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iPhone 12 Models Won't Include Charger in Box, Power Adapter Sold Separately
- BruceOxenford 6y agoWhat???? First a headphone jack, now charger, then??
- kleiba 6y agoCharging via USB-C - does that mean you will be able to use generic non-Apple chargers with the iPhone 12? (sorry, complete phone-noob here)
- oevi 6y agoThe article says a Lightning to USB-C cable will still be included. So you can use any USB-C charger which can delivery the necessary power (as with the iPhone 11).
- tgv 6y agoYou can charge existing iPhones with generic chargers; you only need the lightning cable (which comes with the phone).
- whywhywhywhy 6y agoThese petty BOM reduction exercises from Tim Cook's Apple to claw back single dollars on products that are $1000 are starting to get egregious.
- leadingthenet 6y agoThey also reduce e-waste. Few people need yet another lightning / micro-usb / usb-c cable and charger.
- panpanna 6y ago> They also reduce e-waste. They do. But please note that Apple does this after years of pressure from EU and are one of the last companies to do so. So please don't make them into some kind of champions for the environment.
- leadingthenet 6y ago> But please note that Apple does this after years of pressure from EU and are one of the last companies to do so. I have no idea what you’re talking about. When exactly did the EU ask Apple not to include the charger in the box? I’m very doubtful of this claim.
- panpanna 6y agoIf you Google "EU charger" this The Verge article will be the top result: "Since 2009, the European Commission has been trying to convince tech companies to adopt a single charging method for our gadgets, primarily smartphones, in a quest to reduce the waste that comes when every new gadget you buy includes yet another AC adapter in the box. Now, Apple’s Lightning connector may be at risk." https://www.theverge.com/2020/1/17/21070848/eu-apple-european-commission-common-charger-lightning-cable-port https://www.theverge.com/2020/1/17/21070848/eu-apple-europea...
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- nix23 6y agoYes that means that you can charge your Android an Iphone with the SAME charger, NOT that you don't include one with your phone. And yet Apple could avoid implementing micro/usb-c (or the standard EU-Smart-device charger hm-hmm) etc since 11 Years and nothing happened...thanks EU for your strong fist and small mouth.
- panpanna 6y agoAren't you misunderstanding the directive? The EU explicitly stated the goal was to reduce e-waste, and the only way to do that is by not shipping a new charger with every phone. Apple avoided all this by providing USB-lightning converters. This follows the letter of law but produces even more waste. Eventually EU decided they had enough and threatened to fine Apple.
- sytelus 6y agoE-waste could be reduced by offering charger for free, if customer wanted. The thing I always liked about iPhone was to open up the box and you have everything you need to use the device,
- leadingthenet 6y agoIt would be nice if they offered a “free” charger with the purchase of a new device, if requested. Am I being cynical if I believe that essentially everybody would take it, even if they didn’t really have a need for one?
- whywhywhywhy 6y agoPlease don't try and pretend the company that invented AirPods cares a single bit about e-waste. Just how many pairs of AirPods is the average Apple fan going to go through in their lives. These things are going to be rotting away in landfills and washing up on beaches for multiple generations after their wearers are dead.
- SllX 6y agoAt this point it’s a rumor and we don’t know the prices for the next batch of phones yet. Hopefully we see some reduced prices regardless, but it is hard to get worked up over rumors like this when I’m not lacking in charging equipment or headphones. The inclusions made sense, until they didn’t, now it’s just extra crap to fill a spares drawer and pass off to others.
- cosmiccatnap 6y agoWell, also I guess it's good because apple has failed to make a reliable or reasonably priced charger for all of the second millennia so far...
- bubblethink 6y ago"50 cents is a lot of money! You save 50 cents here, and then maybe you go somewhere else and save another 50 cents. Then you have 1 dollar. Then you take your dollar. You go to the dollar store, and you buy something else."
- lewisflude 6y agoMakes sense! Many consumers likely already have a USB-C charger, so splitting it up gives people flexibility. I will be interested to see how they communicate this to prevent first time iPhone users being left without a charging cable/power brick.
- robin_reala 6y agoNot just flexibility, but a reasonable reduction in e-waste.
- kace91 6y ago>Many consumers likely already have a USB-C charger, so splitting it up gives people flexibility. Only if the charger price is deduced from the phone’s price or you can opt in to get one for free if you need it. Otherwise it’s very obviously screwing up consumers to optimize earnings once again.
- ksec 6y ago>Makes sense! Many consumers likely already have a USB-C charger I am willing to bet money the overwhelming majority consumer dont have USB-C chargers, only USB-A.
- _trampeltier 6y agoYes, I think so too. And i think there are even different standarts for charging.
- christophilus 6y agoBut maybe Apple consumers will? I have a number of USB-C cables. Anyway, I agree that reducing waste is good, but this move isn’t about waste. If Apple cared about waste, they’d come up with some way of keeping old devices out of landfills.
- shadowfiend 6y agoThey have. Trade in programs, recycling drop offs at their store, refurbishment programs, robots that take the phones apart for reuse (https://www.cnet.com/news/how-apples-daisy-iphone-recycling-robot-works/ https://www.cnet.com/news/how-apples-daisy-iphone-recycling-...). Imperfect, but approached from many sides.
- JamesBaxter 6y agoI suppose that if you’re upgrading to iPhone and already have one it is a waste to give you yet another charger. I wonder how much energy is used creating these cables that often go straight in a drawer because the previous cable is already conveniently plugged into the wall.
- Cthulhu_ 6y agoYeah in theory it's a defensible move, because we're moving towards standardized charging ports. However, Apple is the only one that's being weird about it, introducing the Lightning connector instead of e.g. switching to micro-USB. USB-C was still a while out when Lightning was introduced. But honestly they have no excuse to not adopt Micro-USB or USB-C.
- leadingthenet 6y agoLighting is way better than micro-USB, and somewhat better than even USB-C, which, as you correctly mentioned, was released years after its debut. So that’s their “excuse”, and I’m glad for it every time I have to interact with a micro-USB cable.
- sk0g 6y agoAnd what would these benefits of lightning vs USB C be, aside from being endorsed and embedded in the Apple ecosystem?
- robin_reala 6y agoAt this point not that much. It’s slightly smaller, and most iPhone users already have a pile of lightning cables. It’s also nice to be able to charge your low-end iPad / Airpods / Apple mice and keyboards from the same cable. Historically there were a load of speaker docks that had a fixed lightning plug, but that’s mostly a dead market segment at this point.
- leadingthenet 6y ago
- kgc 6y agoFinally. Including all that was a waste.
- vbezhenar 6y agoThat's good as long as they'll reduce price for a power adapter cost. Also I'd happily buy iPhone without headphones with reduced price.
- panpanna 6y agoThe problem is that it probably costs apple $3 to include one but it will cost you $50 to buy one separately. So people will start using cheap garbage adapters from AliExpress and burn down their house. IIRC, HTC had a similar idea 5-6 years ago, but they would give you a charger for free if you asked them.
- dmurray 6y agoHow would you know if they reduce the price? If it's priced at $994 and they say they took $5 off for the charger, that's OK, but what if it's priced at $899 and they don't break down the price?
- ksec 6y ago>Also I'd happily buy iPhone without headphones with reduced price. With 5G, Qualcomm Modem, 5nm SoC, these are all but confirmed. Even if we are ignoring the possibility of mmWave Antenna, ProMotion OLED, FaceID 2.0. I would be happily surprised if they dont raise entry level iPhone Pro price by a $100.
- jhwhite 6y agoHm. I switched from iPhone to Android almost 3 years ago and I'm thinking about going back to iPhone in the fall. I don't have any of my old chargers but this might not be a bad idea. If they deduct the cost of the charger that's money I can put toward a longer cable. I would always buy longer charging cables anyway.
- edraferi 6y agoI was outraged for two seconds, then remembered I switched to wireless charging anyway.
- strict9 6y agoIt's predicted that next year's iPhone will be wireless only, so not including a wired charger is the first step to getting consumers ready. https://www.macrumors.com/2019/12/05/kuo-iphone-without-lightning-connector-2021/ https://www.macrumors.com/2019/12/05/kuo-iphone-without-ligh...
- disparate_dan 6y agoIsn’t it about time we moved away from the one-charger-per-device model? For the last few devices I’ve bought, I’ve only charged them from a multi-port Anker USB hub and the dedicated chargers have remained unused in the packaging. Which is great for resale value but bad for e-waste!