Apple Shipping New Apple Watches Without Power Adapter, but iPad Air Includes 20W USB-C Charger

[mi7chy]

I want car manufacturers to follow Apple and not include tires with new cars to be eco friendly.

 

[I7guy]

I want car manufacturers to follow Apple and not include tires with new cars to be eco friendly.

Sure that’s certainly an apt analogy.

 

[unoporfavor]

Correct, I agree with you. I believe apple did their homework on this move and decided that not raising prices on the iPhone 12 along with e-waste and other downstream savings was worth it in an overall sense.

Think you've missed the point there champ - there is no e-waste savings at all in real material terms if you look at the spectrum of products.
Inflationary prices is largely offset by static pricing - which aligns with neoclassical thinking on macro economics - technology and innovation reduce costs.

 

[unoporfavor]

Sure that’s certainly an apt analogy.

If car manufacturers were to say that there were not including tyres as an environmental reason then it would indeed be ridiculous. I mean you usually sell cars with them on, and not many people remove them before scrapping the vehicle. There is a lot sitting around in yards unused though.

 

[unoporfavor]

Correct, I agree with you. I believe apple did their homework on this move and decided that not raising prices on the iPhone 12 along with e-waste and other downstream savings was worth it in an overall sense.

I think we do agree that on the part that Apple did their homework and the downstream savings to their bottom line was certainly worth it to them.

 

[I7guy]

I think we do agree that on the part that Apple did their homework and the downstream savings to their bottom line was certainly worth it to them.

No we don't agree on this is a driving principal period. Because to keep their bottom line they could have raised prices, which would be worse than excluding some hardware that (probably) most people have. And, as has been shown for many launches past, MacRumors posters are not the litmus test of how well a phone is going to sell, because a few vocal posters in the minority get it wrong. I don't think there is any downstream savings at all. If anything, Apple's margins may have gone down.

 

[I7guy]

If car manufacturers were to say that there were not including tyres as an environmental reason then it would indeed be ridiculous. I mean you usually sell cars with them on, and not many people remove them before scrapping the vehicle. There is a lot sitting around in yards unused though.

The difference is tires are needed to actually move the car, a car cannot be driven (as intended) on rims, there are no substitutes for tires, although there are many manufacturers. A smartphone can be operated without a headset, and there is more than one way to charge a phone without a brick. If one doesn't have a usb-a cable, they will have to get one or get the new apple 20w charger.

 

[I7guy]

Think you've missed the point there champ - there is no e-waste savings at all in real material terms if you look at the spectrum of products.

Not quite. There are very real benefits in an overall sense.

Inflationary prices is largely offset by static pricing - which aligns with neoclassical thinking on macro economics - technology and innovation reduce costs.

It's great that the 20W apple charge costs the same on the apple store as the 5w brick.

 

[ericwn]

The new iPhones come with USB-C to lightning cable and no power adapter. Surely this now confirms how little this was about environmental reasons given everyone will have to go and buy USB-C power chargers, or if you have a watch - a hybrid that includes a USB-A and a USB-C port.

An even more environmentally friendly move would have been to not include any cable, true.
Nobody HAS to go the USB-C route, it’s just an option.

 

[ericwn]

Now that the iPhone 12 has included a USB-C cable, all those USB-A chargers are suddenly a lot less useful. Guess what - a fair amount of them that were in your bottom drawer will now end up in landfill, and the USB-C chargers will have to be manufactured, packaged, shipped, stocked, purchased - not much of an e-waste saving now.
Here's hoping the newly purchased chargers will be dual USB-C and USB-A as the iWatch includes a USB-A cord... instead of a USB-C charger + a USB-A charger!

I don’t feel forced to buy anything new and nothing I’m using to charge right now is in need of retirement.
My old chargers are exactly as useful as before.

 

[ericwn]

I want car manufacturers to follow Apple and not include tires with new cars to be eco friendly.

Macrumors rule 5: if you run out of ideas in the debate, throw in random car analogies, and make them as un-applicable as possible to keep the discussions flowing.

 

[unoporfavor]

Not quite. There are very real benefits in an overall sense.

It's great that the 20W apple charge costs the same on the apple store as the 5w brick.

It is still over-priced but yes a good example of technology driving down costs. I note you didn't mention inflation in this specific example, which means you can apply the same logic to more complex devices too if that helps 👍

 

[unoporfavor]

I don’t feel forced to buy anything new and nothing I’m using to charge right now is in need of retirement.
My old chargers are exactly as useful as before.

Given the historical durability of Apple supplied cables, I think you'll be either (a) using that USB-C cable sooner than you think and purchasing a USB-C charger or (b) purchasing another USB-A lightning cable with the supplied Apple iphone cable staying in the box causing that e-waste you hate so much

 

[I7guy]

It is still over-priced but yes a good example of technology driving down costs. I note you didn't mention inflation in this specific example, which means you can apply the same logic to more complex devices too if that helps 👍

Because inflation is a rabbit hole and takes away from the overall concept of what I believe Apple tried to accomplish and adds nothing to the discussion.

 

[unoporfavor]

Because inflation is a rabbit hole and takes away from the overall concept of what I believe Apple tried to accomplish and adds nothing to the discussion.

Agree in principle, but it is the removal apologists that always bring up inflation as some proof that it is cheaper.
Cheers