Anyone who has followed Apple's progress over the last decade will know that design has played a strong part in its success story. From setting incredibly high thresholds of quality on everything from mag-safe connectors and the aesthetics of opening the box, to magical experiences that just work, Steve Jobs' Apple has been a byword for style, class, and elegance. Which leaves me wondering who in the world signed off on the 'Apple iPhone Smart Battery Case'.
It's ugly.
I don't feel the need to be gentle with my words here. I've seen countless third-party cases for multiple iPhones as a reviewer. I've written up reviews of many of them for Forbes, and I have more of them pitched at me by manufacturers. I know battery cases, I know what I like, I know what looks nice to the eye, feels nice in the hand, and what is practical around an iPhone.
Someone in Apple thinks that the Smart Battery Case looks nice? That it's practical? And that people will think that it fits nicely into the hand? Who was that, because their inbox is about to get rather a lot of angry feedback.
I find it interesting that Apple has not released any specifications on the battery. All consumers have to go on is the rather lackadaisical 'up to 25 hours talk time' or '18 hours of LTE internet activity' in the product description. There's no mention on the capacity of the batter, how many times the internal battery can be topped up, or other relevant details.
These figures are for the combination of the iPhone 6S and the Smart Battery Case. Given that Apple rates the iPhone 6S as having 14 hours of talk time and 10 hours of LTE, the abomination adds 11 hours of talk time or 8 hours of LTE activity, which suggests a battery capacity of around 1900-2200 mAh.
One advantage this pack has over the competition is that it uses the lightning connector to charge up the case and the iPhone at the same time. This has not been an option for other manufacturers, who have relied on microUSB connectors instead. I wonder if Apple will be opening up the use of the lightning connector and the iOS code integration as part of the 'Made for iPhone' program, or if this will remain exclusive to Apple.
Every third-party peripheral manufacturers has to live with the threat that Apple will move into its market space. An extension into the battery-case space would have caused many of them to have sleepless nights.
The Smart Battery Case is going to be seen by many as a 'must buy', in exactly the same way as many looked for a third-party battery case when the iPhone 6S first came out (and the iPhone 6 last year). While the 'Apple' name on the case will attract some buyers, I don't think that companies like Mophie have anything to worry about.
It's going to be very hard for Apple to stand and up on stage and suggest the iPhones battery life is now acceptable when it has felt the need to put this case out on sale under its own name.
I don't think that's the biggest problem, though. The biggest problem would be holding up an iPhone in a public demonstration with this case around it. I seriously doubt that Jony Ive is going to be recording one of his design videos where he presents the case as an object of beauty, as a tactile sensation of lust and desire with gentle microfibre lining and a soft-feel construction that holds his iPhone in a gossamer-like caress of power and practicality.
If the Smart Battery Case is an innovative battery case that only Apple can deliver, then I'm glad I have an alternative.
(Now read an alternative viewpoint on the Smart Battery Case from Forbes' Antony Leather).
