Apple’s first ever battery iPhone case has generated a range of reactions and emotions. Some people simply can’t get over the hump.
I caught up with Apple CEO Tim Cook, who was in town to participate in an Hour of Code event, to take his temperature on the $99 iPhone 6 and 6s case, with the noticeable battery pack hump on its back.
We asked Cook if he is excited about the hump.
“You know, I probably wouldn’t call it ‘the hump,'” said Cook, who added he was aware of the comments surrounding the Smart Battery Case.
“As you probably know from being a user of this now,” said Cook as he grabbed my iPhone 6, which was sporting the new case, “one of the real insights here is, have you ever used other cases and tried to get them on?”
Cook was pointing out the issue with cases, like those from Mophie, that are so rigid it takes considerable strength and patience to put them on and take them off.
“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.
Some also see the introduction of an Apple battery case as an admission that battery life on the iPhone 6 and 6s isn’t all it should be.
Cook, though, said that “if you’re charging your phone every day, you probably don’t need this at all. But if you’re out hiking and you go on overnight trips… it’s kind of nice to have.”
Apple’s VP of software engineering Cheryl Thomas, who was also at the event and had been listening to Cook's description of Smart Battery Case usage scenarios, then chimed in. “When you need it, you need it.”
Cook laughed and agreed, “When you need it, you need it. That’s right.”