Apple launches Smart Battery Cases for iPhone XS, XS Max & XR

Apple on Tuesday launched three new Smart Battery Cases to match its latest iPhone lineup, significantly extending the longevity of its handsets.

The iPhone XS case adds up to 21 hours of internet use, 25 hours of video, or 33 hours of talk time. The XS Max model supplies 20 hours of internet, 25 hours of video, and 37 hours of talk, while the XR case offers the best performance, raising those numbers to 22, 27, and 39 hours, respectively.

The cases are compatible with Qi wireless chargers, which can charge an iPhone simultaneously. Alternately they can be fueled by Lightning-to-USB cables, with USB-C enabling fast charging.

All three cases cost $129 and come only in black or white, even though the iPhone XR ships in six different colors.

Apple skipped first-party battery cases for 2017 iPhones, despite having produced earlier ones for the iPhone 6, 6s, and 7.

The only design changes for the new products appear to be a relocated battery hump and a vertical camera cutout.

Hints that Apple was returning to the field first emerged in early December, thanks to an icon in watchOS 5.1.2 and a leaked image. By late December a merchandising guide all but confirmed intentions.

40 Comments

mike1 3431 comments · 10 Years

About 5 years ago

Any particular reason the XS case isn't compatible with the X?

Madtiger 237 comments · 7 Years

mike1 said:

Any particular reason the XS case isn't compatible with the X?

Probably because camera bump is slightly different. And with tight tolerances of the camera hole on the case, X will not fit.

GG1 483 comments · 7 Years

Make the phones 2mm thicker (with larger battery, of course), and these products are not needed.

Better yet, go back to the iPhone 5 design (or latest iPad Pro).

https://9to5mac.com/2019/01/13/iphone-11-design-ipad-pro-iphone-5/

rogifan_new 4297 comments · 9 Years

GG1 said:

Make the phones 2mm thicker (with larger battery, of course), and these products are not needed.

Better yet, go back to the iPhone 5 design (or latest iPad Pro).

https://9to5mac.com/2019/01/13/iphone-11-design-ipad-pro-iphone-5/

These products aren’t needed for most people anyway.

tht 5594 comments · 23 Years

Madtiger said:

mike1 said:

Any particular reason the XS case isn't compatible with the X?

Probably because camera bump is slightly different. And with tight tolerances of the camera hole on the case, X will not fit.

The camera bump on the X is smaller than the one on XS, so it should fit unless the camera bump locations are different, but I don’t think so. It’ll fit. Whether it will work is different question.

This new battery case uses the Lightning port right? (Ie, it doesn’t feed power to the phone through the induction charger?)