In addition to releasing iOS 9.2, Apple has launched two new accessories for their iOS devices today. The first of the two is something I touched on in our iOS 9.2 launch post, which is a new Lightning to SD Card adapter for transferring photos and videos from your camera to your iOS device. Apple has sold this type of adapter since the days of the 30pin connector, but it has always been limited to iPads. The new adapter now supports iPhones running iOS 9.2, and it also includes support for USB 3 transfer speeds on the iPad Pro, which will greatly reduce the time it takes to transfer photos and high bitrate video from your camera to your iPad for any editing you may be doing with it.

While the new camera adapter is a nice little update, the bigger accessory launch today is the new iPhone 6s Smart Battery Case. From the front, it looks very much like Apple's existing silicone cases for the iPhones. Once you turn it around you'll see that the case has quite a large bulge on the back where the battery is stored. The rationale for this design is that it allows you to remove the case by peeling back at the top, without having to make the case out of two separate parts like the other battery cases available on the market. While I understand this line of reasoning, I think the bulge on the back looks quite unsightly.

According to Apple, the new iPhone 6s battery case boosts talk time up to 25hrs of usage, and LTE internet battery life to 18 hours of usage. Due to how it's designed, the case doesn't include a battery as large as some competing devices, coming in at 1,877mAh while some third party battery cases include batteries rated as high as 3000mAh. The case does have an LED indicator to let you know whether it's fully charged, but this indicator is located inside the case to be examined when charging the case alone, and to view its current capacity when you're using it you'll have to look at the battery widget in your iPhone's notification center. Apple has also built external antennas into the case to reduce the signal attenuation caused by the case.

One final thing to note is that the case doensn't have an open bottom like Apple's other silicone and leather cases, which means that headphone compatibility is going to be limited to headphones with very little plastic surrounding the 3.5mm connector, such as Apple's earpods. Users of other corded headphones will need to purchase some sort of adapter.

Apple's new Smart Battery Case is available now in charcoal black and white, and it sells for $99 in the US and $129 in Canada.

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  • iwod - Tuesday, December 8, 2015 - link

    Since the USB 3.0 and 3.1 shares the same pin count. Anyone may guess the reason why Apple did not go for the USB 3.1 transfer speed?
  • Impulses - Wednesday, December 9, 2015 - link

    Probably because of controller costs and the fact that the internal NAND isn't fast enough to saturate 3.0 anyway.
  • sseemaku - Wednesday, December 9, 2015 - link

    Considering the brand loyalty of apple, one or the other customer will buy this ugly case for sure.
  • Speedfriend - Wednesday, December 9, 2015 - link

    Peak Apple. I honestly thought it was a joke when someone emailed me a picture of it yeasterday!
  • appytech - Wednesday, December 9, 2015 - link

    In the desire to have share in every possible revenue niche, Apple is losing sight of what made it distinctive in the first place, great design and an unparalleled user experience. It meant living without things that other companies would do, build one product and then accessorise it to hell. Apple is going the same way.
    First buy an iPhone, then buy an ugly looking £79 case, then buy apple earphones because the other earphones don't fit...
  • zeeBomb - Wednesday, December 9, 2015 - link

    What a joke!
  • cgpublic - Wednesday, December 9, 2015 - link

    "The rationale for this design is that it allows you to remove the case by peeling back at the top, without having to make the case out of two separate parts like the other battery cases available on the market." Makes sense to me. As far as I'm concerned, the bulge is a wash compared to the bulk of third-party cases.
  • extide - Wednesday, December 9, 2015 - link

    Whey didn't they extend the battery all the way to the sides and bottom? There is a lot more room to fit battery in that case. Seems silly to me. FIne, don't make it extend all the way to the top so you can peel it off, but what about the bottom and sides? Apple being stingy as usual.
  • nicolapeluchetti - Wednesday, December 9, 2015 - link

    Is it so difficult to just make a bigger/thicker iPhone with more standard battery?It would be an easy win.
  • dray67 - Thursday, December 10, 2015 - link

    I like it, not that I'd need it but I still like it, there's something about it I like maybe it's the whole "it's a block of silicon with a battery in it, what did you expect, Michelangelo's David??" feel I get from it.

    It's subjective so if people don't like it they buy something different.

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