There was plenty of speculation swirling around that Apple was planning on bringing back the Smart Battery Case, but this time for the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max. There were hints buried in Apple's own iOS, but obviously nothing official from Apple at the time. But that has changed, and now we know that you can buy the newest Smart Battery Case for Apple's newest iPhones right now.

The case comes in three colors, and they are all priced the same ($129) no matter which iPhone 11 model you have. That's a nice touch -- Apple could easily charge more for the bigger phones if it wanted to. Of course, $129 isn't necessarily cheap, so this is probably an accessory you'll really want before you decide to go through a purchase.

If you even need it, that is.

Now, battery life is a fickle thing and it can be wildly different from one person to another. An iPhone 11 Pro Max can get me through a day and a half, easy, even with moderate usage (including playin games), but I know some owners of the same handset who use their phone a lot more than I do and they don't get the same stretch from their battery. Which makes sense!

I'm just saying that a Smart Battery Case doesn't make much sense for me. I get by just fine on a regular basis, so dropping over $100 to get more battery life (even if it is really 50% more) just doesn't seem worth it to me. Even if it has wireless charging support.

But then Apple goes ahead and throws in a physical camera button and now I'm wondering if maybe I do need this case after all. That's right, this new Smart Battery Case has a physical camera button that cannot only handle a quick selfie, but also take a standard picture and even record video. It sounds like it will only open the stock Camera app (and not a third-party option), but that's not surprising at all.

A physical camera button is something that I think more phones should have just by default. I always thought it was a cool feature on older handsets, and even if I understand why it isn't as important these days, it's still a piece of nostalgia I wouldn't mind making a comeback. It's just super helpful!

Of course, the software on most of the phones today -- especially the handsets with the most powerful/worthwhile cameras -- is fast enough to justify the removal of said button. And that's fair. And I don't think anyone would say that launching the camera on an iPhone 11 Pro is slow by any stretch of the imagination. And yet that physical camera button is calling my name.

I probably won't go through with it, though. I dislike cases more than I like physical camera buttons, and I really don't want that case on my phone. But, I'm curious if you are interested in the new Smart Battery Case from Apple. Do you plan on picking one up? Let me know!