Apple has launched its fair share of unusual accessories. But the iPhone Air MagSafe Battery seemed to at least have a practical purpose. As its name says, it’s an accessory for Apple’s new ultra slim smartphone. Apple was generous enough to send us a unit, and while I initially planned to devote only a few lines to it in my iPhone Air write-up, the device has warranted a mini-review of its own. Spoilers: it’s an overpriced dust trap.
As I mentioned in the iPhone Air review, the phone’s battery isn’t half bad. It can certainly keep up with my chronic doomscrolling habits. It is also quite capable of lasting an entire day with some juice left to spare. Which is good news for the phone, less so for the MagSafe battery.
Sure, it does come in handy if you forget to charge the Air one night and wake up to find you’re low on battery. On such occasions, you can simply slap the battery onto the phone and be on your merry way. That is, if you also did not forget to keep said battery topped up.
Which brings me to one of the problems with the accessory. It’s essentially the same 3,149mAh unit as the one equipped on the Air. This means that at best, you can only charge the phone once before the battery itself needs to be plugged into a power source.
Apple officially says you get an additional 65% out of the battery, so if you’re a heavy user, you’re probably better off buying a conventional powerbank instead. Especially if you have other electronics you use regularly, like earbuds or a smartwatch. While you could use the MagSafe battery to charge small items, it’s better to save the limited power for the iPhone Air.
Of course, one may argue that the MagSafe battery is not meant to serve as a powerbank. It’s an external battery that turns your iPhone Air into a hybrid phone of sorts. With it, you get a chunky beefy device with enough power to fuel your mobile gaming addiction.
And when you put away the MagSafe battery, you get your stylish svelte smartphone. The best of both worlds, so to speak. Except now you end up with a bulky heavy device half the time, ruining the Air’s aesthetic. And you’re not exactly adding much value to make up for it.
Overall, the iPhone Air MagSafe Battery is about as paradoxical as the phone it was designed for, and not in a good way. Many of Apple’s design choices suggest that the brand wants to have its cake and eat it too. The battery half-heartedly patches up a perceived flaw only to introduce other undesired qualities. Which does leave one questioning its purpose.
Oh, and should you ever decide to move on to other iPhone models, you won’t be able to comfortably use the MagSafe battery either. The tall and thin body fits the Air, and the Air only.
