Apple releases official battery cases for iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR

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  The iPhone XR's Smart Battery case in black. [credit: Apple ]

Today, Apple quietly began taking orders for battery-equipped cases for all three 2018 iPhone models-iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR. The value proposition and designs are essentially the same as with battery cases made by Apple for prior iPhones.

As pictured above, each phone gets a black and a white option. The cases are made of silicone and closely resemble the existing, not-battery-equipped silicone cases that began shipping with the phones first became available late last year, except for the significant bumps on the lower two thirds of the backs of each case. The bump houses the battery, of course. Since the three phones are each different sizes, these cases are not interchangeable between models.

These cases work with Qi wireless chargers, and you can charge both the case and the phone at the same time from said chargers-though it should probably be said that Qi speeds on iPhones are nothing to write home about, and that's a whole lot of lithium-ion battery to fill up. In many cases, you'll be better off going wired, and that's OK, because the cases support fast-charging from USB-PD compatible chargers.

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