iPhone XS and iPhone XR Juice Pack Access battery cases beat Apple to the punch

AppleInsider

At the Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show, long-time accessory maker Mophie has rolled out a new battery case for the iPhone XS family, and the iPhone XR.

Mophie Juice Pack Access for iPhone XS

The Juice Pack Access provides what the company calls "advanced impact protection" for the Apple iPhone Xs Max, iPhone XS, iPhone X, and iPhone XR. Additionally, it features extra battery, Qi wireless charging compatibility, and full access to the iPhone Lightning port.

Mophie claims that the new case will provide up to 31 hours of total talk time. Additionally, the pack itself can be charged with a USB-C charging port, while the phone itself can be powered up with the Lightning port.

The Mophie Juice Pack Access will be available in the first quarter of 2019 on mophie.com for $119.95. Colors available include black, stone, gold, and dark red for the iPhone XS Max, iPhone XS, and iPhone X, plus black, blue, and red for the iPhone XR.

An icon found in watchOS 5.1.2 showed off a new Apple-produced Smart Battery Case that featured a vertical camera cutout such as that found on the latest iPhones. The updated case has a similar design to the original, but lacks the extended "chin." Rather, the new case extends only minimally from the bottom of the iPhone where it connects to the Lightning port. Apple's case has yet to be announced.

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jeromec

If it does not use the lightning port to charge the iPhone, does it charge the iPhone wirelessly via Qi?

Mike Wuerthele

jeromec said:

If it does not use the lightning port to charge the iPhone, does it charge the iPhone wirelessly via Qi?

FTA: "Additionally, the pack itself can be charged with a USB-C charging port, while the phone itself can be powered up with the Lightning port."

and "it features extra battery, Qi wireless charging compatibility, and full access to the iPhone Lightning port."

So, it does use Lightning, AND you can charge with Qi.

doctrsnoop

thanks Mike, I had the older vision of the port being covered by the case. Although qi charging seems slower than wired, I want access to the port for CarPlay and my commutes

Mike Wuerthele

doctrsnoop said:

thanks Mike, I had the older vision of the port being covered by the case. Although qi charging seems slower than wired, I want access to the port for CarPlay and my commutes

Yup, I expect that Wired CarPlay is the reason why the Lightning port is available.

payeco

I don’t understand why Mophie continues using non-Lightning charging ports on their iPhone cases. Other third party battery cases have had Lightning charging for years.

jbdragon

payeco said:

I don’t understand why Mophie continues using non-Lightning charging ports on their iPhone cases. Other third party battery cases have had Lightning charging for years.

I'm going to assume it's them being cheap! Really they are forcing people to have 2 cables to charge the phone. Seems dumb to me.

mac_128

Mike Wuerthele said:

jeromec said:

If it does not use the lightning port to charge the iPhone, does it charge the iPhone wirelessly via Qi?

FTA: "Additionally, the pack itself can be charged with a USB-C charging port, while the phone itself can be powered up with the Lightning port."

and "it features extra battery, Qi wireless charging compatibility, and full access to the iPhone Lightning port."

So, it does use Lightning, AND you can charge with Qi.

So here’s the question, is Qi on the iPhone a two-way street? In other words, if you charge the iPhone via Lightning, will the Qi coil work in reverse to charge the battery pack, once the iphone’s battery is fully charged? Or does using the Lightning port bypass the battery pack altogether? If the latter, then the only way to charge the battery and phone simultaneously, is by using USB-C port, or Qi, which in either case is going to charge the iPhone via the slow Qi coil. Though the USB-C port should enable fast charging of the battery pack. So in that scenario, does plugging in both Lightning and USB-C simultaneously fast charge both batteries?

jeromec

Mike Wuerthele said:

jeromec said:

If it does not use the lightning port to charge the iPhone, does it charge the iPhone wirelessly via Qi?

FTA: "Additionally, the pack itself can be charged with a USB-C charging port, while the phone itself can be powered up with the Lightning port."

and "it features extra battery, Qi wireless charging compatibility, and full access to the iPhone Lightning port."

So, it does use Lightning, AND you can charge with Qi.

I don't understand it that way at all. 
You charge the phone via lightning by plugging a cable into it,  because the case is NOT connected to the phone via its lightning port. 
That is what I get from the photos. 

And since AFAIK the iPhone can only be charged by lightning or Qi (wireless) I understand the cas probably charges the iPhone via Qi. 
Or is there a lightning cable you have to insert into the iphone so that the case can charge the iPhone? That would really surprise me.  

payeco

jbdragon said:

payeco said:

I don’t understand why Mophie continues using non-Lightning charging ports on their iPhone cases. Other third party battery cases have had Lightning charging for years.

I'm going to assume it's them being cheap! Really they are forcing people to have 2 cables to charge the phone. Seems dumb to me.

Yeah, it’s really turned me off to Mophie. Their cases are 2 to 3 times the price of other cases (even more expensive than Apple’s cases) yet they cheap out in things like the couple dollars they’d have to pay Apple for MFi licensing for Lightning charging. 

gabberattack

payeco said:

jbdragon said:

payeco said:

I don’t understand why Mophie continues using non-Lightning charging ports on their iPhone cases. Other third party battery cases have had Lightning charging for years.

I'm going to assume it's them being cheap! Really they are forcing people to have 2 cables to charge the phone. Seems dumb to me.

Yeah, it’s really turned me off to Mophie. Their cases are 2 to 3 times the price of other cases (even more expensive than Apple’s cases) yet they cheap out in things like the couple dollars they’d have to pay Apple for MFi licensing for Lightning charging. 

I had Mophie case for iPhone 5S, stopped working after like 3 months, piece of junk, never again.