You absolutely should not buy Apple’s iPhone Air MagSafe battery pack

Apple released its thinnest phone yet last week, the iPhone Air, and revealed the new iPhone Air MagSafe Battery alongside it. The existence of a specially-made battery pack wasn’t a big surprise to me, because there had been rumors of the iPhone Air for months leading up to the event. Everyone was prepared for the thinnest iPhone ever to make some battery life sacrifices to achieve its svelte design.

However, what was a surprise to me was how much Apple leaned on the new battery during the iPhone Air launch presentation. The company even lists battery life estimates with and without this optional battery pack in the iPhone Air specs. That tells me — and regular consumers — that the battery pack is a highly-recommended purchase on a good day and downright necessary on a bad day for all iPhone Air owners.

So, folks spending $999 (or ...