Photos of Apple's New MagSafe Battery Pack Provide First Look at Thickness

[Johnny907]

It looks like it's being humped by a midget iPhone 5C. I'll be sticking with my Anker battery pack that charges my phone and watch at the same time for half as much, thanks.

 

[Sheldrake]

Wow. Awful. Apple really needs to hire some designers.

 

[Tagbert]

For $99 you get two Anker packs in fact. With more capacity.

and the Anker packs are twice as thick. That's fine if you really need the extra battery capacity but most folks don't. This is designed to give you some extra charge for those days when you are pushing it but isn't as clunky as the big boy battery packs.

 

[Powerguru]

Existence of this product means Apple is far away from real battery improvements.

 

[jmgregory1]

A wireless charger makes more sense. costs 20 bucks and 0-maintenance

”Makes more sense” isn’t exactly how my wife deals with technology. In fact, she doesn’t deal with it, I do - when she lets me. She could easily plug her 12 Pro into her MBP during the day to ensure she keeps her phone charged, but as I said she’s not one to like dealing with charging cables of any type.

I could just get her a couple of extra stand chargers - MagSafe, because she’s not great at ensuring a good connection when using a normal Qi charger. She could then have them set up in her two offices. The price would be about the same, maybe a bit more when I factor in two of the MagSafe pucks, the angled MagSafe stands we use at home (which are great for using while at a desk), and cheap charger blocks.

It’s why buying one battery is kind of the easy solution - although I’d still need to figure out how to get it charged at night, and not just have it sit depleted in her purse.

 

[Tagbert]

I've never heard people complaining about no Apple external battery. I have heard lots of complaints about not making the iPhone thicker to accommodate a larger battery. Hail, plenty of us have railed against Apple's Thinner, Thinner, Thinner mantra.

When was the last time Apple made a phone thinner? iPhone 6

 

[ctg7w6]

Through my jobs discount program it’s only $89 and I’m strongly considering getting it

Go for it. I also just picked it up for $89. Very excited to get this. I’ve been walking around with an Anker charger which is great, but I always have to plug it in. Can’t wait to just stick it on the back and be good to go. No more cables baby.

 

[justperry]

It looks like its been taken over by a parasite. Li ke one of those parasites that replace the tongue of a fish.

Worse looking than the integrated 'Hump' battery cases from some years ago.

this is the most idiotic move by apple

Holy cow! Apple should just make the phone a little thicker and put more battery in it, instead of selling a product that makes the phone look like a pregnant whale.

This is the most horrendous design Apple *ever released, this thing is fugly as poo.
The old hump battery case was bad, this monstrosity multiplied by ten.



*To my knowledge

 

[ctg7w6]

What year are you from? This is 2021, not 2005. People these days stare at their phones ALL THE TIME. Yes, even when hanging out. If there was no instagram, fb or reddit, there would probably no real need for battery banks lol

About the battery: It's good it has strong magnet, but the price is too god damn high

Lol that’s what I thought while reading this. Maybe he’s a boomer or old millennial, I don’t know? I share YouTube videos with my friends, we watch them together, look at photos, etc.

 

[ctg7w6]

This is the most horrendous design Apple *ever released, this thing is fugly as poo.
The old hump battery case was bad, this monstrosity multiplied by ten.



*To my knowledge

I like it. I bought it. People have different opinions.

 

[Oblivion1337]

Everyone has their justification. Buy/No buy is personal choice.
But charging with 15W in my pants will sure fry my eggs in this summer heat.
I am quite interested to see the charge capacity.
Will it shoot down those complaining on mAh or will it disappoint me? I would need maximum of 75% charge on 12Pro.

 

[ReddJive]

Looks almost as thick as the Mophie version. Though Mophie is half the price I am not sure what it's charge rate is. Still the size complaint is over blown. while we expect apple to make things. bit more sleek had to expect a backup battery to not be so futuristic. It was meant for backup/emergency use. As a first responder I can see using this often as I do wear out my iPhone during a shift.

 

[Oblivion1337]

Go for it. I also just picked it up for $89. Very excited to get this. I’ve been walking around with an Anker charger which is great, but I always have to plug it in. Can’t wait to just stick it on the back and be good to go. No more cables baby.

Same order at £89.
I’d like to see how optimisation will pan out. That’s what we paying for, safety.
I would not like to have warm battery pack in this hot weather.

 

[fbr$]

But is it MagSafe? If not, you’re losing tons of energy you wouldn’t be otherwise.

Put another way, Apple’s solution has a big advantage over most of these in that it should be able to get much more out of its battery.

It's Qi 7.5W I guess, it's more than enough to keep the battery level constant while using the iPhone.

 

[mazz0]

A battery built-in to a case, no problem. A battery attached that’s thick like that in one specific area connected with MagSafe and only charges at 5W unless you plug in a lightning cable which removes all portability. No thank you.

You forgot to answer the question you quoted.

 

[blairh]

Looks awesome IMO.

 

[sympathetic owl]

What year are you from? This is 2021, not 2005. People these days stare at their phones ALL THE TIME. Yes, even when hanging out. If there was no instagram, fb or reddit, there would probably no real need for battery banks lol

For some this is true, but it’s really sad. I can’t hang with people who do this. We all need to learn to moderate and contain our phone usage in my opinion. It’s a parasite that sucks away your life and replaces it with restless anxiety.

For me the battery drains when I’m out all day streaming music or youtube, taking a long phone call or two, and tethering my ipad for work. I have a 12 mini so the battery is a bit smaller.

 

[Mousse]

As a first responder I can see using this often as I do wear out my iPhone during a shift.

My wife drains the battery on her iPhone 11 pretty quickly too. Maybe if Apple would offer a thicker iPhone with a higher battery capacity for folks who need their phone to last all day. They can review the Fat tag. I loved the 512K "Fat" Mac.

An iPhone 3mm thicker with 2x the battery life? I'm pretty sure those would sell. Not every user is dainty and needs a light, thin phone. Of course, this is Apple, they dictate what users want and not the otherway around.

 

[mikethemartian]

Does it come in beige?

 

[rpmurray]

That I’ll use it when I’m eating at restaurant or having a coffee and then pack it back to pocket and not lifting it 24/7 with my one hand

I'm going to guess that you don't have a gym membership.
It surprises me that some people think that a phone that weighs less than 6oz is "heavy AF". Maybe time to start exercising those spindly limbs. Maybe Apple could add the number of reps to the health app.

 

[mikethemartian]

I get through an entire day on an overnight charge with my iPhone X. What are people doing with their iPhones to justify this inconvenience? When you go out, you meet friends, you take a group selfie first, sit down, eat, talk about careers, life, gossip; during all this you might check your phone one or two times. Maybe walk around town then just before you leave, you all take another group selfie. If you are taking public transportation or walking home, you might look at email, death scroll a bit on IG or Facebook. But it should not warrant needing this.

I had really good battery life on my X with iOS 12 but then I updated to iOS 14 and there was a very noticeable decline by the start.

 

[Maconplasma]

I've never heard people complaining about no Apple external battery. I have heard lots of complaints about not making the iPhone thicker to accommodate a larger battery. Hail, plenty of us have railed against Apple's Thinner, Thinner, Thinner mantra.

Because you never heard about it does that mean it didn't exist? 🙄

 

[Rafterman]

I see uses in it for many people, but I am surprised it has only white. No space gray, at least.

 

[5105973]

I get through an entire day on an overnight charge with my iPhone X. What are people doing with their iPhones to justify this inconvenience? When you go out, you meet friends, you take a group selfie first, sit down, eat, talk about careers, life, gossip; during all this you might check your phone one or two times. Maybe walk around town then just before you leave, you all take another group selfie. If you are taking public transportation or walking home, you might look at email, death scroll a bit on IG or Facebook. But it should not warrant needing this.

I would have liked to have it when I recently got stuck dealing with a medical emergency in the extended family. Those often involve prolonged waiting, with the phone serving as communication device and a distraction from sitting there with little else to do.

But generally my mini’s battery is just fine for the reasons you stated. So I don’t really want a whole dedicated battery case for these occasional scenarios. I’m glad this option will be available and as thick and slow and derpy as it is, I’ll be getting one. I just wish it were also available in black. That would look better with my current silicone cases.

 

[_Spinn_]

That is way chunkier than I was expecting.