Earlier this week, Apple quietly released a brand-new battery case for the iPhone 6s. Priced at $99 and offering up 25 hours of talk time and 18 hours of Internet browsing, Apple’s Smart Battery Case isn’t a bad deal by any means, but it’s certainly not the best bang for your buck available in the product category.
But performance, oddly enough, is seemingly the last thing people seem to be focusing on. Rather, most of the conversation surrounding Apple’s new battery case is its questionable design. Equipped with a hefty “hump” on the back, Apple’s newest accessory has sparked a flood of comments from folks who were quick to categorize it as, well, ugly.
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Tim Cook, however, begs to differ. Speaking to Mashable, Apple’s venerable CEO naturally heaped praise on the case’s design. Specifically, Cook highlighted that the case is comprised of just one piece of material, thereby sparing us from the clunkiness and frustration of more traditional battery cases which often incorporate two separate pieces that need to be attached.
“If you make this solid all the way across,” said Cook, indicating the spots where the Apple case’s embedded battery stops and you just have the soft fluoroelastomer casing, “in order to get it on, you’d find it very difficult to get it on and off.”
So the guys had this great insight to put the bend in along with making it a smart case,” Cook explained.
Subtly and indirectly addressing concerns that the company’s new Smart Battery Case doesn’t measure up to Apple’s own high standard of design, Cook added that the device isn’t necessarily intended for everyday use. Rather, the case is geared for occasions when users will be spending a considerable amount of time away from a charger.
“If you’re charging your phone every day, you probably don’t need this at all,” Cook said. “But if you’re out hiking and you go on overnight trips… it’s kind of nice to have.”
As for the hump on the back that many have derided as unseemly, Cook had this to say: “You know, I probably wouldn’t call it ‘the hump'”.
Personally, I don’t find the design of the case to be that outrageous. While certainly not an accessory anyone would ever categorize as sleek or innovative, it gets the job done; and when you’re in desperate need of some extra juice, that’s far more important than any aesthetic considerations.
