I remember my Motorola Moto G (1st Gen) smartphone, which was released back in late 2013, didn’t come with a charger in the box. All that was in the box was the phone, charging/data cable, and the usual documents manufacturers ship with phones. Motorola’s decision to not ship the phone with a charger was to keep the price low.
Fast forward to 2020, and Apple’s new iPhone 12 lineup will not be coming with a charger and a pair of wired earphones. Apple’s reasons – customers already have these accessories, and the removal reduces e-waste and emissions. Apple’s decision to not include these accessories is not limited to the new iPhones but will also extend to new units of older models that it sells.
We expect more manufacturers to follow suit in the future even though they are currently making fun of Apple’s decision. Heck! it’s already happening as the LG G8X doesn’t ship with a charger anymore but Apple’s decision is not only a poor one but has terrible timing.
A poor decision combined with terrible timing
Apple is shipping the new iPhones with a USB-C to Lightning cable which means that you need to have an adapter with a USB-C port. The thing is that Apple switched to the new cable just last year, starting with the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max (the iPhone 11 has a USB-A to lightning cable). While it did include a power adapter with a USB-C cable for the iPhone 11 Pro models, those who own previous iPhone models including the iPhone 11 have a USB-A power adapter.
What this means is that if these older iPhone users are picking up the new iPhone 12 series or models like the iPhone 11 that originally shipped with a different cable (now shipping with the USB-C to lightning cable), they will not be able to charge their new phones with the tens of USB-A adapters that Apple claims they have laying around their homes. The solution is to go out and buy a USB-C adapter from a third-party manufacturer or Apple’s own $20 charger. A typical case of Apple creating a problem and profiting from it!
USB-C chargers aren’t actually as common as Apple thinks. Last year’s Galaxy S10 series ships with a USB-A adapter and the same applies to OnePlus’s 2019 flagships and even its OnePlus 8 series. This is the case for a lot of phones released even in the past year.
If Apple sells 50 million iPhone 12 units, you can expect more than half of the buyers are going to purchase a USB-C adapter Apple didn’t include in the box. And a large percentage of these users will even buy their charger from Apple. If you are picking up the $39 MagSafe Charger, you will still have to grab a USB-C power adapter as it has a USB-C end and doesn’t come with an adapter.
So Apple is not reducing e-wastes and greenhouse gases with this decision to not include accessories in the box, as these chargers will still have to be made by them and third-party manufacturers to meet customers’ demand.
Give buyers the chance to choose if they want accessories or not
I am of the opinion that buyers should be able to decide if they want accessories or not when purchasing a phone. If a buyer is purchasing a new phone, the option to add accessories or not should be made available at checkout just as they would choose the configuration or color they want.
Buyers who do not want accessories should get a discount at checkout or store credit equivalent to the cost of the bundled accessories. This store credit can be used to purchase other accessories they actually need such as cases or even a wireless charger as the case may be.
Apple and other manufacturers can also create a way for buyers to donate some of the money saved to non-profit organizations protecting the planet. If buyers see they can actively contribute to making the world a better place, they will be inclined to skip on accessories they do not need.
Manufacturers can also use the data from buyers’ purchase behavior to then decide if accessories should be permanently removed depending on the region or if it should still be an option.
The option to ask for accessories is not new. In the US, Samsung doesn’t include its USB-C AKG earbuds in the box of the Galaxy Note 20 series but it does so in Europe. Samsung USA revealed that the decision was made due to the declining usage of wired earphones. While the SamMobile post says that American buyers can request for the AKG Earbuds when they purchase the phone, some of the comments in the post revealed they got a $30 promo code to use on the Samsung Store.
Apple’s intentions seem to be good but it could have been better implemented. We hope other manufacturers that plan to take a similar decision iron out the kinks before adopting.
[yop_poll id=”58″]UP NEXT: Apple ships the iPhone 12 series with Lightning EarPods in France
