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> Now, it might be the case that you feel the price should be zero bucks with purchase of an iPhone. It would be one thing if the form factor matched all the o

> Now, it might be the case that you feel the price should be zero bucks with purchase of an iPhone. It would be one thing if the form factor matched all the other chargers sold in the world. I have a pile of USB-C and micro USB cords, like most other people. But if I bought an iPhone, I have no option to use a charger I already own. The extra purchase is absolutely required to make the device work. It's not the same charger as the other Apple devices I've owned. If your last phone wasn't also an iPhone, it's a required purchase. It feels deceptive. If they were to "include" the charger, but offer a $19 discount if you didn't need it, that's fundamentally different than advertising a price for the device that is unusable to new customers without additional purchases. > Apple disagrees. They don't run promotions of that sort, or promotions, in fact. The price is the price, it's core to the brand. If it was core to the brand it wouldn't be news. I was an iPhone user back in the day and they all came with chargers and headphones. The decision to not include these things is not a branding one, but profit-driven and taking advantage of a captive customer base. Lots of iPhone customers are angry about these decisions, but the weight of changing ecosystems keeps them buying.

masklinn 4y ago
> But if I bought an iPhone, I have no option to use a charger I already own. The extra purchase is absolutely required to make the device work. It's not the same charger as the other Apple devices I've owned. If your last phone wasn't also an iPhone, it's a required purchase. Of course you do. I've not seen a cable-bonded phone charger in over a decade now. You just need a lightning cable, all chargers will have either an USB-A or USB-C female plug.
rootusrootus 4y ago
> But if I bought an iPhone, I have no option to use a charger I already own. Why? I have multiple chargers around my house, and only one of them is an Apple charger. The rest are Anker USB-C chargers. My phone came with a USB-C to Lightning cable, and it works fine with any of those chargers.
- schwartzworld 4y ago
  > My phone came with a USB-C to Lightning cable, That's interesting. I got a USB-C charger when I bought a Pixel phone, but it was the only one I've ever owned and it got lost pretty quick. I remember thinking how annoying it was that it didn't work with any other cables in the house. Every other USB-C device I've bought came with a USB-A charger and USB-A to C cable, including my current phone. Apple is one of the last holdovers from an age where every phone company had proprietary cables and chargers. The way I see it, they are happy to make user and developer hostile decisions in the name of profit because they know their base is too entrenched to extract themselves. This particular one is annoying, and while probably not _that_ bad when viewed in a vacuum, but there is an undeniable trend.
  - rootusrootus 4y ago
    > Every other USB-C device I've bought came with a USB-A charger and USB-A to C cable, including my current phone. Wow, really? That is an interesting choice. One of the best aspects of USB-C is the increased power ability, which is unavailable if the head end of the cable is just connected to an old USB-A port. I mean, I get that Micro-USB was so awful that everyone abandoned it quickly when USB-C was invented, but why did they half-ass the solution? I don't buy the argument that Apple is milking users with proprietary cables. They created a solution to Micro-USB when nobody else would, and they've stuck with that choice for 10 years. They have been moving iPads over to USB-C over the past few years, so clearly they will get there with the iPhone too, but you and I both know the bitching about that will be far louder than the complaints now that Lightning is proprietary. An original Lightning cable still works today.
    - ratww 4y ago
      > Wow, really? That is an interesting choice. It is interesting but very pragmatic for this situation: until somewhat recently most computers and chargers only had USB-A ports.
      - schwartzworld 4y ago

masklinn 4y ago

> But if I bought an iPhone, I have no option to use a charger I already own. The extra purchase is absolutely required to make the device work. It's not the same charger as the other Apple devices I've owned. If your last phone wasn't also an iPhone, it's a required purchase. Of course you do. I've not seen a cable-bonded phone charger in over a decade now. You just need a lightning cable, all chargers will have either an USB-A or USB-C female plug.

rootusrootus 4y ago

> But if I bought an iPhone, I have no option to use a charger I already own. Why? I have multiple chargers around my house, and only one of them is an Apple charger. The rest are Anker USB-C chargers. My phone came with a USB-C to Lightning cable, and it works fine with any of those chargers.

schwartzworld 4y ago
> My phone came with a USB-C to Lightning cable, That's interesting. I got a USB-C charger when I bought a Pixel phone, but it was the only one I've ever owned and it got lost pretty quick. I remember thinking how annoying it was that it didn't work with any other cables in the house. Every other USB-C device I've bought came with a USB-A charger and USB-A to C cable, including my current phone. Apple is one of the last holdovers from an age where every phone company had proprietary cables and chargers. The way I see it, they are happy to make user and developer hostile decisions in the name of profit because they know their base is too entrenched to extract themselves. This particular one is annoying, and while probably not _that_ bad when viewed in a vacuum, but there is an undeniable trend.
- rootusrootus 4y ago
  > Every other USB-C device I've bought came with a USB-A charger and USB-A to C cable, including my current phone. Wow, really? That is an interesting choice. One of the best aspects of USB-C is the increased power ability, which is unavailable if the head end of the cable is just connected to an old USB-A port. I mean, I get that Micro-USB was so awful that everyone abandoned it quickly when USB-C was invented, but why did they half-ass the solution? I don't buy the argument that Apple is milking users with proprietary cables. They created a solution to Micro-USB when nobody else would, and they've stuck with that choice for 10 years. They have been moving iPads over to USB-C over the past few years, so clearly they will get there with the iPhone too, but you and I both know the bitching about that will be far louder than the complaints now that Lightning is proprietary. An original Lightning cable still works today.
  - ratww 4y ago
    > Wow, really? That is an interesting choice. It is interesting but very pragmatic for this situation: until somewhat recently most computers and chargers only had USB-A ports.
    - schwartzworld 4y ago