Mophie Ju

By Rene Ritchie
last updated

Dieter's at the IGA show in Berlin, Germany and he's scored us a first look at mophie's upcoming Juice Pack Air for iPhone 4. It's got soft touch paint and they claim ZERO signal degredation because the entire PCB board is on the bottom, so there are no electronics around the antenna. It's shipping to Apple now and will be available in "Nationwide retailers" next week for $79.95.

Mophie Juice Pack air for iPhone 4 comes in black, white, red, and green and "virtually doubles your power". 6 hours talk time, 5 hours internet 3G, and 9 hours on wifi courtesy of a 1500mAh battery. It also sports pass-through USB for power, iTunes sync, and can be switched off when not in use.

What Dieter saw was prototype hardware, but felt very thin and good to him, especially the soft touch finish.

Also being shown off was the Juice Pack Power Station, which sports 2.1 Amp output so it can power and iPad. This one rates 3600 mAh and has a USB cable included to charge it. And the Marketplace

Hands-on photos after the break!

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Rene Ritchie
Rene Ritchie
Contributor

Rene Ritchie is one of the most respected Apple analysts in the business, reaching a combined audience of over 40 million readers a month. His YouTube channel, Vector, has over 90 thousand subscribers and 14 million views and his podcasts, including Debug, have been downloaded over 20 million times. He also regularly co-hosts MacBreak Weekly for the TWiT network and co-hosted CES Live! and Talk Mobile. Based in Montreal, Rene is a former director of product marketing, web developer, and graphic designer. He's authored several books and appeared on numerous television and radio segments to discuss Apple and the technology industry. When not working, he likes to cook, grapple, and spend time with his friends and family.

28 Comments
  • Now if this could be combined with an otterbox Defender, you would have the ULTIMATE case!
  • Will it fit with a body skin on? Inquiring minds........
  • iPhone 4 battery is sufficient.
  • I wondered the same thing as Xultar... will it fit?
    Kick Butt
  • i am interested to see which will work better for me hiking while using gps
  • I agree with Talbert. Mophie had to be very pissed with the huge jump in battery with the iPhone 4. I think they'll sell a lot less not because the their product is any different just most people won't have the need. The only time I drained my iPhone 4 battery so far is when I watched 2 hours of Nexflix last week in addition to normal use that day. It still didn't run out but was in red when I went to bed.
  • @Talbert: I agree the iPhone 4 battery is sufficient. The mophie juice pack is also hard on the eyes.
  • I had the original Mophie JuicePack with my 3G. I loved the extra runtime, but it was a bit spotty in terms of performance. It would "lose sync" with the iPhone fairly often (the phone would say it wasn't a compatible device) and then no longer respond. I would have to plug it in real quick to "wake up" the juicepack. Hopefully this pack will work a bit better.
  • That should be the actual size of the next iPhone!
  • Meh... it's like driving around with a gas can.
  • I ordered the MiLi HI-C23 Power Spring 4 about a month ago and expect mine to arrive tomorrow. http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/26/mili-powerspring-4-doubles-the-batter...blogsmithinpage_engadget
  • Nothing against Morphie, but I'm in agreement with the faction that thinks that the iPhone 4 battery is sufficient. Apple not only made a better battery but gave us the features we want without the massive power consumption that the new Android phones suffer from. I say this after flying from Raleigh to Dusseldorf, Germany twice in the last month and found that the battery powered my movie watching, music listening, game playing and book reading for the 7.5 hour flight, dwell time at Heathrow and additional 1 hour flight to Dusseldorf. No morphie needed. Now, if I have to take another trip to Asia this year that may change my opinion.
  • http://www.exogear.com/
    Is wayy better and thinner and out now in black and white for 90
  • What if they made a massive one that could fit over your iPad and double its power to a full 20 hours of use!!
  • I don't know if I'd want this or just a regular case like one of these: http://www.iphone4accessory.com/voted-top-10-iphone-4-cases/
  • If you travel you'll want this. I'm on 5 hr flights 6 to 8 times a month. I will buy 1 for sure
  • $180 forget about it!
  • Perhaps you should re-read the article. "It’s shipping to Apple now and will be available in “Nationwide retailers” next week for $79.95." Which is the smae price as the Juice Pack for the 3GS What $180.00 is "the Marketplace, which we saw an early version of back at Macworld, is now ramped up with Intuit GoPayment and is available now for $179.95 plus GoPayment service."
  • I watched the ipod event on my iPhone4 and it sucked a good 40% of the battery to get about 2/3 of the way through before I gave up with the constant stops/restarts and skipping. So, yeah if you just want it as a phone sure the battery is enough, but there is nothing wrong with having extra juice on the go either.
  • So you pay big money to get the most beautiful and thin smarthphone on the market then you make it big and clumsy for extra battery life? Doesn't make much sense to me. Get a netbook instead!
  • What kind of camera was used to take these photos?
  • WOW. Did not think it could be done, but they went and did it!!!!!
    Made an Iphone look like a BLACKBERRY!!!
  • I liked the Mophie juicePack Air for my earlier models, but I don't know that I'm going to be getting one for my iPhone 4.
    I carry an Energizer portable battery pack (8000mAh) that's about the size of a sandwich on regular bread (but certainly a little heavier) and that provides all the extra power I need until I can recharge both.
    I may still consider this one, just have to think it through. The aesthetics of the juicePack Air don't jump out at me...
  • Mmmm.. I think I want this! My Battery life is excellent, not to mention it charges in my car-dock and at home nightly, but who cares, more battery is always nice!
  • Just got mine and I find it light, protective and powerful. I frequently run high power apps. Eventhough the iPhone 4 battery is better I still welcome the additional power. When I am not in a position to charge, I am confident I have all the power I need. It is no bigger than most protective cases. When I know I'm not gona need the power I will go with a case mate barely there or hula case for some protection and less weight. Overall I am quite pleased with Mophie products.
  • I think I would like to have one because it gives extra protection in addition to more power when I moult it on my bike ...
  • all i have equal to say is wow. it worked for me. as the case may be the nage shaken (up) with this product didn't definitely use it properly. possibly they skipped missing symptomatic of a bantam shred denotative of discipline. it worked for me and that's all i have to say around it. fashionable im growing like get my ACUs modish a subsidiary mass as they seem a morsel ungainly for me stylish.thanks for your product
  • would have been nice if you could dock it in the car without having to take the case off. Also taking the case off can require a bit of artwork, which is annoying at times