Review: Apple Smart Battery Case for iPhone 6 & 6s

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Comments

  • Reply 61 of 102

    And don't forget the iPhone 4 bumpers that were needed because of an actual design flaw in the product. 
    you keep repeating that trope but it's untrue. the iPhone 4 didn't routinely drop calls, and att's data proved this as jobs explained in the press event. the death grip happened with any external atteana phone wrapped tightly in a watery meat bag. In fact, they made no recall or change to it and continued to sell it for many years. 

    there was no problem. just hoopla. 
    Soli
  • Reply 62 of 102
    j5fanclub said:
    the "baffling" design decisions aren't baffling. you just didn't understand why they did them. Gruber does:

    http://daringfireball.net/2015/12/the_curious_case_of_the_curious_case
    Hey nolamacguy,

    In your opinion, has Apple done anything less than amazing since the second-coming of Jobs? Obviously, I don't think so because I'm not a troll.
    of course. I think the auto correct and dictionary on my devices is awful. 

    as as for not being a troll, get back to me when you have more than 10 posts. 
  • Reply 63 of 102
    cnocbui said:
    It would be very interesting to conduct a poll on how many people would like a thinner iPhone vs one the same or 1mm thicker with much better battery life. I suspect the latter would be the most popular option. 
    what a novel new idea youve posed. 
  • Reply 64 of 102
    Soli said:
    cnocbui said:
    It would be very interesting to conduct a poll on how many people would like a thinner iPhone vs one the same or 1mm thicker with much better battery life. I suspect the latter would be the most popular option. Damn, that thing is ugly.
    You'd think, but I have to trust the OEMs that constantly market the thickness and weight. Even this year, with the iPhone 6S, people complained that it got thicker and heavier, even though it did so to add to HW and didn't change by very much.
    In psychology it is called "false consensus". Wikipedia defines it as:

    In psychology, the false-consensus effect or false-consensus bias is a cognitive bias whereby a person tends to overestimate the extent to which their beliefs or opinions are typical of those of others.

    it reinforces ones own self-esteem to think that, so expressions of false consensus are stubbornly held. The believer has an emotional stake in believing it to be true.
    edited December 2015 xamax
  • Reply 65 of 102
    dasanman69dasanman69 Posts: 13,002member
    tofino said:
    Use of the lightning cable is reason enough for me to consider this case over any other. How much can third party case makers really save to use that dreadful micro usb connector?
    It would be double the licensing fee. They're already paying the fee for the male part, and would have to pay again to include female part. 
  • Reply 66 of 102
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    In psychology it is called "false consensus". Wikipedia defines it as:

    In psychology, the false-consensus effect or false-consensus bias is a cognitive bias whereby a person tends to overestimate the extent to which their beliefs or opinions are typical of those of others.

    it reinforces ones own self-esteem to think that, so expressions of false consensus are stubbornly held. The believer has an emotional stake in believing it to be true.
    I have to think it's difficult to properly poll for this. If I go up to people and say, "Would you like more battery life in your phone?," the chances are I'm going to get nearly everyone saying yes. I want everything I have with a battery to literally last forever without a charge. However, I'm not willing to pay for and carry an infinite battery to make that happen.

    As we see with the AnandTech testing with WiFi and LTE usage, the iPhone 6/6S series exceed previous iPhones. The 6S series drop slightly compared to the 6 series due to the space needed for the haptic engine for 3D Touch, but it still far exceeds every iPhone that came before it; yet they offered no battery case until Late-2015. I have to wonder if this simple design with some smart features might also be a test run for a different, and more  complex product in the works.


    xamax
  • Reply 67 of 102
    kpluckkpluck Posts: 500member
    Gruber, Rene Ritchie and Jim Dalrymple get it. And since there are third-party options, which are even sold Apple stores, what's there to complain about. Buy something else if you don't like this option.
    Exactly! How dare AppleInsider review the product and give their opinion.

    -kpluck 
  • Reply 68 of 102
    Soli said:
    cnocbui said:
    It would be very interesting to conduct a poll on how many people would like a thinner iPhone vs one the same or 1mm thicker with much better battery life. I suspect the latter would be the most popular option. Damn, that thing is ugly.
    You'd think, but I have to trust the OEMs that constantly market the thickness and weight. Even this year, with the iPhone 6S, people complained that it got thicker and heavier, even though it did so to add to HW and didn't change by very much.
    In psychology it is called "false consensus". Wikipedia defines it as:

    In psychology, the false-consensus effect or false-consensus bias is a cognitive bias whereby a person tends to overestimate the extent to which their beliefs or opinions are typical of those of others.

    it reinforces ones own self-esteem to think that, so expressions of false consensus are stubbornly held. The believer has an emotional stake in believing it to be true.
    Everyone I know would absolutely disagree with you!  /s
    Soli
  • Reply 69 of 102
    kpluck said:
    Gruber, Rene Ritchie and Jim Dalrymple get it. And since there are third-party options, which are even sold Apple stores, what's there to complain about. Buy something else if you don't like this option.
    Exactly! How dare AppleInsider review the product and give their opinion.

    -kpluck 

    Shouldn't a product reviewer have a duty to enlighten the reader as to the details and advantages of said product, or is it merely the expression of an opinion?

    Your "how dare they give their opinion" sentiment is merely a defense of the political correctness of having opinions. My guess is that you are motivated to do so because this particular opinion confirms your biases. Well, product reviews (particularly if there's compensation involved) are held to higher standards than editorials. They'd better be able to explain the pros and cons of the product beyond taking a few photos, repeating the specs, and then writing about their confusion about Apple's design decisions. You should demand more from the writers, not praise their lack of effort. Otherwise, they would do you and all other readers a disservice.
    xamaxnolamacguy
  • Reply 70 of 102
    kpluck said:
    Gruber, Rene Ritchie and Jim Dalrymple get it. And since there are third-party options, which are even sold Apple stores, what's there to complain about. Buy something else if you don't like this option.
    Exactly! How dare AppleInsider review the product and give their opinion.

    -kpluck 

    Shouldn't a product reviewer have a duty to enlighten the reader as to the details and advantages of said product, or is it merely the expression of an opinion?

    Your "how dare they give their opinion" sentiment is merely a defense of the political correctness of having opinions. My guess is that you are motivated to do so because this particular opinion confirms your biases. Well, product reviews (particularly if there's compensation involved) are held to higher standards than editorials. They'd better be able to explain the pros and cons of the product beyond taking a few photos, repeating the specs, and then writing about their confusion about Apple's design decisions. You should demand more from the writers, not praise their lack of effort. Otherwise, they would do you and all other readers a disservice.
    It's somewhat comical you calling someone else bias. It must be tiresome posting in a thread like this trying to defend a product that looks this bad. Apple's obsession with making products thin just to make a battery case like this adding that much bulk to the phone is pathetic. 

    What we should be asking ourselves is how does Cook think he can get way with taking a battery slapping some silicone around it and asking people to buy it.  

    But,but but but, it's made by apple so by default it's awesome. 


    dasanman69cnocbui
  • Reply 71 of 102
    dasanman69dasanman69 Posts: 13,002member
    Soli said:
    cnocbui said:
    It would be very interesting to conduct a poll on how many people would like a thinner iPhone vs one the same or 1mm thicker with much better battery life. I suspect the latter would be the most popular option. Damn, that thing is ugly.
    You'd think, but I have to trust the OEMs that constantly market the thickness and weight. Even this year, with the iPhone 6S, people complained that it got thicker and heavier, even though it did so to add to HW and didn't change by very much.
    In psychology it is called "false consensus". Wikipedia defines it as:

    In psychology, the false-consensus effect or false-consensus bias is a cognitive bias whereby a person tends to overestimate the extent to which their beliefs or opinions are typical of those of others.

    it reinforces ones own self-esteem to think that, so expressions of false consensus are stubbornly held. The believer has an emotional stake in believing it to be true.
    There's also self deception. 
  • Reply 72 of 102
    steven n.steven n. Posts: 1,229member
    cnocbui said:
    It would be very interesting to conduct a poll on how many people would like a thinner iPhone vs one the same or 1mm thicker with much better battery life. I suspect the latter would be the most popular option. Damn, that thing is ugly.
    Thinner. Battery life is not a problem and when it is, it REALLY is (think 7+ days needed). 
  • Reply 73 of 102
    steven n.steven n. Posts: 1,229member
    Soli said:
    cnocbui said:
    It would be very interesting to conduct a poll on how many people would like a thinner iPhone vs one the same or 1mm thicker with much better battery life. I suspect the latter would be the most popular option. Damn, that thing is ugly.
    You'd think, but I have to trust the OEMs that constantly market the thickness and weight. Even this year, with the iPhone 6S, people complained that it got thicker and heavier, even though it did so to add to HW and didn't change by very much.
    In psychology it is called "false consensus". Wikipedia defines it as:

    In psychology, the false-consensus effect or false-consensus bias is a cognitive bias whereby a person tends to overestimate the extent to which their beliefs or opinions are typical of those of others.

    it reinforces ones own self-esteem to think that, so expressions of false consensus are stubbornly held. The believer has an emotional stake in believing it to be true.
    I don't consider this a case of a false consensus at all. OEM tend to push thin and light over think and heavy. Given the value Apple extracts out of the industry, I'm thinking there is a solid reason. 

    That said, I don't like the camera bump at all. 
    Soli
  • Reply 74 of 102
    tofino said:
    Use of the lightning cable is reason enough for me to consider this case over any other. How much can third party case makers really save to use that dreadful micro usb connector?
    It would be double the licensing fee. They're already paying the fee for the male part, and would have to pay again to include female part. 
    You'd think at least one of those 3rd-party battery case manufacturers would just pony up and pay both licensing fees.

    iPhone owners already have Lightning cables.  Why would a company make the customer suffer with MicroUSB cables just to save a few dollars?

    If there was one 3rd-party battery case with Lightning versus a dozen with MicroUSB... I'd definitely pick the one with Lightning.  I'd even pay more for a battery case with Lightning. (thus offsetting the extra cost of license fees for both Lightning connectors)

    I think these companies put more emphasis on their own budgeting rather than on the ease of having one cable.

    Oh well... their loss is Apple's gain.  I can imagine more of Apple's Smart Battery Cases being sold strictly on the fact that you don't need any additional cables. Simple is good.
    edited December 2015
  • Reply 75 of 102
    cnocbuicnocbui Posts: 3,613member
    Soli said:
    cnocbui said:
    It would be very interesting to conduct a poll on how many people would like a thinner iPhone vs one the same or 1mm thicker with much better battery life. I suspect the latter would be the most popular option. Damn, that thing is ugly.
    You'd think, but I have to trust the OEMs that constantly market the thickness and weight. Even this year, with the iPhone 6S, people complained that it got thicker and heavier, even though it did so to add to HW and didn't change by very much.
    In psychology it is called "false consensus". Wikipedia defines it as:

    In psychology, the false-consensus effect or false-consensus bias is a cognitive bias whereby a person tends to overestimate the extent to which their beliefs or opinions are typical of those of others.

    it reinforces ones own self-esteem to think that, so expressions of false consensus are stubbornly held. The believer has an emotional stake in believing it to be true.
    That's funny, I thought it was more in line with the scientific method, where you have a hypothesis and then test it. You know, the bit where I said I think A is the case so it would be interesting to conduct a poll to see whether proposition A has any validity.

    I have seen a few posters on AI say they would not like the iPhone to get any thinner, but would prefer greater battery life.  Would you like references?
  • Reply 76 of 102
    This is a very weird (and pretty obviously biased) review IMO.  

    It goes on for a while about all the great features of the product, then it makes a single, wildly unsupportable claim ("... in normal mixed use ... we were left with ... about what you'd expect from an iPhone on its own."), then it depends into endless petty griping.  

    A review should be a review of the product on it's own that discusses the products merits and design decisions.  This is mostly just a long list of:  "It doesn't have ... (insert detail of competing product that the reviewer likes) BS."

    We get it, it's *different* from the other products.  Maybe do your job and figure out *why* it's different, what the design decisions that lead to this difference are, and whether they make any sense.  
    Yea, I am surprised that AppleInsider put up with this review. It is graded on a curve and went along with other tech site's review that must give negative points. Why DED doesn't do a review?

  • Reply 77 of 102
    tofino said:
    Use of the lightning cable is reason enough for me to consider this case over any other. How much can third party case makers really save to use that dreadful micro usb connector?
    It would be double the licensing fee. They're already paying the fee for the male part, and would have to pay again to include female part. 
    You'd think at least one of those 3rd-party battery case manufacturers would just pony up and pay both licensing fees.

    iPhone owners already have Lightning cables.  Why would a company make the customer suffer with MicroUSB cables just to save a few dollars?

    If there was one 3rd-party battery case with Lightning versus a dozen with MicroUSB... I'd definitely pick the one with Lightning.  I'd even pay more for a battery case with Lightning. (thus offsetting the extra cost of license fees for both Lightning connectors)

    I think these companies put more emphasis on their own budgeting rather than on the ease of having one cable.

    Oh well... their loss is Apple's gain.  I can imagine more of Apple's Smart Battery Cases being sold strictly on the fact that you don't need any additional cables. Simple is good.
     Do we know how much those fees are? It could very well be that the fee for the female part is much higher. There has to be a reason why they don't include it in their cases. 
  • Reply 78 of 102
    dewmedewme Posts: 5,335member
    This reviewer fails to appreciate the value of seamless integration, one piece design, grippy texture, switch less design, and smart power management. And, of course preserving iPhone 6 owners' investment in Lightning cables and accessories. That's what differentiates Apple's designers from aftermarket designers, Apple knows better than to add on claptrap features that add complexity and degrade the user experience. I can understand some people disliking the guppy hump but take a peek at the Amazon reviews of competing products and you'll understand why Apple made the design choices they did to keep this simple product simple to use. A protective power case should simply protect and provide more power without changing how you use the base product. If you have to think about how you use the thing, it's a suboptimal design. The Apple case is the only "slap it on and forget about it" offering on the market right now. It ain't perfect because it adds thickness, but it's as good as it can be based on contemporary consumer grade battery technology. 
  • Reply 79 of 102
    I don't have the same visceral distaste for the humped back on this case as others - I certainly don't like it, and would rather avoid it, but I can see how and why Apple concluded it was the best option for what they were going for. But really I still find this thing pointless, especially at that price. I'd rather just use a standard emergency battery connected by a cable. I've got a couple cylindrical ones, one from Anker and an R2-D2 one (Cos why not) that do the job for me just fine.
  • Reply 80 of 102
    tofino said:
    Use of the lightning cable is reason enough for me to consider this case over any other. How much can third party case makers really save to use that dreadful micro usb connector?
    It would be double the licensing fee. They're already paying the fee for the male part, and would have to pay again to include female part. 
    You'd think at least one of those 3rd-party battery case manufacturers would just pony up and pay both licensing fees.

    iPhone owners already have Lightning cables.  Why would a company make the customer suffer with MicroUSB cables just to save a few dollars?

    If there was one 3rd-party battery case with Lightning versus a dozen with MicroUSB... I'd definitely pick the one with Lightning.  I'd even pay more for a battery case with Lightning. (thus offsetting the extra cost of license fees for both Lightning connectors)

    I think these companies put more emphasis on their own budgeting rather than on the ease of having one cable.

    Oh well... their loss is Apple's gain.  I can imagine more of Apple's Smart Battery Cases being sold strictly on the fact that you don't need any additional cables. Simple is good.
     Do we know how much those fees are? It could very well be that the fee for the female part is much higher. There has to be a reason why they don't include it in their cases. 
    AppleInsider reported Lightning license fees are $4 per unit.

    So both male and female would be $8 per unit.

    While that is, in fact, double... I still think it's a worthwhile investment.

    Like I said... they could cover that by charging more for Lightning-only battery cases. And it would be so much better for the consumer.
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