Apple stops shipping 5W power adapter with Apple Watch Hermes
Apple announced that it would not ship a 5W power adapter with Apple Watch Series 6, though expensive watches like the Hermes edition still had one -- until now.
Apple Watch Hermes no longer ships with 5W power adapter
Apple made the announcement that most of the Apple Watch line would not have a USB AC adapter, during a small portion of the "Time Flies" event focused on the environment. The company says that most people buying the Apple Watch already have an adapter and including one in the packaging adds to waste.
Despite Apple's reasoning, high-end models like the Apple Watch Edition and Apple Watch Hermes still came with the 5W adapter. The operating theory for early adopters was that the adapter was still included in the more expensive models due to those being purchased by people who upgrade less often.
As noted by MacRumors, however, Apple now indicates that it has stopped shipping the adapter in the box for all Apple Watch Series 6 models. Apple has updated the Apple Watch Hermes page with the same message it has on the others:
Apple Watch Hermes no longer ships with 5W power adapter
Apple made the announcement that most of the Apple Watch line would not have a USB AC adapter, during a small portion of the "Time Flies" event focused on the environment. The company says that most people buying the Apple Watch already have an adapter and including one in the packaging adds to waste.
Despite Apple's reasoning, high-end models like the Apple Watch Edition and Apple Watch Hermes still came with the 5W adapter. The operating theory for early adopters was that the adapter was still included in the more expensive models due to those being purchased by people who upgrade less often.
As noted by MacRumors, however, Apple now indicates that it has stopped shipping the adapter in the box for all Apple Watch Series 6 models. Apple has updated the Apple Watch Hermes page with the same message it has on the others:
Apple's environmental push will affect the "iPhone 12" as well, as it is expected to ship without a power adapter or headphones. The "iPhone 12" is expected to be announced on October 13."As part of our effort to meet our environmental goals, Apple Watch does not include a power adapter. Please use your existing power adapter or add a new one before you check out."
Comments
We’ll all deal with it, of course, and it won’t matter to most. But the idea of “non-techie” users havin to double-check to make sure they already have a solution just to power the device they’re buying, while Apple boasts in a marketing campaign feels disingenuous.
Edit: Ha, Ninja'd by Goodbyeranch by 5 minutes.
Edit 2: It looks like the same message is now on the checkout for the Titanium too. Good!
So, if the mass market Apple user is like us, it will save waste in the charging bricks. There is no change on waste with the cables. It's basically an easy truism. What's left unsaid is that we mostly have USBA chargers. There is going to be a transition to USBC-PD chargers. If Apple wants to make a bigger dent, they need to have a trade-in program of some kind where our USBA chargers can be handed in and we get a discount on a USBC charger. The 10W USBA charger is basically fine for iPads and smaller devices. So, a simple USBA to USBC adaptor could mean we keep using those for a long while, and maybe that's a way to address it.
The criticism regarding expensive Apple Watches still shipping with charging bricks, moot now, is stupid. Quite literally stupid. The vast majority of Apple Watch sales are the Aluminum models. It's the 90%. You don't make a dent on anything cutting the parts of the problem that are only 10% of the problem. If you cut out of the 90%? It's a dent.