The problem is that Apple has not made the iPhone and iPod with batteries that are easy to get to and exchange as is the case with most portable devices. In addition, if you change the battery, that voids the Apple guarantee on the device because it is deep inside. If the design were more conventional in that regard, your suggestion would have been the obvious solution, and mophie would never have had this product niche to start with.

i’ve seen this issue crop up enough, though, to wonder what mophie’s response to it will be.

It’s interesting to read the personal “mini-reviews” that come in the readers’ relpies. There seem to be lots of “pros” but a few hard “cons,” too. My analysis is that it’s really a question of where you live. If you’re already on the edge of reception (and I live in one of those areas myself), then the mophie hurts more than it helps. If you live in a strong reception area, then it helps lots and you don’t notice the loss of reception because there’s still enough power to get through to your i-device.

I wonder if there isn’t a medium-range solution that suits both user locations. Assuming that someone on the “fringe” needs his/her i-device for overnight at home, but also needs it at work, in a strong reception area during the day, there’s the solution. No mophie at home (you can charge it while you use the i-device’s battery), mophie in service at work/in the city during the day (as necessary to keep the i-device going).

Yes, I’m sure there will be people who are always “on the edge” or worse (and that’s me, by the way – I get a signal on one side of my house only), and they will just have to live without the mophie for now.

Hmmm, there’s a thought, what about a built-in powered antenna-extender in the next model, mophie?

I guess I need to mophie along, thanks for reading! :-D

Jimmy Craig

Oh, it gave me lots of power, but the degradation of call quality, data, and signal strength in general was unacceptable! It wasn’t quite as bad in 3G areas (though still noticeable), but my house resides in an EDGE only area and the signal strength degradation was more than just noticeable, I would drop from full signal strength without the Juice Pack on, to 1 bar, and sometimes would even loose the signal with the Juice Pack. And the cell tower is only 3/4 mile from my house.

The Juice Pack Air is a complete waste of money!