The new mophie juice pack for iPhone 15 combines a protective case with a power bank. Simply put your handset in the case to greatly extend your battery life and add 6 feet of drop protection.
I did real-world testing on the version specifically for the iPhone 15. (mophie also sells juice packs for the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, but not iPhone 15 Plus.)
mophie juice pack for iPhone 15 review
iPhone 15 offers outstanding battery life — it went for 11 hours in a torture test. But there are always people who want or need more.
MagSafe makes it easy to temporarily connect an external power bank to your iPhone with magnets, like the mophie snap+ juice pack mini. But MagSafe doesn’t always play well with thick, protective cases.
That’s where the mophie juice pack for iPhone 15 comes in. It’s both a case and a power bank. It’s ready to give your handset’s battery a boost at any time with the press of a button.
(If you’re wondering, there’s nothing wrong with my keyboard — mophie hates capital letters for some reason.)
Protective iPhone case
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
While the built-in power bank gets all the attention, mophie made sure the juice pack for iPhone 15 is also a protective case.
That includes 6 feet of drop protection. And the iPhone is almost completely covered to keep it from getting scratched. Only the screen is exposed, and the front of the case puts raised edges around the iPhone screen to help prevent scratches on it.
The additional protection and power bank add a bit of bulk, though. My juice pack for iPhone 15 is 6.3 inches by 3 inches by 0.7 inches and weighs 0.2 pounds. The version for the iPhone 15 Pro has the same dimensions, while the Pro Max one is wider and taller, of course. (I don’t have them to test, though.)
Edges and corners are curved so the case is comfortable to hold. Plus ABS plastic gives it a smooth finish. But it sure shows greasy fingerprints — partially that’s because black is the only color option.
The design covers the iPhone’s speakers, but mophie put in two tubes that channel the sound toward the user. It actually makes audio louder when I’m holding the device. It’s quieter if I put the handset down when listening to music or a podcast, though.
Inserting the iPhone into the case is easy. The top of the accessory separates, and you can slide in the handset until it plugs into the USB-C connector, then replace the top.
And a power bank, too
Photo: mophie
While the mophie juice pack for iPhone 15 makes a nice case, the real highlight is the built-in power bank.
How much energy storage is available depends on the version. The one I tested for the iPhone 15 holds 2,400 mAh. The iPhone 15 Pro variant holds 2,600 mAh and the Pro Max one holds 2,800 mAh.
In my testing, the juice pack gave my iPhone a 28% charge in an hour. In total, the handset got a 47% charge before the power bank ran out.
That’s not surprising. The battery inside the iPhone is larger than the external one — there was never a chance of a full charge.
The accessory isn’t running all the time. You activate and deactivate it with a power button on the back. It’s nice to always have the option to charge up whenever my iPhone’s internal battery is getting low. No matter where I am or what I’m doing.
A series of LEDs next to the power button give a general indication of remaining charge, and whether the battery is receiving power.
Charging the power bank
The mophie juice pack for iPhone 15 covers the handset’s USB-C port but adds one of its own in replacement. Connect a charging cable to this and it’ll power up your phone first, then start recharging the external power bank.
In my tests, the accessory charges at about 7W, and took about two hours to fully recharge.
But be aware, the port built into the case can only be used for power. If you want to connect a monitor, game controller or SSD to your iPhone, you’ll need to remove it from the case. This is easy to do, but it’s something to keep in mind.
Also, the cause won’t charge anything but your iPhone. The USB-C port is power-in, not power-out.
mophie juice pack for iPhone 15 final thoughts
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
This isn’t mophie’s first case/power bank combo. Far from it. The juice pack line built a loyal following before being phased out in 2020. But now it’s back, and as good as ever.
The accessory is always ready to give your iPhone 15 battery a boost, wherever you are. Though it does add bulk. And it blocks the USB-C port, one of the best features of the latest iPhones.
★★★★☆
Pricing
You can order the mophie juice pack for iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max for $99.95. It just launched on April 23.
Where to buy it: mophie.com
mophie provided Cult of Mac with a review unit for this article. See our reviews policy, and check out more in-depth reviews of Apple-related items.