Kanex has been making Apple accessories for quite some time now, but its latest could be seen as a Godsend for all those with 12-inch Retina MacBooks.

Our quick take

The Kanex GoPower Mac is exactly the sort of device we've been looking for to pair with the new MacBook. Yes, the Apple notebook has a claimed 11 hours of battery life built-in, but on a long haul flight and with heavy use, we're not sure it would last the entire duration.

The Kanex solves that issue and also provides plenty of charge for our additional devices.

Our only major quibble is that it is not light. Nor is it cheap.

It's roughly the same weight as an iPad Air 2 - maybe even slightly heavier. Considering many will have been attracted to the MacBook because it is so wonderfully light, it seems a shame that extra ballast is being added in the shape of an external battery charger.

It certainly solves a genuine need for more power on the move, however. And the cover price of £99 might be justifiable for many users.

Kanex GoPower Mac

FORAGAINST

The Kanex GoPower for Mac is a 15,000mAh portable battery that can fully charge a MacBook and iPhone or iPad at the same time. It has two USB Type-C ports, one to connect to the laptop, the other to recharge the GoPower itself.

It also has a 2.4A USB port which is capable of charging any other Apple device (or rival smartphone or tablet, come to think of it).

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There are built-in safety features, so your devices are protected while charging. There is surge protection and priority charging, meaning that when powered and connected to multiple devices, the power passes through in order to charge them before charging itself.

READ: Apple MacBook (2016) vs MacBook (2015): What's the difference?

The whole unit is beautifully made, in the same style aluminium casing as the MacBook itself.

At present it only comes in Space Grey, to match one of Apple's colour schemes, but should there be demand Kanex told us it would consider others.

The battery is capable of charging a MacBook completely around twice before needing more charge itself. It can also charge an iPad Air 2 1.7 times, an iPad mini 4 2.4 times and an iPhone 6s up to seven times.

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