And I'm actually not sure it's a bad thing. I used to be in the "just give a phone that's a bit fatter already" camp. But now, to be honest, I'm more inclined to think I want the thinner/lighter phone for the 80%+ of days when the thin battery has enough juice and just carry the recharging brick when I need something more.

A battery case seems more practical than a brick you dongle off the phone, especially if the phone is designed to compactly accommodate one.

Depends how easy it is to slip on and off. Also, a battery case is more or less specific to a particular phone model. You basically toss it when you upgrade to a new phone.

I've got an Anker battery pack that charges a MacBook happily over USB-C

How long does it take to charge and how big does the battery pack have to be?

The reviews for that product have some numbers: https://www.anker.com/products/A1371012

I'm working from a tablet these days, so has been a while I've charged a laptop with it, but I've seen both the MacBook and the new MBP charge from it.

>Note: Not compatible with SONY Xperia XZ, Google Pixel, Dell XPS 12 9250 (2015), Dell XPS 15 (9550), Dell XPS 13 (9350) or HP Spectre x2

I'm assuming that means it won't do the 20v output that's required for the listed devices. Sigh.

> I'm working from a tablet these days

How's that going?

I'm in the Philippines now, and I'm starting to see more and more people walking around with a battery brick attached to their phones.

I still only buy phones with replaceable battery. There is a market they are not gone.