisit that. Third party ecosystem has you covered.

 

[zenmacx]

I see these on FB Marketplace for $20, routinely.

The only thing harder to sell on FBM than the iPhone Air is the iPhone Air battery pack.

So strange to lean into an external battery pack design that only works for the Air.

This entire iPhone Air experiment is a joke.

A joke because they failed to at least match the features of the S25 Edge.

A joke because it requires an optional overpriced battery to be viable.

As an early adopter and smartphone enthusiast the jokes on me as I bought one of each 🤣

 

[Beanoir]

If you need to attach a battery pack to your phone in 2026, you've bought the wrong phone.

I disagree. You could make the same statement for a lot of iPhone accessories.