Different phones have different sizes and shapes. Not sure what you expect, for a product designed to match the phone's size exactly?

And batteries don't last forever. When you upgrade to a new phone after a few years you'd likely need a new one anyways.

Worst case scenario just sell the old one on eBay if it's still holding a good charge!

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mbirth 6 days ago | parent [-]

The previous MagSafe battery has the size of the MagSafe wallet and thus fits onto all the iPhones that have MagSafe down to the "Mini" variants. It's the perfect emergency power backup. But Apple discontinued this a while ago.

Selling a thin phone with half a battery where you have to buy the other half and keep it attached to get a proper battery runtime (turning it into a normal-sized phone) can't be the solution Apple intended. At least I hope so. And that battery doesn't fit other iPhones as the camera bump of those other phones is in the way.

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hombre_fatal 6 days ago | parent | next [-]

Well, swappable batteries has the UX advantage of being able to swap in full charges.

I don't really understand all the complaining since it's merely a variant of the iPhone for people who prioritize thinness over battery.

For over a decade, HNers have complained that they don't want thinness to be forced on them and that there should be a separate SKU for it. Yet when it finally happens, HNers complain about the trade-off.

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bee_rider 6 days ago | parent | next [-]

If the outcome is that non-air iPhones are allowed to get a little thicker now, that’d be super cool.

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mathgeek 6 days ago | parent | prev [-]

Consider that the folks complaining about one thing can be different groups from the ones complaining about another.

	▲	petersellers 6 days ago \| parent [-]
		Either way, people have options now. If one doesn't like the compromises of the thin phone, they can buy the thick phone. Seems silly to complain about the thinness if you're not the target demographic.

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wlesieutre 6 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Magsafe battery has also been a great fix for a 5-year old built-in battery for 1/3 the cost of a battery replacement, and when I finally replace this phone I'll still have the magsafe battery for travel/emergency.

3rd party versions of course, the official one was much more expensive than that.

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chrisweekly 6 days ago | parent | prev [-]

"half a battery" yielding 27h seems kinda harsh criticism