Apple again rumored to drop charger and earbuds for 'iPhone 12'

AppleInsider

Leaker claims confirmation that new iPhones will come without accessories, and says Apple is leveraging this fact to design new, sleek packaging.

Leak claims that without a charger or earbuds, Apple will be able to make its packaging slimmer

Backing up previous reports by analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, that Apple is dropping EarPods and power adapters from the "iPhone 12," a new leak claims Apple is designing slimmer packaging for the phone. Also that at some point, this will apply to the iPhone SE as well.

in my dream, the new IPhone will not come with the charger and earphone , this even applying to SE2. The new packaging box become thinner, and Exquisite.

-- (@L0vetodream)

July 1, 2020

The new "iPhone 12" models are expected to feature wireless charging, and Apple has never included a wireless mat with its iPhones. However, the company is reported to be working on its AirPower charging mat, and appears to have solved the overheating problems that previously stalled the project.

Leaker l0vetodream does not say anything more, but it's unlikely that the "iPhone 12" will become exclusively wireless charging. Apple may be moving toward this, but all reports of the "iPhone 12" so far have claimed that they will retain the current Lightning charging port.

The "iPhone 12" is expected to come in four different models, with all believed to include 5G connectivity. Apple usually announces its new iPhones in September, but this year the coronavirus situation may mean that is delayed.

eriamjh

I am 100% behind dropping EarPods and chargers from iPhones and reducing their packaging and volume.  

GeorgeBMac

Apple needs to UP its game with chargers -- not run away and hide.

Yeh, many people have a bunch of the crappy 5W chargers Apple has been foisting on them -- even though every phone since the iPhone8 has been able to handle fast charging from a 30Watt brick.

Apple needs to supply quality chargers.  They are as much a part of the phone as the screen.  Without the brick, not even a wireless pad will charge the phone.

But, one thing they might do is give the user the option of a USB-A or USB-C brick & cord -- partly because the USB-A connection restricts the power it can provide and is being replaced by USB-C in a number of areas such as MacBooks.

razorpit

GeorgeBMac said:

Apple needs to UP its game with chargers -- not run away and hide.

Yeh, many people have a bunch of the crappy 5W chargers Apple has been foisting on them -- even though every phone since the iPhone8 has been able to handle fast charging from a 30Watt brick.

Apple needs to supply quality chargers.  They are as much a part of the phone as the screen.  Without the brick, not even a wireless pad will charge the phone.

But, one thing they might do is give the user the option of a USB-A or USB-C brick & cord -- partly because the USB-A connection restricts the power it can provide and is being replaced by USB-C in a number of areas such as MacBooks.

Every once in a while you make some sense. 

80s_Apple_Guy

Not having a charger on a $1000 and up phone would be an epic mistake IMO. 

80s_Apple_Guy

eriamjh said:

“I am 100% behind dropping EarPods and chargers from iPhones and reducing their packaging and volume.”

Cause most people care about the packaging and not about the value of what’s inside. Years down the road the charger isn’t important it’s looking at the box it came in sitting on the shelf. 

wood1208

Apple can supply separately wireless charger for free. And most people still use earpods.

Wgkrueger

And iOS won’t be preloaded, saving a lot of Apples time. 

Looking forward to Macs without power cords too. 

rhbellmor

I understand dropping the Earbuds, everyone has multiple ones in their drawers.  But if Apple switches to USB-C power adapters, most people do not have those power adapters.  Imagine opening your new iPhone 12 and not having a charger to charge it.  Apple will get a black eye for doing that.  If they stay with Lightning, then drop those power adapters from the box.  My 2¢ worth!

mike1

I'd be fine with dropping EarPods as well, as long as they include the lightening-mini adapter again. If somebody is buying an iPhone for the first time and doesn't have a drawer full of EarPods and can't even plug in the headphones they already own, that would be bad. Don't want to start a new customer off with a bad experience.

I also believe they should include the 5W charger.  No need to burden the cost of each and every iPhone with a 30W charger, when in reality only a portion of the users need to fast charge their phone, Apple knows how people charge their phone, especially with the new battery management charging feature. That alone should drive the decision. If the majority of people charge their phone overnight, then the fast charger is unnecessary. If you need fast charging, then you buy the fast charger.

seankill

mike1 said:

I'd be fine with dropping EarPods as well, as long as they include the lightening-mini adapter again. If somebody is buying an iPhone for the first time and doesn't have a drawer full of EarPods and can't even plug in the headphones they already own, that would be bad. Don't want to start a new customer off with a bad experience.

I also believe they should include the 5W charger.  No need to burden the cost of each and every iPhone with a 30W charger, when in reality only a portion of the users need to fast charge their phone, Apple knows how people charge their phone, especially with the new battery management charging feature. That alone should drive the decision. If the majority of people charge their phone overnight, then the fast charger is unnecessary. If you need fast charging, then you buy the fast charger.

What’s the cost difference between a 30W and a 5W charger? A $1 since it’s made in China? On a $650+ phone? Ridiculous reasoning. 

Apple needs to include (or at least a voucher for) an 18W or better charger standard. Otherwise, it’s just Apple driving margins. Not sure I’ve ever bought a $1,000+ product and it not include a means to charge it.... But that’s the new Apple, all about the dollar. 

crowley

Very happy with them dropping the charger, especially if it was going to be another 5W waste of time. 

cincytee

GeorgeBMac said:

Many people have a bunch of the crappy 5W chargers Apple has been foisting on them -- even though every phone since the iPhone8 has been able to handle fast charging from a 30Watt brick.

Apple needs to supply quality chargers.  They are as much a part of the phone as the screen.  Without the brick, not even a wireless pad will charge the phone.

But, one thing they might do is give the user the option of a USB-A or USB-C brick & cord -- partly because the USB-A connection restricts the power it can provide and is being replaced by USB-C in a number of areas such as MacBooks.

I like the idea of offering such options, but they should be just that: options. It's important to minimize packaging and plastics (not to mention electronics) that come as automatic "bonuses."

Metriacanthosaurus

None of this is acceptable at all.

The entire iPhone market is not like the dorks reading these articles with drawers full of unsatisfactory 5W chargers and wired EarPods.

If they want to slim down iPhone packaging by separating these items and having them available as FREE optional add-ons, well that's Apple choice. They'll maybe save a couple dollars in logistics while inconveniencing every single customer. But hey, this is the new Apple. I've given up on them doing the reasonable thing, the logical thing, or even the comprehensible thing.

Peza

GeorgeBMac said:

Apple needs to UP its game with chargers -- not run away and hide.

Yeh, many people have a bunch of the crappy 5W chargers Apple has been foisting on them -- even though every phone since the iPhone8 has been able to handle fast charging from a 30Watt brick.

Apple needs to supply quality chargers.  They are as much a part of the phone as the screen.  Without the brick, not even a wireless pad will charge the phone.

But, one thing they might do is give the user the option of a USB-A or USB-C brick & cord -- partly because the USB-A connection restricts the power it can provide and is being replaced by USB-C in a number of areas such as MacBooks.

Agree with this, a 1000 dollar or euro or pound plus phone and you still get a crappy 5W charger, soon possibly to be no charger. If they drop the charger all together It’s like buying an Oemga or Rolex and not getting a strap in the box, or one made from paper so it’s a one time use only.. 

if this rumour is true then I’d expect Apple to reduce the price of its iPhones, but we all now they won’t as this is Apple.

I support the cutback of electronic waste, but I also think they should include a lightning to normal headphone jack adapter in every box, not everyone uses wireless headphones. And they should reduce the phones price or give customers a free of charge option for a charger, a better one then 5W.

mike1

seankill said:

mike1 said:

I'd be fine with dropping EarPods as well, as long as they include the lightening-mini adapter again. If somebody is buying an iPhone for the first time and doesn't have a drawer full of EarPods and can't even plug in the headphones they already own, that would be bad. Don't want to start a new customer off with a bad experience.

I also believe they should include the 5W charger.  No need to burden the cost of each and every iPhone with a 30W charger, when in reality only a portion of the users need to fast charge their phone, Apple knows how people charge their phone, especially with the new battery management charging feature. That alone should drive the decision. If the majority of people charge their phone overnight, then the fast charger is unnecessary. If you need fast charging, then you buy the fast charger.

What’s the cost difference between a 30W and a 5W charger? A $1 since it’s made in China? On a $650+ phone? Ridiculous reasoning. 

Apple needs to include (or at least a voucher for) an 18W or better charger standard. Otherwise, it’s just Apple driving margins. Not sure I’ve ever bought a $1,000+ product and it not include a means to charge it.... But that’s the new Apple, all about the dollar. 

Not ridiculous. Apple should be driving margins wherever possible. All of these other phone improvements are adding costs, not removing them. Even if the cost difference of the charger is only $1, which I doubt, if you take that $1 and multiply it by roughly 200MM iPhones sold in 2019, it's all wasted margin and will likely not impact a single sale. Who really is not going to buy the phone because of the included charger?  I agree that Apple should include a charger for functionality, just not a premium charger when they probably know that the vast majority of users would not require it. Consider fast charging a niche feature, available if you need it, but not forced on you if you don't.

libertyandfree

mike1 said:

seankill said:

mike1 said:

I'd be fine with dropping EarPods as well, as long as they include the lightening-mini adapter again. If somebody is buying an iPhone for the first time and doesn't have a drawer full of EarPods and can't even plug in the headphones they already own, that would be bad. Don't want to start a new customer off with a bad experience.

I also believe they should include the 5W charger.  No need to burden the cost of each and every iPhone with a 30W charger, when in reality only a portion of the users need to fast charge their phone, Apple knows how people charge their phone, especially with the new battery management charging feature. That alone should drive the decision. If the majority of people charge their phone overnight, then the fast charger is unnecessary. If you need fast charging, then you buy the fast charger.

What’s the cost difference between a 30W and a 5W charger? A $1 since it’s made in China? On a $650+ phone? Ridiculous reasoning. 

Apple needs to include (or at least a voucher for) an 18W or better charger standard. Otherwise, it’s just Apple driving margins. Not sure I’ve ever bought a $1,000+ product and it not include a means to charge it.... But that’s the new Apple, all about the dollar. 

Not ridiculous. Apple should be driving margins wherever possible. All of these other phone improvements are adding costs, not removing them. Even if the cost difference of the charger is only $1, which I doubt, if you take that $1 and multiply it by roughly 200MM iPhones sold in 2019, it's all wasted margin and will likely not impact a single sale. Who really is not going to buy the phone because of the included charger?  I agree that Apple should include a charger for functionality, just not a premium charger when they probably know that the vast majority of users would not require it. Consider fast charging a niche feature, available if you need it, but not forced on you if you don't.

This would be a terrible decision. So Apple can eek out another 1-2% margin on each iphone but may loss 1-2% of customers so for every lost customer they have lost $400 profit per iPhone plus services.  Over a few years you are looking at $500 per lost customer.   Seems like a really bad idea financially as well as marketing wise.  

Their competitors will have a field day making fun of them if they do not include a charger.  

AutigerMark

Who gives two rips about "slimmer packaging" and "margins".  If I buy a $1,000 device, it better come with all the hardware needed to charge it.

DangDave

It’s about eco-waste. Europe has been pushing for the eventual elimination of chargers being provided with each new mobile device since 2000. The first step was to standardize with 5 volt USB-A chargers and micro-USB ports on the devices. This took many years but eventually happened for the most part. 

Now that we have USB-A, USB-C, and wireless charging it has become much more complicated. 

aderutter

It’s all about the waste.

I suspect Apple will get some flak no matter what they do but memories are short.
I remember people dissing Apple for charging £1,000 for a phone.
AAPL are doing rather well aren’t they?

Apple could provide 3 options: without a charger, with a normal charger or with a wireless charger.
The best way to do this is and avoid wastage is to not put chargers (or earpods) in boxes.
Not sure EU law will allow the sale of electronics without a charger though, so it might be a choice of which charger you want. 

Xed

GeorgeBMac said:

Apple needs to UP its game with chargers -- not run away and hide.

Yeh, many people have a bunch of the crappy 5W chargers Apple has been foisting on them -- even though every phone since the iPhone8 has been able to handle fast charging from a 30Watt brick.

Apple needs to supply quality chargers.  They are as much a part of the phone as the screen.  Without the brick, not even a wireless pad will charge the phone.

But, one thing they might do is give the user the option of a USB-A or USB-C brick & cord -- partly because the USB-A connection restricts the power it can provide and is being replaced by USB-C in a number of areas such as MacBooks.

They need to get rid of them, not force every customer to pay even more money for every iPhone purchased to get a drawer full of PSUs that go unused.

Apple's PSUs are quality. I've never had a problem with mine and will always buy Apple's over some Dollar Store knockoff. There are some 3rd-party options that have proven to be excellent quality, too, but don't assume that the "quality" of a PSU is based on how many Watts it says it outputs.

I look forward to the day the I can choose to buy PSUs with USB-A, USB-C, or both, with various output options for various configurations without ending up with a drawer full of perfectly good PSUs and headphones that I'll never use but have paid for.