Mophie Powerstation Plus and XXL portable batteries: One Lightning cable to rule them all

Mophie makes some great portable batteries for mobile devices, but for iPhone owners it has always been a bit of a pain to carry around a microUSB or USB-C cable to charge up the battery to then charge up an iPhone with a Lightning cable. These new products charge up via a Lightning cable.
Using a Mophie battery pack used to require that you always carried a microUSB cable in your pack, in addition to your Apple Lightning cable. Its new Powerstation collection supports charging the batteries via a Lightning cable so no you only need one cable to do it all.
Batteries are getting larger in smartphones and processors are getting more efficient, but people are also using their smartphones more so battery life is an important factor. External battery packs are capable of providing a significant portable power source to keep you charged up for days.

MOPHIE POWERSTATION PLUS

While I was sent two batteries to test out with my iPhone X, the Powerstation Plus was my favorite because of the blue fabric covering, integrated Lightning cable, and ability to charge up battery pack wirelessly.
The Powerstation Plus has a 6,040mAh capacity and weighs in at just 180 grams with a size of 130 x 69 x 15 mm. Mophie states it can add more than 20 hours to your iPhone X or five hours to your iPad 10.5. I used it to keep my iPhone X charged up for a couple of days while traveling for business.
There is a USB-A port on the top that you can use to connect your charging cable for your iOS, or other, device. Next to that is the Lightning input port that is used to charge up the battery pack. There is also an integrated Lightning cable that is stored around the outer edge of the battery so you can charge up the Powerstation Plus and use it for days without ever having to pack a cable along. You can charge up two devices at once by using the USB-A port and integrated Lightning cable.
Once you have devices with wireless charging capability, it is easy to place wireless chargers around your office or home and simply set and forget your phone on a charging pad. For extra convenience, Mophie added the ability to set the Powerstation Plus down on a wireless charger to recharge the battery pack.
The top and bottom of the Powerstation Plus is covered in fabric material. You can choose from heather gray, slate, and black. The fabric protects your desktop and also makes it easier to hold the battery pack. While I tested the Powerstation Plus, you can also find the larger Powerstation Plus XL with 10,000 mAh capacity and an additional deep blue color offering.
The Powerstation Plus is available from Apple stores for $79.95 while the large capacity Powerstation Plus XL is $99.95.

MOPHIE POWERSTATION XXL

We have seen the Powerstation XXL before with USB ports, but the new Apple-exclusive Powerstation XXL incorporates Lightning port charging using the cable provided with your Apple device.
The Powerstation XXL has a Lightning port on the side to make it clear that this is used to recharge the battery pack itself. On the top, USB-A ports are provided. One is an output port with 1.0A rating and another is an output port with a 2.1A rating. The third USB-A port is also rated for 2.1A, but it also serves as an input port so you can use it to charge up the battery pack as well. Priority+ charging is also supported on this battery pack.
The $99.95 Powerstation XXL has a 20,200 mAh rechargeable battery with a weight of 420 grams and a size of 155 x 92 x 20mm. Mophie states it can add more than 70 hours to your iPhone X or more than 18 hours to your iPad 10.5. You can charge up three devices at once if you like with this battery pack.
The white LED indicator lights are postioned on the side opposite of the Lightning input port. The black aluminum finish of the Powerstation XXL feels durable and looks professional. There is no integrated cable on this battery pack as it focuses on providing lots of battery capacity through the three ports.
These two battery packs are more expensive than some others you can find online. However, Mophie is a trusted name in battery technology and today's modern electronics can be sensitive to questionable power sources. There are not many battery packs that support Lightning cable input and iOS users will appreciate not having to carry around extra cables.
Over the past few years I've purchased a few Mophie products at the airport when I needed to make sure I had power to carry me for a couple of days with limited access to AC outlets. Both battery packs are very well constructed, have all the capability you need in an external battery, and have solid customer reviews.

China's Huawei pulls ahead of Apple to become number-two smartphone seller in the world

• Multiple analyses show that Chinese smartphone maker Huawei overtook Apple as the world's number-two phone company.
• According to preliminary IDC data, Huawei shipped about 54.2 million handsets for the quarter, registering 40.9 percent on-year growth.
• Apple shipped about 41.3 million units and saw a 0.7 percent annual growth, IDC said.

Apple reported strong results for its fiscal third quarter on Tuesday but the iPhone-maker lost its position as the world's number-two smartphone vendor, according to multiple analyses.
Research firms International Data Corporation (IDC), Counterpoint Research, IHS Markit and Canalys all reported that Chinese smartphone maker Huawei leapfrogged Apple to second place, based on the number of devices both firms shipped in the quarter that ended on June 30.
According to preliminary IDC data, Huawei shipped about 54.2 million handsets for the quarter, registering a 40.9 percent on-year growth. Meanwhile, Apple shipped about 41.3 million units for 0.7 percent growth against the comparable year-ago period.
The iPhone-maker missed Wall Street's estimate of 41.79 million devices for the quarter.
Those numbers put Huawei with 15.8 percent share of the market and Apple with 12.1 percent, according to IDC.
Analysts said that Huawei was adding more top-end features into its flagship smartphones. For example, the company added three cameras on its P20 Pro device. As a result, Huawei is getting "increasing brand recognition in Europe and Asia" that is allowing the company to challenge the likes of Samsung in many price tiers, according to Gerrit Schneemann, senior research analyst for smartphones at IHS Markit.
Research firm Canalys also attributed Huawei's performance for the quarter to strong sales of the P20, as well as the success of its Honor brand. The company said Huawei shipped close to 4 million Honor-branded smartphones outside of China for the quarter, representing a 150 percent increase from the same period last year.
"Despite its failure to strike a U.S. carrier partnership earlier this year, (Huawei) has turned around quickly, moving away from its drive for profitability and focusing instead on finding volume growth at the low end," said Mo Jia, a Shanghai-based analyst at Canalys. "Honor, which has long been a major brand in China but relatively small overseas, has taken a pivotal role in this strategy."
The smartphone maker, which also makes telecommunication network equipment, has been trying to enter the U.S. market, first through a partnership with AT&T that was ultimately called off. A top Huawei executive raged against American carriers, accusing them of depriving customers of choice. Reports said U.S. lawmakers urged AT&T to pull out of the deal.
Earlier this year, top U.S. intelligence officials said they would not advise Americans to use products or services from Huawei, implying that it may have ties to the Chinese government that posed cybersecurity risks to the United States. The company responded by saying it posed no greater cybersecurity risk than any other tech vendor. More recently, the company said it does not see itself becoming the target of U.S. sanctions and will keep buying U.S. chips this year.

Samsung still in the lead

Samsung remained the market leader with 20.9 percent market share after shipping out 71.5 million devices for the quarter, according to IDC data. That said, the South Korean tech giant saw a 10.4 percent annual decline in its smartphone shipments and will likely face difficulties in its mobile business in the coming quarters.
IDC noted that it was the first time Apple had not been the number-one or number-two smartphone company in terms of market share since the second quarter of 2010.
"It is worth noting that Apple moved into the top position each of the last two holiday quarters following its product refresh, so it's likely we'll see continued movement among the top ranked companies in 2018 and beyond," said Ryan Reith, program vice president at IDC's Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers.
Overall, the smartphone market saw a 1.8 percent annual decline for the June quarter, according to IDC figures.

Xiaomi's transparent phone shows off a dummy circuit board

That cool peek at the internals was too good to be true.
When we had our hands-on with Xiaomi's Mi 8 Explorer Edition, we expressed our doubts that the circuit board you could see through the transparent rear actually showcased the phone's actual internals, not least because of the board's atypical layout. The company insisted it was real, but it seems that the visible parts are in fact all for show.
Recently unearthed pictures indicate that the board is not actually connected to the phone's circuitry. The photo shows that the dummy board leaves space for parts like the processor, but there's no sign of the ball grid array the chip would need to connect to in order to actually function. The real components, it seems, are underneath this phony board. So, while Xiaomi has tried to make its phone stand out and look cool by putting the board on display, this is literally window dressing.

Android P’s final beta preview is live

Good news for people who like near-final previews of mobile operating systems. Android just dropped Beta 4 for Android P, marking the last preview milestone before the full version launches. That means the still unnamed OS is just around the corner — promised to arrive at some point later this summer.
As all of the above implies, this build should be pretty close to final, including all of the systems you’ll see in the shipping version. The release is primarily focused on developers, looking to make sure their apps are up to date with Android P when it ships.
That includes a number of the new OS features, which will impact usage across apps, including multi-camera support, display cutout, enhanced notifications and ImageDecoder. More details on all of that can be found here.
Of course, the build is open to anyone who signs up for the Android Beta Program, so long as you also have access to a Pixel device to test it on — there’s a sign up form here. Those who have been testing out earlier builds should be receiving Beta 4 as an automatic update at some point in the near future.
No specific date has been given for the final build — just that it’s “coming soon.” Ditto for the name — though there’s no shortage of dessert foods starting with “P.” These days, I’m leaning toward Pop Rocks. But then, I’m kind of always leaning toward Pop Rocks. Hey, anyone know where a guy can get some Pop Rocks in 2018?

Some iOS users report that 11.4 update triggers excessive battery drain

iOS users have been reporting problems with excessive battery drain after updating to iOS 11.4.
On Sunday, 9to5Mac reported on a raft of posts on Apple forums complaining about excessive battery drain since updating. ZDNet also flagged complaints around the issue early last month.
The update to Apple’s   mobile operating system was released at the end of May, adding support for Messages in iCloud, plus some media and entertainment features, such as AirPlay 2 and support for two HomePod speakers to work as a stereo pair.
Safe to say, radically reduced battery life was not among the listed additions.
This TC writer also noticed an alarming depreciation in battery performance after updating to iOS 11.4 at the end of last month — with the battery level dropping precipitously even when the handset was left untouched doing nothing.
We reached out to Apple immediately after noticing the problem — but the company has not responded to multiple requests for comment.
Judging by forum complaints, other iOS users have also found that updating to iOS 11.4 impacts the standby battery life of their device.
In my case checking the (beta) battery health feature in the iPhone settings threw no light on the abnormal performance, with maximum capacity reported as a (healthy sounding) 91%, as well a claim that “normal” peak performance was supported.
The ‘battery usage’ report that’s built into iOS also seemed unable to shed any light on what was causing the battery to drain so fast — listing an app that had been used prior to the previous charge as responsible for the largest chunk of usage. So evidently not identifying the real culprit.
In the end, rebooting my affected iPhone seemed to improve the battery drain issue. Though I can’t be sure whether or not the device has taken a small hit to battery performance as a consequence of the iOS update.
In the middle of writing this report, an additional update — iOS 11.4.1 — has been pushed out by Apple, though it’s not clear whether this explicitly fixes the battery drain issue or not. Battery drain is not listed among the bugs iOS 11.4.1 addresses. But, either way, it’s worth updating in case it helps.
Battery and performance issues have been something of a recurring problem for Apple’s iOS devices in recent years. Again in my case, my affected iPhone 6S only had its battery replaced under an Apple free battery replacement program last year — ironically as a result of a battery fault that caused unexpected shutdowns — so really the battery should have a decent amount of life left in it still.
And as (bad) luck would have it, the iPhone 5 I owned prior to this was also affected by an earlier Apple battery fault. So this is the third battery-related problem to strike the two iPhones I’ve owned over the past five years. Which is certainly unfortunate.
That said, two handsets lasting five years is a testament to Apple’s otherwise lasting build quality. (Albeit, this Samsung-branded portable battery pack has been the unsung workhorse hero stepping in when the batteries conked out, as TC colleagues can also testify…)
Meanwhile after more user complaints last year Apple was forced to apologize for not being more transparent with customers about how it handles performance on iOS devices with older batteries — clarifying that its software in fact slows down the maximum performance of iPhones with older batteries as a power management technique to avoid unexpected shutdowns.
The company has faced lawsuits and regulatory scrutiny as a result of this throttling of device performance.
Although it also quickly offered discounted $29 battery replacements to iPhone owners with an iPhone 6 (or later) whose battery “needs to be replaced” — as well as promising to add controls to iOS to enable users to switch off the feature if they choose.
For its forthcoming iOS 12 update — which was trailed at WWDC, and is due out this fall — Apple says the release will “double down” on performance, slating a slew of refinements, bug fixes and optimizations incoming. So, hopefully, any lurking battery and performance gremlins will soon be kicked into touch.
In the meanwhile, update. And reboot.