Out of the blue, Apple has today launched their first battery case, the Apple iPhone 6s Smart Battery Case for $99. The case comes in Charcoal Gray or White and is compatible with iPhone 6s or iPhone 6. The case is like the Apple Silicone Case, with the addition of a back bump for a battery. Third-party iPhone battery cases have existed for a long time, this is the first version of the product from Apple itself.
The integrated battery will increase iPhone talk time up to 25 hours and Internet use up to 18 hours on LTE (an increase of 8 hours). The battery of the Smart Case is displayed in the iOS UI, thanks to the integration between software and hardware.
The battery case includes a passthrough so you can still plug in other Lightning accessories whilst the case is in use. The product is available to pickup in Apple Stores today with delivery as early as Thursday.
My description of the case is a Silicon Case with a hump; not the most flattering description but pretty accurate. Here’s how Apple describes the iPhone case on its website.
The Smart Battery Case is engineered specifically for iPhone 6s and iPhone 6 to give you even longer battery life and protection. The soft microfiber lining on the inside helps protect your iPhone, while the soft elastomer hinge design makes it easy to put the case on and take it off again. On the outside, the silky, soft-touch finish of the silicone exterior feels great in your hand.
Unlike some of Apple’s Magic accessories, the Smart Battery Case is very competitively priced: $99. For comparison, the most well known brand in this space, the Mophie Juice Pack Air, sells their iPhone 6s battery case for $99.95.
The Juice Pack Air has a 2750 mAH capacity, the capacity of the Apple Smart Battery Case is not disclosed on the website. According to The Verge’s review, the Apple case has a 1877 mAH battery inside, substantially smaller than the Mophie.
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The Apple case has some ‘smarts’ to justify its name. For starters, it includes iOS system integration to show the battery pack status in Notification Center and the lock screen. The case itself also includes a discreet light that indicates charging status (amber, green, or off).
Moreover, Apple says that other cases often impair cellular performance as the battery gets in the way of the radios. For the Smart Battery Case, Apple has incorporated a passive antenna which reroutes radio frequencies and minimizes interference. For sound, the case includes a specifically designed acoustic opening to channel audio from the iPhone speaker.
The company also claims its charging mechanism is better than competing cases. Most cases first charge the phone and then charge the battery pack. Apple’s case can crossover to charge the integrated battery mid-way through the phone charge cycle.
The Apple Smart Battery Case is only available for the 4.7 inch iPhone 6. Apple has not released its own case for the iPhone 6 Plus, presumably because the Plus naturally gets higher battery life due to the larger internal battery. Try the $99 Mophie Juice Pack case if you are looking to extend your iPhone 6s Plus battery even further.
Speaking of unannounced Apple iPhone accessory releases, last week Apple launched a (PRODUCT)RED version of its Silicon Case. The battery case is boring in color (just white or black) but is an interesting signal by Apple that iPhone battery life could be better than it is today.
Update: Reviews!
Maybe some other stuff will appeal to you. Like the fact that Apple’s Smart Battery Case uses a Lightning cable, so if you already carry around a Lightning cable to charge your iPhone, you’re all set! You don’t need to pack a microUSB cable, too.
Or the fact that this case is built with extra antennas to boost cellular performance, because the last thing you want — and Apple wants — is for your cell performance to be impacted by the case. In either, ahem, case, I didn’t have any issues with cellular connectivity while using the case.
It brought my dead iPhone 6s up to 83%. That’s plenty to keep up with my heavy usage. Without charging my phone at my desk as I usually do, I got into bed most days with 20% remaining. I didn’t have to worry about that taunting battery meter throughout the day. In my battery test, which loops a series of websites with brightness at around 65%, phone and case together lasted an impressive 13 hours. That’s five hours longer than an iPhone 6s without it.
As I mentioned, the case can also power an iPhone 6. Apple isn’t making a battery case for the larger iPhone 6 Plus and 6s Plus, however, because those phones have larger internal batteries and less need for mid-day top-ups.
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Oh man, for the plus too please.
Congratulation, The iPhone became pregnant.
This is Apple’s official recoginition that its iPhone battery charge is way too limited.
Hopefuly, Apple will remember that for the next generation and at last provide an iPhone with a decent battery. That is, forget about this insane thinness.
They are not going to do that, actually this casing-selling is more profitable
Or Apple is going with the naked core model where they make the smallest, most extensible design and then allow users to customize with accessories… Remember that rumor about ditching 3.5mm jack? I could totally see this case (or one like it) including the adapter.
Which Designer needs to get fired for this Piece of Ugly?!
The Lifeproof & Mophie Cases look way more elegant
than this Case moulded around a Replacement Battery.
completely disagree. They took thier popular proprietary soft case design and added a battery.
What happens with Apple Pay with the case on?
It will still work. No interference happening here.
this is just idiotic…
the hump is ghastly
and the over all concept of making
a thinner phone and then put on a huge battery pack
sort of defies the definition of mobile.
next year, Apple introduces the iPhone 7 with 1hr standby time,
and a 24hr battery case,
which is just 1 inch thick…combined
Or, they see people selling devices and decided to make some money as well. No matter how long the battery last, people will want a battery case to make it go even longer.
WTF is that?!
That is an iPhone with and iPod touch stuck on its back.
Love how people are going nuts about this.
I can understand the battery life problem on the regular iPhone, but come on people, its not like you are going to be buying it over other cases.
Me personally, get 2 days out of my 6 plus, and I use it very heavily.
No you don’t use it very heavily or you wouldn’t get two days out of it…
@Israel. Why? The 6s Plus has a bigger battery, it’s not needed. If you need to charge your 6s Plus during the day, you’re on your phone too much. Put it down, live life a little.
Is this real life? Seriously?
I mean, this has to be the WORST Apple product ever!
What a shame! ugh!
Worse than the hockey puck mouse? Worse than iPod Socks? Worse than the buttonless iPod Shuffle or fat Nano? I think not. it’s just a battery case that most people won’t buy.
What’s the problem with the iPod Socks?
They looked good and served their purpose.
Yes it is worse than all of those products. I could see an argument for the hockey puck mouse and possibly the iPod Socks (but let’s be honest those were cheap yet functional cases that were easy to use and fit the overal brand of the iPod at the time) but the 3rd gen nano wasn’t THAT bad and the buttonless Shuffle was probably the biggest precursor to Siri, Cortana, and Google Now. It may have been too much for you at the time but it’s definitely the future.
Yuck. Totally against all philosophies surrounding the iPhone. But then again this is only for those 5% who can’t make it through the day.
Already April???
Just shows how thick the phone would need to be to get all this additional battery life people supposedly need.
That’s not true. If that bump was spread across the device it’d be almost half that thickness, but Apple wants to pressure the iPhone 6 thinness for observers when people hold the phone in looking-down mode.
God I hate wordpress comments, can’t even edit my typo. You get the point.
But the battery inside of the iPhone doesn’t span across the entire device either, only a small portion to leave room for the other components. It actually covers a lot less surface area than the one on this case. So actually, it may still be this thick. Depending on how much extra battery they wanted to pack in.
Who got the job as “Accessories Designer” after Jony Ivy assumed as CDO?
This guy should get fired, really. What a ugly piece of design.
So make the whole case a lot thicker which would make it incompatible with current iPhone docks and people would complain about that. And people would bitch about how the phone is too thick, too hard to use and doesn’t feel good in the hand. Let’s not forget all the people who complained about the iPad 3 getting thicker and heavier. Everyone says this is what they want until they get it and then they hate it.
Perfect if you want your phone to look like it’s crapped its pants.
My only problem with the design is the added height at the bottom, otherwise it is eminently functional. To get rid of the bulge, Apple should have taken the necessary steps to make the iPhone 6/6S induction charging ready and also the case. The case charges the iPhone, a charge pad charges the case… As for the bulge, the edges are still thin so you can slide the phone in and out of tight pockets more easily. The flatness of the bulge also makes the phone stable when laid flat. I always hated the rounded designs on some Android phones and the iPhone 3G.
In my opinion is is good that Apple released this. Too many third party battery cases and charger screw up the iPhone battery, now using an Apple rechargeable case will help your battery survive and not be destroyed by a 3rd party battery case.
If this thing was as thick as the hump is in the back wouldn’t that make it too thick to work with current docks?
this is just not apple style… like the ipad pro keyboard-cover.
This is Apple’s new style. Breaking more of their design rules to give people what they keep asking for. No surprise to me that some of the people that wanted this are now going “Ew, that’s ugly.”
I think this is apple putting a toe in the water to see if people really do value battery life over thickness rather than just saying the do. If they sell a reasonable number I think the 7 might be a bit thicker with improved battery or they might have another feature they want to add but will need to make the phone thicker to incorporate it (like they have with 3d touch) Look at the side view on the apple site ad it’s adding about 50% to the thickness and it would be less that this if it was built into the phone it self
I have a 6s and if it was 50% thicker I would cheer! Then not only would it have a decent sized battery, there would be room for a camera with OIS and that annoying camera wart would be history.
Interesting. Functional in that it will continue to work with some docks. Just enough battery to get the heavy users through a day but not weight down the phone too much. My GF has a big Mophie case and it is a brick. But it offers 110% more battery life. It makes the phone three times as thick and twice as heavy. But she will not run through her battery in a day.
Still this is the solution that I could see some users finding much better. Just a touch more battery without having to carry around too much extra bulk and weight. The lump is ugly but it probably fits nicely in your hand and provides ridges to grip.
With this, Apple admits iPhone battery life sux.
What’s the tumor on the back?
Maybe they should just make the iPhone a bit thicker and give everyone more battery life right out of the box without bolting a hideous case onto it?
Because this came out of nowhere…I’m starting to believe that all the apple rumors are put out by them. How did no one see this coming? I mean, people watch the patent office for new entries but didn’t see them making a battery pack?
That weird bump though :/
And 100$ for a battery case??
I got a portable external battery off amazon for 20$ and it has 10,000 mAH in comparison to the meager 2,750 on that thing… I’ll keep my money.
Actually the 2750 mAh is referring of the Mophie Juice Pack Air, the official Apple one has a capacity of 1877 mAh.
I’m glad this exists. All of the “legit” battery case manufacturers have decided that micro usb is still good enough even though Apple has been supposedly licensing the Lightning port for almost a year. Personally my wife and I have used the Lightning charging “knockoff” Power Case that is available for $15 at Amazon and eBay and it works great.
Also give me a break about the “looks” or “design” I’ll just assume you guys are the same people who refuse to use a case because it takes away feel the beauty of the gigantic antenna lines that you also thought were tragically “anti-Apple” when the 6 came out.
Apple Design, RIP
Given how artfully Apple designed its new MacBook chassis and battery their new hunchback battery case is quite surprising.
Oh my God!!! It is just too ugly and odd. Regarding its design, it doesn’t even look like an Apple product. I keep asking myself whether Steve would agree or not agree with this release. Well, I guess not, at least, not with this design, he was just too perfectionist for this.
Camera bump is starting to look good!
Alright. How does one create an artful and classy battery case? Maybe it should be even thicker so there’s no hump, and then people can really lose their minds.
I just bought an Anker 13400 MhA battery pack for £25 off Amazon. Not only can it charge two devices at once several times over – and of course, ANY device (iOS, Android etc), it does it at twice the speed of other chargers thanks to it’s high amperage output. (‘Fast Charging”) Mine arrived yesterday. It’s quite large and heavy, about twice as thick as the iPhone 6, but then it’s 1/3 of the price of the Apple battery case and has a vast energy capacity.
it’s just failed, failed, and failed. unfortunately, Apple is not innovative company anymore. it will be second MS within 10 years. I bet.
How many other battery cases for iPhone actually have a Lightning port instead of USB?
I found one on Amazon that has lightning port, but it’s one of those generic no name brand types. I don’t remember what it was called but it had no reviews so never took the plunge.
What a bunch of whiny babies. If you don’t like it don’t buy it. Is it actually a harbinger of doom?
Oh but it is, Mike, it really truly is. Sell your Apple stock, Apple will shutter within the next two years, Tim Cook is on the chopping block, Ive is gonna quit, Time for Apple to adopt Android… Did I miss any of them?
I just wish there was a 6/s Plus version
It’s called the iPhone 6/6S. :D
I’m tempted because I’d find a battery case useful but detest micro USB connectors because they’re so fragile, but I’m turned off by the low capacity of the battery. The $100 price tag doesn’t help either. I just picked up an Aukey 20,000 mAh battery for $20 on a Black Friday deal. It’s heavy but should keep me yaking for a week!
I guess Lightning cable is here to stay. Though, it is real cool that Apple is now starting to do accessories. I have to say that if they can make cases like BookBook and Lumiy LED lamps they would be kind of the home and office… not just mobile computing.
Did Jony Ive DIE or something?! This design looks hideous!
This is awful. WTF is the design lab doing :O
WTF
Apple paving its way to thinner phones here? That’s smart…
So no one is mentioning the one huge advantage this case should have over the others: It can charge the battery when it is the most advantageous, and do it automatically without user intervention. Assuming Apple built it that way, which I would love to know if it did or not. I know Mophie suggests waiting until the battery goes to red, toggling the switch one, then once it gets back to 80%, turn it back off and repeat the process. This being from Apple should negate that need and do it automatically.
Can anyone confirm that it does this?
Finally a case with a proper Lightning port, just what I’ve been wanting for years now. My current car doesn’t have BT audio streaming but connects with an iPod/Lightning cable for audio and charging. It’s not the prettiest case, but most cases aren’t either. I’ve had Mophie cases in the past and it was a pain having to take off the case every time I got in the car. I don’t listen to terrestrial radio, all my music comes from my phone, so this is the perfect case for me.
Hopefully this leads to other battery case makers to start adding a lightning port instead of micro USB.
Enough with the thinness already! make it 1-2mm thicker and give us more battery life!
Who cares about thinness when it is already so thin you can hardly keep it in your hand…
What about the 6/6s plus users with Apple watches? Personally with my 6s plus and my Apple Watch I get horrible battery life even when not using my phone heavily during the day