New Smart Battery Cases for the iPhone 11 line now available from Apple

AppleInsider

Apple has launched three new Smart Battery Cases for the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max, offering up to 50 percent more battery life to your preferred device.

iPhone 11 Pro Max cases in black, soft white, and pink sand

The cases are similar to previous Smart Battery Case versions that Apple has released in the past. Each case features a microfiber-lined interior, soft-touch silicone exterior, and slides off via a soft elastomer hinge.

New to this line of cases, however, is a dedicated camera button that launches the Camera app regardless of whether or not the iPhone is unlocked. Quickly pressing the button will take a photo, while a long press will capture video.

The iPhone 11 line of smart battery cases are compatible with Qi-certified chargers. At maximum charge, the cases can give up to 50 percent longer battery life. There's an integrated feature that shows the battery status on the lock screen and Notification Center, which isn't available with non-Apple battery cases.

The case is also fast-charge compatible with any USB-PD compatible charger, and leaves the lightning port unobstructed so users can plug in their EarPods or Lightning-to-3.5 millimeter audio adapter.

Those interested in the cases can head to Apple's online store. The iPhone 11 case is available in soft white or black, while the iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max cases are available in soft white, black, and pink sand. All three retail for $129.

For a more affordable alternative to Apple's offerings, shoppers can pick up Mophie's Juice Pack Access Battery Case for the iPhone 11 for $63.96, a 20% discount with exclusive promo code INSIDER20 at ZAGG.

Appleish

My 11 Pro Max hasn't even come close to running out of power even once.

bluefire1

Appleish said:

My 11 Pro Max hasn't even come close to running out of power even once.

Same here with mine.

Dave Kap

Same here.

bluefire1 said:

Appleish said:

My 11 Pro Max hasn't even come close to running out of power even once.

Same here with mine.

dewme

These cases do add a lot of weight to your iPhone, especially when it’s a Max version, but it is still pretty easy to handle in large part due to the silicone case material. 

The only issues I’ve encountered so far are the occasional failure to wirelessly charge and the fact that it completely disables the magnetometer on my 10s Max so compass apps don’t work. 

When the wireless charging fails it actually causes both the phone and the case to discharge while sitting on the charging mat or dock.  Under normal circumstances the case battery will always discharge first, before the phone’s battery even starts discharging. In the failed state both the case battery and the phone battery discharge at the same time. Doing a cold boot seems to fix the problem, as does plugging into a wired charger and fully charging both the case and the phone. 

The compass blocking and significant added weight prevents me from using this case all of the time. I now only use it if I know I’m going to be unable to charge from a wire for a very long period of time, which is rare. 

mistergsf

Appleish said:

My 11 Pro Max hasn't even come close to running out of power even once.

Me too! It's the best improvement by far. It's why I worry and cross my fingers every time I have to install an iOS 13 update. I don't want any update effing up my battery.

MplsP

bluefire1 said:

Appleish said:

My 11 Pro Max hasn't even come close to running out of power even once.

Same here with mine.

That was my thought - the battery life on the newer phones is so good that cases like these almost seem pointless. 

I have to wonder/question the rationale for using wireless charging, though. It’s inherently less efficient and more prone to problems like Dewme has. It would make a lot more sense to have the case plug into the lightning jack and allow a lightning or even 3.5 mm connection. 

kevin kee

So if you plug your phone to charger by cable, it will charge both phone and battery case at the same time?

bestkeptsecret

kevin kee said:

So if you plug your phone to charger by cable, it will charge both phone and battery case at the same time?

If I'm not mistaken, I think it charges the phone first and then the battery case.

dewme

bestkeptsecret said:

kevin kee said:

So if you plug your phone to charger by cable, it will charge both phone and battery case at the same time?

If I'm not mistaken, I think it charges the phone first and then the battery case.

The case has both a pass-through lightning port and a pass-through wireless charging coil. Plugging a charger into the case with a phone docked in it charges both the case and the phone. Placing the case with a phone docked in it on a wireless charger charges both the case and the phone. You can also charge the case by itself with no phone in it. 

I’m not 100% certain about which one charges first when both the phone and the case are less than 100% charged. The normal discharging behavior from what I’ve observed is that the case will keep the phone at 100% charge as if the phone is sitting on a charger, until the case discharges, at which point the phone will start to discharge. I’ve never run the case down to zero charge so I don’t know exactly where the transition from the case discharging to the phone discharging takes place. 

What I have observed is that occasionally both the case and the phone would discharge at the same time while sitting on a wireless charger. Restarting the phone corrected the problem so I assume it’s an anomaly with the phone and not a problem with the case or charger. 

There’s obviously a nontrivial interaction taking place between the phone and the case to make the power management as automatic, unified, and seamless as possible but it’s not perfect. It’s still much better than 3rd party battery cases that require user intervention to switchover from case power to phone power or the use of a separate charging strategy for case and phone. Apple did a great job with this case but it still has some glitches. 

Please note that my experience has been with the iPhone XS Max version of the smart battery case. Apple may have corrected all of the anomalies that I experienced with the previous version with the new one. I would like to know whether the new version interferes with the iPhone’s compass functions. Apple may have modified the iPhone 11 line or the new battery case to mitigate the compass issues.