LAS VEGAS — Apple famously claimed to have the "courage" to drop the headphone jack from its new smartphones starting with the iPhone 7 in 2016. But anyone who's wanted to plug in a pair of wired headphones while charging their iPhone at any point in the last two-plus years probably wishes Apple had been a little more timid.
Case maker Mophie is riding to the rescue with the latest version of its Juice Pack accessory for the iPhone. Like previous versions, the new Mophie Juice Pack Access combines a protective case for Apple's latest iPhones with a battery pack aimed at letting you go longer between charges. But this $119 version supports wireless charging while also leaving the phone's Lightning Port exposed. That means you can plug in your wired headphones while still charging up your iPhone.
Don't have a way to wirelessly charge both the Juice Pack and your iPhone? No matter — Mophie's case has its own USB-C port for wired charging.
I got a glimpse at the Mophie Juice Pack Access during a product showcase here at CES, and easily my favorite thing about the case is its Priority charging feature. That means when it's time to charge, the iPhone's battery gets powered up first before the extra battery pack.
Mophie's latest Juice Pack case is built for the iPhone X, XS, XS Max and XR. The battery case provides up to 25 hours of talk time for the iPhone X and XS. The larger XS Max and XR fare even better, with 31 hours of talk time.
You can get the case in black, dark red, gold or stone if you've got an iPhone X, XS or XS Max. iPhone XR users have a choice of black, blue and red.
About the only bummer with the Mophie Juice Pack Access is you'll have to wait for the new case to ship. It's set to come out sometime in the first three months of 2019.
Image Credit: Tom's Guide
