For what it does I like it. It integrates well with iOS and you don't have to worry about a micro USB cable. Easy put on and take off and it will still work with docks etc. I am not crazy about the white one, but if I was in the market, I would consider the dark one. I do think $99 is a little high, but it is what it is.
So a tech reporter gets 5 minutes with Tim Cook and this is what he chooses to talk about? It's a pretty sad commentary that a stupid battery case is getting so much attention and causing so much so-called controversy.
If the design goal was to make it easy to take off, then they could have made the battery an array of slats and used flexible circuitry, the edges could have tapered. when you peeled the case away the first slat would have naturally bent away as would the rest like a tank track. the casing would not have needed to visually show the slats.. but if they did it would have showed more symmetry and style.
and to rebutt rhe "mouse had to go there" no it didn't, it could have gone on the side. the keyboard manages to work both wired and unwired. that said Apple has never shown much skill in mouse design.
actually, that said, Apple has never shown much skill in skin-case design and it has gotten worse generally from the first efforts.. so perhaps the new power case is at about the level of what we have come to expect.
And it’s only getting criticism from the usual suspects who haunt the Internet with their constant negativity, which is a cancer-like sore that festers and destroys. Tim Cook should have ignored the question.
And what kind of ridicule, and criticism would it be getting if Samsung had designed a battery case like this for their phone? I think a little more than plenty.
I have no deep issue with the design, though it is not streamlined in the typical sense of Apple aesthetics. I just ordered four for our family. Cook's comments do make sense, though its odd for a CEO of a corporation of Apple's size to be commenting on it.
I think the fairer criticism is more toward the fact that Apple is now acknowledging that battery life could be better, and the push toward thinner and thinner phones has no intrinsic benefit anymore.
If good design says "form follows function", then providing better integrated battery life should inform the designers to allow a bit more thickness to provide that function.
If the design goal was to make it easy to take off, then they could have made the battery an array of slats and used flexible circuitry, the edges could have tapered. when you peeled the case away the first slat would have naturally bent away as would the rest like a tank track. the casing would not have needed to visually show the slats.. but if they did it would have showed more symmetry and style.
and to rebutt rhe "mouse had to go there" no it didn't, it could have gone on the side. the keyboard manages to work both wired and unwired. that said Apple has never shown much skill in mouse design.
actually, that said, Apple has never shown much skill in skin-case design and it has gotten worse generally from the first efforts.. so perhaps the new power case is at about the level of what we have come to expect.
1) if that idea of yours is solid put it up on Kickstarter. it's easy, right?
2) while the mouse does have surface area on the sides, you still obviously couldn't use it while plugged in on the side; therefore it's certain that there was more advantage to putting it on the bottom such as a technical layout consideration (space savings, added battery, whatever).
i love all you armchair designers & electrical engineers...it's so easy!
I have no deep issue with the design, though it is not streamlined in the typical sense of Apple aesthetics. I just ordered four for our family. Cook's comments do make sense, though its odd for a CEO of a corporation of Apple's size to be commenting on it.
I think the fairer criticism is more toward the fact that Apple is now acknowledging that battery life could be better, and the push toward thinner and thinner phones has no intrinsic benefit anymore.
If good design says "form follows function", then providing better integrated battery life should inform the designers to allow a bit more thickness to provide that function.
Perhaps OLED will help in this regard
How is Apple only now acknowledging this when they've been selling Mophie battery cases in their stores for years?
And it’s only getting criticism from the usual suspects who haunt the Internet with their constant negativity, which is a cancer-like sore that festers and destroys. Tim Cook should have ignored the question.
And what kind of ridicule, and criticism would it be getting if Samsung had designed a battery case like this for their phone? I think a little more than plenty.
Nobody is saying this is going to win design awards. Honestly though it's mostly getting ridicule from people who haven't used it. Gizmodo's review was mostly positive. Joanna Stern at the WSJ said it's easier to hold than some of the thicker battery cases. DetroitBORG did an unboxing/review on YouTube that was mostly positive. The impression I get from most reviews is: "I wanted to hate this but I don't and it's freaking me out that I don't hate this".
And it’s only getting criticism from the usual suspects who haunt the Internet with their constant negativity, which is a cancer-like sore that festers and destroys. Tim Cook should have ignored the question.
And what kind of ridicule, and criticism would it be getting if Samsung had designed a battery case like this for their phone? I think a little more than plenty.
Nobody is saying this is going to win design awards. Honestly though it's mostly getting ridicule from people who haven't used it. Gizmodo's review was mostly positive. Joanna Stern at the WSJ said it's easier to hold than some of the thicker battery cases. DetroitBORG did an unboxing/review on YouTube that was mostly positive. The impression I get from most reviews is: "I wanted to hate this but I don't and it's freaking me out that I don't hate this".
There are a certain class of users who think buying Apple kit grants them superhuman intelligence and mega design chops. These are the same people who will complain about 'form over function' in one post then bleat on about how this design would never get past Steve (signer-offer of the world's most unusable mouse) Jobs in the next.
What's hilarious is how they immediately jump into the sheep pen and start ragging on a product they haven't seen yet. They complain about the way pen plugs into the iPad (Steve would have killed any man who showed him that!) without seeming to realise there's a charging cable in the box.
I think I get why Apple designed it this way… It sure looks ugly, I'm not even putting that into question, but its weird shape does make sense from a strictly functional standpoint.
Consider those users that usually use the iPhone in one hand (yes, the 6 is still small enough for that); they'll be used to hold it in a certain way, usually with the lower corner/inner edge tucked into the palm of the hand, the outer edge gripped by the fingers and the thumb free to operate the touchscreen.
The thing is: if the user's hands are big enough, the fingers form an arch behind the back of the iPhone, and I'm willing to bet that most users won't even touch the back of the case. Well, the hump would, then, have no effect whatsoever in the perceived size of the case, as all *edges* are still the same size, don't you get it? Yes, it looks ugly as hell, but it feels as “naked” as possible (more like “sillicone case-naked”, but still). In a sense, it will feel more familiar and be less susceptible of causing discomfort or accidents…
A collection of Apple Innovations this year in one picture...
I actually like the idea of being able to recharge my pencil from the iPad. Of course, the iPad Pro is a bit unwieldy, but it will work out great with the Air and the Mini.
What's missing in this picture is the iPad Smart Keyboard cover: a bad rip-off from an already flawed Microsoft concept. I hope to see it evolve in a Smart Case cover.
Comments
But for $99, I'll just stick with my $10 compact battery bank from Anker.
If the design goal was to make it easy to take off, then they could have made the battery an array of slats and used flexible circuitry, the edges could have tapered. when you peeled the case away the first slat would have naturally bent away as would the rest like a tank track. the casing would not have needed to visually show the slats.. but if they did it would have showed more symmetry and style.
and to rebutt rhe "mouse had to go there" no it didn't, it could have gone on the side. the keyboard manages to work both wired and unwired. that said Apple has never shown much skill in mouse design.
actually, that said, Apple has never shown much skill in skin-case design and it has gotten worse generally from the first efforts.. so perhaps the new power case is at about the level of what we have come to expect.
I think the fairer criticism is more toward the fact that Apple is now acknowledging that battery life could be better, and the push toward thinner and thinner phones has no intrinsic benefit anymore.
If good design says "form follows function", then providing better integrated battery life should inform the designers to allow a bit more thickness to provide that function.
Perhaps OLED will help in this regard
A collection of Apple Innovations this year in one picture... And what the future holds:
1) if that idea of yours is solid put it up on Kickstarter. it's easy, right?
2) while the mouse does have surface area on the sides, you still obviously couldn't use it while plugged in on the side; therefore it's certain that there was more advantage to putting it on the bottom such as a technical layout consideration (space savings, added battery, whatever).
i love all you armchair designers & electrical engineers...it's so easy!
that's a terrible idea for a litmus test, because it's completely in your head and not measurable in the dimensional plane we live in.
https://t.co/Oituke6Uzq
There are a certain class of users who think buying Apple kit grants them superhuman intelligence and mega design chops. These are the same people who will complain about 'form over function' in one post then bleat on about how this design would never get past Steve (signer-offer of the world's most unusable mouse) Jobs in the next.
What's hilarious is how they immediately jump into the sheep pen and start ragging on a product they haven't seen yet. They complain about the way pen plugs into the iPad (Steve would have killed any man who showed him that!) without seeming to realise there's a charging cable in the box.
Consider those users that usually use the iPhone in one hand (yes, the 6 is still small enough for that); they'll be used to hold it in a certain way, usually with the lower corner/inner edge tucked into the palm of the hand, the outer edge gripped by the fingers and the thumb free to operate the touchscreen.
The thing is: if the user's hands are big enough, the fingers form an arch behind the back of the iPhone, and I'm willing to bet that most users won't even touch the back of the case. Well, the hump would, then, have no effect whatsoever in the perceived size of the case, as all *edges* are still the same size, don't you get it? Yes, it looks ugly as hell, but it feels as “naked” as possible (more like “sillicone case-naked”, but still). In a sense, it will feel more familiar and be less susceptible of causing discomfort or accidents…
These parody twitter accounts of not Jony Ive and _HairForceOne are hillarious and actually very insightful. I wonder who's behind them.