iPhone battery cases have been around for years now, offering to extend your Apple smartphone’s battery life at the expense of added bulk. But today the space gained a major new competitor: Apple.
Apple today launched the iPhone 6s Smart Battery Case, which the Cupertino firm says can boost talk time to 25 hours and LTE web browsing time up to 18 hours. Apple says that the iPhone 6s on its own offers up to 14 hours of talk time and 10 hours of LTE web browsing. Apple does not provide a specific mAh size for the battery included in its new case.
The exterior of the iPhone 6s Smart Battery Case is made of silicone, while the interior offers a microfiber lining to protect your phone. To insert the iPhone 6s into the Smart Battery Case, you simply adjust the hinge at the top of the case and slip the phone right in. Once inside the case, the iPhone can display how much charge the Smart Battery Case has on its lock screen and in the Notification Center.
The Smart Battery Case is compatible with iPhone 6s and iPhone 6. It costs $99 and is available in Charcoal Gray and White. Apple’s online store says that orders with the fastest shipping option will be delivered as soon as December 10, so I’d expect the Smart Battery Case to be in Apple Stores soon if it’s not already there.
Apple’s Smart Battery Case looks largely similar to the silicone case that it’s offered to iPhone 6s owners since the device’s launch, just with a large hump on its back. That hump definitely looks a bit strange just bulging out of the iPhone’s back. Many other battery case makers opt to just make the entire case large, but it looks like Apple wanted to retain as much of the iPhone 6s’s thinness as possible, so it just added a bulge on the back of the case. This bulge also enables the hinge design that lets you slide your iPhone into the case
