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The iPhone Air is Apple’s thinnest iPhone yet, appealing to many with its sleek design and slim form factor. However, this new design compromises the battery life of the device. To address this issue, Apple created a dedicated MagSafe Battery Pack for the iPhone Air, which also features a slim and portable design.
Apple’s MagSafe Battery Pack for iPhone Air reuses the same battery cell but wireless charging limits performance
In iFixit’s teardown, it was revealed that the iPhone Air MagSafe Battery Pack has a 12.26 Wh battery, which is just 2.72mm thick—thin enough to fit within the iPhone Air’s own 5.6mm body. The battery pack appears to use the same battery cell as the one included in the iPhone Air itself.
Folks at iFixit analyzed the battery cell and found that it is essentially the same battery powering your iPhone Air, with the same shape and thickness. Apple claims that the battery pack can charge the iPhone Air from 0 to 65 percent, which seems odd given that both products share the same battery capacity. This is due to wireless charging losses. During the transfer process, a portion of energy vanishes, making a full recharge impossible.
In terms of build, the battery in the pack is protected by plastic but lacks metal reinforcement, unlike the iPhone itself. However, Apple ensured the plastic was thick enough for protection, which made the battery pack thicker than the iPhone Air. iFixit believes that Apple intentionally made the MagSafe Battery Pack thicker to maintain a certain minimum size and create a functional accessory, rather than making it exactly as thin as the iPhone Air.
All in all, the teardown of the iPhone Air MagSafe Battery Pack suggests that Apple was clever to reuse or repurpose an existing battery design. While the wireless charging feature does have limitations, you can offset these compromises by using the USB-C cable for charging. Ultimately, the MagSafe Battery Pack will not transform the iPhone Air into a multi-day powerhouse but provide a neat aid in certain situations.
We will cover the teardown of the iPhone Air itself and the iPhone 17 lineup as soon as more information is available. Would you buy the $99 battery pack for the iPhone Air?
