Apple CEO Tim Cook defends iPhone 6s Smart Battery case after criticism of design

Packing all of the big battery into the odd bump on the back allows the phone to slide into the case easily, Mr Cook said

Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks at the WSJD conference in California (FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images)

Apple added the strange bump on the back of its new iPhone charging case for good reason, Tim Cook has said.

The company launched its first charging case this week, offering a way of increasing the battery on the phone by slipping a battery around it. But most of the reaction was about the design, which features a little bulge on its back where all of the battery is packed in.

Tim Cook, who said that it shouldn’t be called “the hump”, said that the company chose the maligned design so that it can be used more easily.

(Apple)

“Have you ever used other cases and tried to get them on?” Mr Cook asked Mashable. His question was a reference to the huge number of competitors’ cases, which mostly require that you take the case apart and put the two pieces back on to get it on and off.

If you made the case solid all the way across, rather than having the battery in a smaller part of the back, “you’d find it very difficult to get it on and off”, Cook said.

“So the guys had this great insight to put the bend in along with making it a smart case.”

On the new smart battery case, the top is bendy and so can slide back to allow the phone to slip in. That means that the case can stay as one whole piece, despite having a hard edge where the battery is.

Mr Cook also addressed the idea that Apple is admitting that its existing iPhone batteries are too small. People who are able to regularly charge their phone up are unlikely to need it, he told the site.

“If you’re charging your phone every day, you probably don’t need this at all,” he said. “But if you’re out hiking and you go on overnight trips… it’s kind of nice to have.”