Big Problems With Little Mophie Battery Pack?

Pete Mortensen ()

mophiejuiceAfter my post yearning for more battery life out of my iPhone 3GS and hoping that the Mophie Juice Pack Air might hold the solutions to all of problems, a reader, who shall remain anonymous, tipped me off to some unresolved problems with the current generation fo the combination iPhone case/battery pack.

At left is one of two screenshots he sent me purporting to show the Juice Pack Air refusing to provide power to his iPhone (which kind of defeats its purpose). He bought one, was told it was defective, was given a replacement, and found it had the same troubles.

Here’s his explanation:

“It only happens if you discharge your iPhone to 20% warning. Then allow the Mophie to charge your iPhone 3GS until its depleted. Once it’s at zero charge the errors happen in the iPhone 3GS every time. I think those errors even crashed the phone once, but this is unconfirmed but feel its right since it was left to charge, placed in an outer mesh pocket of a laptop bag and found unresponsive later until removed from the Mophie and hard reset. Sigh.”

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Anyone else seen these issues? I’ll admit, it has me back in a wait-and-see mode again…

48 comments »

About the author

Petemortensen

Pete Mortensen is a design strategist for consulting firm Jump Associates and the co-author of Wired to Care: How Companies Prosper When They Create Widespread Empathy, a book and blog that are significantly more interesting than you might initially think. Pete's particular Apple avocations are both around design--interface and industrial. Follow him on Twitter!

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Posted in Hardware, iPhone 3G S, Top stories |

  • Joe Mathis

    I have the Juice Pack air with the 3GS and have not experienced this problem. I have depleted the iphone and recharged using mophie to depletion without this error. The only issue I have had with the juice pack is the Micro USB port seems to be a little loose and finicky at times.

  • http://appleisms.com christyxcore

    This has happened to me. But isn’t it just because the battery pack is out of juice and therefore can’t charge the device without any remaining juice? Seeing as it only happens when the battery pack is depleted…

    Just suggesting that it may not be a problem, it’s just that the pack is still on and ‘charging’ the phone without any juice.

  • Steve S

    Using the Incase Power Slider on my 3Gs I get the error message
    “This device not meant to be used etc” I used it on the 3G no problem.
    As it happens I went to my local Apple Genius Bar today and told the ‘tech’ what was happening…he knew nothing about it, not surprising :).
    The good news is, all I do is unplug the phone from the charger, plug it back in and MAGIC.. it starts charging and no error message.

  • Bill henning

    I let my iPhone battery do a total discharge while
    installed in a Juice Air. With both the Air and iPhone
    totally discharged I just used common sense and
    removed the iPhone from the Air and charged them
    seperately.

    Haven’t had any problems since.

  • ecu9697

    I had a Juice Pack Air w/ my 3G, recently upgraded to a 3Gs. The Mophie does charge the 3Gs, although it doesn’t seem to last as long. When the power is down on the Mophie, I get that warning that the accessory is not compatible.

    I use it when the Iphone is fully charged and have the Mophie charging as I use. Then I can remove the Mophie when it’s drained and just have the iPhone at full power.

    I have yet to have to hard reset it, but then I have rarely left it alone to charge for long enough to drain the Mophie w/out being aware the “end is near”.

  • Lesley

    I got that error message, although just once. It didn’t crash the phone and worked fine afterwards, but it was a bit disturbing.

  • http://www.GRYPHONproductions.ca madeline yakimchuk

    I am having the same problem with the iHome and an iphone 3G. I am also sometimes getting another message… telling me that this device is not build for the iphone and asking me if I would like to go into airplane mode.

    The iphone gets recognized sometimes, and charges, but doesn’t play, sometimes it works fine and sometimes it doesn’t connect at all.

  • Chris

    Wow, I thought that I was the only one that this happened to. I’ve gone through two of these in a month. The first time I think that I left the mophie battery on while I charged the phone from the outlet. The second one is holding up, but I haven’t had to use it to charge my phone much. It would make sense if the juice pack air’s battery is anything less than twice the voltage of the iphone’s battery and I’d be curious to see what mophie has to say.

  • Plegaria

    I have the Mophie Juice and I have connected it when my iPhone is 20% or less and it has worked fine without any problems. The problem you mention has actually happened to me when I tried to charge it with a car charger. I have one of those chargers the USB cable is detachable, so I hve tried connecting the mophie USB to charge it in my car and it gives me the compatibility problem. Another problem a friend of mine has had (which I haven’t) is that when the Mophie battery is depleted it starts making funny noises as if you were connecting and disconnecting the charger continously, this can be fixed by turning off the Mophie but it’s a little bit of a pain. As I said on my previous comment, I definetely recommend Mophie, it has saved my life many many times.

  • Kelly Looney

    Yep I see this issue. It does not seem to be that much of a problem, it just means you need to charge the Juice Pack Air. I plug it in and carry my iPhone without it for an hour or two.

    Is there something more sinister I should worry about?

  • Merry Lee

    Me, too, but worse. Got a warning when my iPhone 3GS battery went down to 10%, but wasn’t worried because it was snuggly in my Mophie Battery Pack. Came down in the morning to find the screen on my iPhone completely white and that is the way it has stayed for days. Too bad the place I bought my iPhone and Mophie are a three hour drive.

  • Tom

    So if i’m reading this right the problems are only on the 3Gs?

  • Nick

    I have the battery pack with 3GS and have experienced the same issue, but it does not prevent the solution from working – the message only appears as you suggest, but I have had no issue with the solution working.

  • Albert

    i have been having the same issues and my iphone is 3G not even 3GS. when my iphone 3G battery is below 20% it does not charge and keep giving me error messages.
    Mophie what is the issue and we going to get a refund or what ?

  • http://na Bill Gilliam

    it gets worse, when I returned a bad battery case to Mophie, they contend it was NOT intended for 3G, and they don’t support use with 3G. So they F+++ me out of the money for nothing.

    WATCH OUT is all one can say, it’s you not them when it don’t work

  • Solano

    do i have to have the Mophie on “ON” or standby when i charge it with the Iphone in it?

  • http://chips.imutroom.com Jason

    I had the same problem the day I picked up my 3GS and the Mophie Juice Pack Air. Both were fully charged and I was getting this error message. Fortunately I was able to narrow down that the Juice Pack Air was faulty. Swapped my friend’s phone to my JPA and his 3GS threw the error. I slid my 3GS to my friend’s JPA and it was fine.

    Brought back to the shop and I had an immediate replacement.

    Something new I experienced though, I just tried 2 days back to bring my 3GS from 40% up with the JPA. It charged up to 90% and the JPA went flat. The strange thing was the 3GS started to bounce between charging / not charging. I couldn’t charge up the JPA with the 3GS in the it. Had to separate them and charge up the JPA. After that, things went back to normal.

  • http://www.tengatango.com Jonathan
  • Alexis

    the message is because the Juice Pack is out of juice…and therefore the phone doesn’t understand this so it says that it is not compatible…

    I had this happen a few times and then I haven’t had it happen again…it’s just the phone thinking you have plugged in something that it doesn’t recognize

    the company even sent me an RMA but I told them that it doesn’t happen when the juice pack is full only when it is empty…and I didn’t want to go without it…

    but I have saved the RMA number and if it does it regularly I will get it replaced…

    it’s not a big problem…it’s just two electronics from two different companies not seeing eye to eye once in a while…

    no big deal…I adore the juice pack air on my 3GS and I feel weird when I don’t have my iphone in the JPA…cuz it seems so small…hehe

  • mfc52

    i received error message advising the device was not compatible and asking whether i wanted to adopt airplane mode ?
    i emailed mophie helpline 2x, no reply ! how rude. now i understand, it is a major problem. a uk supplier said it only happens to 4% of the products, he sounded genuine but, i guess i’ll wait for something else ? by the way this is a v useful site

  • Stan Scott

    Just to throw in my two cents. I have a 3GS and experienced this exact problem. I’m taking the advice here and recharging them separately. Hope this fixes the issue.

    Stan

  • http://www.kujotoys.com Tenga Sex Toys

    Think it’s the software issue. Some iPhone 3GS experience this while charging with the orginal cable

  • http://cultofmac.com armando

    i sent a not to i Tunes, but no responce. they endorse the mohpie, so they should have an imidiate answer to the problem. i purchased the mophie battery pack air, connected it to both of my laptops and did not work with either one. i took it back to best buy for a replacement and the new one does not work either. i am just glad it did not damage my 3Gs. as i see it now, there is very poor support from apple to correct the problem.

  • James

    I have the same problem! Here’s the photo taken from mine:

    http://i45.tinypic.com/33ek9y8.jpg

    I get this error using the original Morphie USB cable if I plug it into anything besides a PC USB port. For example, my iPhone 3gs came with a Apple branded AC to USB adapter. It charges the iPhone just fine, but if I plug in the juice pack air micro USB into it I get the error message.

  • mrkovach

    I have gone through two Juice packs .Both dead on arrival. They don’t change properly and when the phone draws current, from an Edge of 3G burst,the pack goes dead and will not charge or light up until the pack is plugged in again. I have also seen the unsupported problem too. Basically, they a a piece of junk with the 3GS. Mophie says they will replace mine with a JuicePack Air, but I suspect the same problem will happen. It’s too bad really, then are a nice design, but for this price… shame on you Mophie.

  • Isaac w

    I had the same issue also, I assumed it was because mophie pack was not made by apple, until someone showed me they have the same pack with no issues or errer messages, i also had issues with the mophie pack messing up my volume controls and key clicks. I returned it back to the AT&T store and they orderd a new one, it now works purfect! No issues whatsoever, I Think the first ones they came out with were defective, THE MOPHIE PACK WORKS, if yours doesn’t take it back for a new one, not the old ones that’s been sitting on the shelf,

  • grace

    what is the best way to take the micro usb cord out so it does not damage the port..i am on my 2nd mophie because of the port having a melt down…does anyone know the trick to having the micro port staying in working condition??

  • http://www.leegonzalez.com Lee

    I actually have 3 new Iphone 3GS that I got for Christmas with 3 Mophie Juice Pack air’s. I have this issue on 2 of them, i can switch any of the 2 i know that fail with the phone that I know it works fine with and it still fails. I’ve tried the failing Mophie with an Iphone 3g and i do not see any of the errors. Going tomorrow to get to brand 2 new 3GS and 2 brand new Mophie’s. The 3G with the Mophie Juice pack air has been running like a dream, no issues what so ever. We shall see what happens when I get all the equipment replaced. :)

  • Chaz

    My issue with the Mophie is that after several uses my battery life rapidly from 100% to about 77% in a hour or so. I think its actually damaged my 3Gs battery.

  • http://www.cultofmac.com/12908/12908#singleAdsContainer ask4norm

    I to have a 3gs and while I love it’s features, hate the short battery life. After purchasing the Mophie Juice Pack, the other day I noticed that even though the Juice Pack was not switched on, when I was listening to online radio, that the Juice Pack got very HOT!!! I removed the phone, let both pieces cool down and will bring it back to the Apple store tomorrow.
    When the phone had a 10-20% charge left and I turn on the Juice Pack only brings the phones charge to 70%
    One last thing that I dislike about Mophie is the cases they offer. The 3gs phone has a magnetic compas and their cases, that are made specially for the iPhone, have a magnetic clasp. This messes up the compas. When I mentioned it they acted like they had never heard of the issue. They should use a velcro clasp. The belt clip is also too short on their cases.

  • chacha

    New Job, boss buys new 3GS’s for 4 of us and brings in Mophie Juice Air packs for each of us…EVERYONE OF US received the alert “not compatible with this device!” I brought it home and my son put it on his 3GS and instantly got the same message. 5 out of 5, hmmmmm? Sad that you have to resort to a malfunctioning battery life extender on a new phone who’s battery life is sad to begin with. That’s a lot of money for poor products. Love the iPhone period, just wish the battery life was more than half a day (with everything off). One of the selling points of the phone is 3G and yet we have to DISABLE it to keep the phone alive! Best news in this story…I have a new job and a generous boss!

  • freddy

    I have had these issues with my Juice Pack from the beginning. The top and the bottom don’t mate correctly and seem better off not using it at all. What I have noticed that is more worrisome, is that my signal and incoming and outgoing calls have gotten worse since using this device. I have replaced the phone 2x and the sim card 2x due to this issue. The last trip to the apple store they said there is an issue using this device and it causing dropped calls and losing signal b/c of the battery pack blocking the antenna. I don’t know if that is true but looks like I will be looking for a better solution.

  • Greg

    My iphone 3Gs too, shows that non-compatibility message when the juice pack air battery is almost drained even though the iphone battery has more than 20% of charge left. The juice pack air battery fully charged, only lasts 3 hours tops, during very little use of the iphone. I’m scared the juice pack air might damage my iphone battery, so I’m gonna trash it!

  • Rebz

    I have used the JPA with my 3G and I can honestly say that I have been unhappy with it since day one, I have the following problems:
    - When I recharge the JPA (with 3G in) using either power outlet or my comp the JPA becomes hot and the iphone starts losing whatever charge it has gained. I now charge them separately which is a pain.
    - When trying to recharge the 3G with the JPA the case becomes hot and doesn’t recharge the iphone at all. This only happens sometimes
    - I have never been able to recharge the iphone fully with the JPA with less that 20% battery on the iphone.

    Poor product if you ask me, shame on apple for endorsing it

  • Neon

    @Rebz

    Same here, JPA getting hot 3gs loosing power. Today i seemed as if the JPA drained the 3Gs. After loading the 3gs with the JPA until it was depleted the JPA began recharging??? and depleted the 3gs battery. After this the JPA hat 3 LEDs again???

    Is there any way to test if the 3gs got damaged by this?

  • wizzy26

    After reading this thread I’m starting to get really scared because I just got one of these things. Right from the very beginning
    1.I had to send it back for replacement because of the micro-charger
    2.Got my replacement and I get the same error messages everyone else gets 3gs
    3.I’ve had to do 3 hard resets to my phone
    4.Signal goes down by 2 or more bars depending on the area you’re at

    My overall rating of this product would be at best 2 star out of 5

    I’m disappointed in apple for endorsing such a terrible product and mophie for charging so much for a crappy product

  • penyart

    My experience. Bought JPA about 3 months after 3GS. Worked well for a month or two then started throwing the error – “not compatble”. But errors are just messages, as charging functions work as intended. Mophie sent RMA immediately. This time less than a week before errors, so emailed just asking if there was anything I could do. They immediately sent an RMA. Still getting error messages, But now sound is disabled when Mophie charger is installed. But when travelling it is invaluable and the form factor is still the best on the market.

  • Will

    On my second JPA now, the first one was unresponsive after 4 days, the one I have now won’t charge with my phone. With the IPhone in the JPA, I plug in the micro-usb and the phone charges fine, the JPA shows 3 solid lights when it should be full and the fourth light blinks, when I unplug the cord….1 solid light. Very frustrating, definitely overrated and not worth the $$$$.

  • Marie The Amazon

    I agree; I asked for, and got, a Mophie for Christmas. I had gotten my 3G in March of last year and realized how fast the battery pooped out on iPhones, and this seemed just the ticket. I really liked how snugly it fit on the phone and its two parts essentially became a seamless join; I don’t find the small amount of extra bulk at all detrimental to carrying it around; by now it just seems part of the phone to me.
    I used it daily from Christmas until two months later in late February, when I found the micro USB would no longer connect to the port: it felt like the port kind of backed itself into the Mophie and then was kind of loose in there, so that not only was I not able to push the plug all the way in to engage it, I was not able to even line up the plug correctly with the port. I’m NOT hard on my electronics, I don’t use the phone when the Mophie/phone combination is plugged into the charger, but that port would not connect at all, much less charge the case and phone.
    I took it and the receipt back to the Apple store and showed/explained the problem, and the Genius quickly told me that they normally only replace items up to 14 days after purchase…. hm. I showed him it had not been abused, the whole case was still without a scratch o it, and even the area surrounding the port was undamaged, just that the port was loose and unusable. He exchanged the case for another and had to throw in that “they would exchange this the once,” but if this one fails I needed to return it within the 14 day period.
    Well, the port now, two months later (I believe there’s a pattern developing here…..) the port is getting difficult to line up with the plug; not to where it’s disappearing inside the case, but I wonder how much longer I have before this one goes gunnybag on me? Something funny on this case, too: the first one fit very snugly to the phone and the two parts to each other. This one is ever-so-slightly asymmetrical in its fit with the right side a millimetre or two higher than the left, and the top never gets all the way snug with the top of the phone the way the other did. Completely aesthetic, I know, but could the workmanship have deteriorated THAT much in two months??
    I don’t want to be without it now that I’ve gotten used to the extra power, but sheesh; I don’t want to change it out every two months, either! What up, Mophie???? Good idea, less than good execution.

  • Steve

    I’ve had 2 Mophies and both of them have malfunctioned. The last one started to heat up and my iPhone would chime due to the Mophie signaling a lost connection. It would just beep constantly. I expected better for a $100 purchase.

  • Lisa

    My mophie is the best the usb port always breaks wich stinks please make it better

  • Dgkdabest

    i bought the case brand new and the same thing came up…. it also says that while in the case, that there is no volume output? as in it doesnt ring when i get a text or when i am typing on a keyboard it doesnt click either. any help?

    • Rudi Halbright

      Same problems and more. My juice pack air was replaced twice due to defects. The final one worked for a good while, a little more than the warranty period. I contacted Morphie and they won’t do anything for me post warranty.

      Pretty disappointing from what I expected to be a premium product. Premium marketing, yes, product and customer service, not really.

    • Rudi Halbright

      Same problems and more. My juice pack air was replaced twice due to defects. The final one worked for a good while, a little more than the warranty period. I contacted Morphie and they won’t do anything for me post warranty.

      Pretty disappointing from what I expected to be a premium product. Premium marketing, yes, product and customer service, not really.

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  • don peach

    Same problem here. Had it for about 3 months and then says it’s not compatible.

  • Gavsusedgames

    utter shite products the charging pin allways breaks loose after 7-8 months would never buy again

  • On-Callalways

    I have the same problem.  If I wiggle the charging cable connected to the charging pin it worked but half way through the night it would move slightly and stop charging.  It’s an awesome charger when it works.  I use it everyday to recharge my battery but if I have to keep replacing it because it continues to be made poorly it’s time to go somewhere else and let the world know to stay away from Mophie.  Maybe this will get a fire under their ass to fix these problems!  Are you listening MOPHIE??