Designer Insights | In Defense of Apple's Smart Battery Case

As a product designer, a simplified requirements list of my job is to design products that look good enough to sell well, can be manufactured, and function. Concerning function, Apple hit it out of the park here. The soft construction is brilliant because it allows added protection with shock absorption, simplified manufacturing and easy removal and unibody design which makes it seamless. You see one surface and not a mix of parting lines or different materials. It also fits in your hand a lot easier because the volume is not carried over to the edge of the phone. There really is no good functional reason to fill in the rest of the volume with plastics. Some may argue that there is an aesthetic need for it but when faced with compromising function, I'm usually on the side of function.

I've faced these same issues when designing battery cases and ended up with the typical polycarbonate construction. Years ago, I saw an example of the soft construction on a visit to a factory and was enamored. It only had a soft top but it made for a much better experience. I hadn't considered anything soft because I assumed the rigidity was required for the protection of the battery. At the time, slider cases, as we called them, were in vogue. They required sliding your phone instead of popping it in. This was before we realized they often scratch your phone.
 

About the only additional function we were able to add with this design was the stand and redirecting the sound from the bottom speaker toward the user. I can't say I'm all that proud of it. It looks rather bulky now but it had some nice details I was proud of then. This, by the way, is pretty typical for any designer looking back. There are always improvements to be made and you're rarely satisfied with the final product.