That still doesn't mean it (battery or a charger) needs to be included. Chargers are pretty easy and inexpensive to add to one's cart/bag during checkout if needed.
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Brazil Fines Apple $19 Million for Continuing to Sell iPhones Without Charger
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That still doesn't mean it (battery or a charger) needs to be included. Chargers are pretty easy and inexpensive to add to one's cart/bag during checkout if needed.
However...
A. They use a standard, inexpensive, removable battery size that you can buy fully charged and add. Are you suggesting that iPhones be powered by removable AA batteries? Can you go down to the corner store and buy a fully charged iPhone battery you can easily put in it?
B. They cost significantly less than even the base iPhone.
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From a waste point of view, it would be sensible to include neither and sell cables and power supplies. Just as some people want a different power supply arrangement, some people want a Lightning-to-USB-C cable, some want a lightning to USB-A cable, others already have them.
Hang on - I bought a TV recently... but it didn't come with a TV aerial or aerial cable, satellite dish, broadband router or HDMI cable (at least one of which is REQUIRED to use the device) - nor, for that matter, a 240V AC generator which is also REQUIRED to use the device.... because it's kinda assumed that the majority (but still not all) will already have those & different people will have different needs. I guess if you were buying or renting a TV in the early days when nobody had an aerial you'd have been able to get a bundle from your friendly local radio shop that included everything - but things change. With mobile devices we're at that stage where they pretty much all charge from USB A or C and the majority (which still doesn't mean all) of people already have USB chargers. Time to change.
From where I'm sitting I can see over a dozen places (if you include the box marked "power supplies" that contains at least 5 old iDevice chargers and probably a couple of other USB chargers) where I could plug in a shiny new iPhone for a charge. That's not just because I'm sitting at my computer: my living room TV has a USB socket, my car has a USB socket, the hotel room I stayed in last weekend has a USB socket... you can get 4-way extension leads and even wall socket faceplates with USB sockets in them...
Sure, every person at some stage will have to buy their first power brick & cable - but the alternative is forcing other people to buy bricks and cables they don't need & which have negligible resale value.
Problem is, Apple's retail pricing isn't really based on some sort of "(bill-of-materials + costs) x industry standard profit margin" formula (unless you think there's something magic about that that means the result always ends in "99") - they charge what they think the market will bear & go for strategic "price points". So it's not like you were ever going to see $20 lopped off the price of the iPhone to make up for the loss of the adapter (which probably costs Apple a few bucks anyway). If Apple wants more profit they can and do put up prices, so nobody here knows what the price of an iPhone with adapter would be anyway - but what goes around comes around: e.g. if you do need a spare or replacement, I notice that (in the UK & US) Apple now sell a basic iPhone adapter for £19/$19 which is considerably cheaper than in the past (e.g. $29 in 2012) and a lot closer to what the more reputable 3rd party brands are charging (...and there's always that $7 no-name option if you have good fire insurance).
At the end of the day, if you think the iPhone is too expensive and Apple are lining their pockets too deeply, your ultimate option is to just buy a different, cheaper phone. Not saying you shouldn't complain about it - either to Apple or on forums like this - but it is not something that governments need to intervene in.
Government intervention makes sense to force a level playing field when there's a need to change (e.g. to reduce waste) but there's no incentive for any company to be the "first mover" and put themselves at a competitive disadvantage. Especially when it comes to environmental issues where private companies will be very happy to reap the profits and leave the taxpayers to clean up the mess from the indirect consequences.
The EU move is - at least superficially - about reducing waste (which is good) but is stupid because it addresses a problem from the 90s/00s (when every phone had it's own idiosyncratic connector, sometimes not even standard between different models from the same manufacturer - invariably with a charger with a captive cable). That problem has now largely disappeared with the majority of phones and other high-end mobile devices using a charger with a standard USB A or C socket and can charge anything given the right cable (no thanks to the previous EU MoU which, AFAIK, still allowed captive cables as long as they had MicroUSB on the end...). The waste problem of cables (which break and need replacing anyway) is tiny compared to all of those single-purpose wall warts - and having just three different device-side sockets really isn't a problem (one of which microUSB is rapidly being replaced by USB-C). I actually think Apple are briar-patching over the USB-C thing: moving the iPhone to USB-C makes so much sense, with the 10-year-old Lightning standard heading for obsolescence and USB-C already adopted by Macs and iPads - but it would be handy to blame the EU for you having to buy new earbuds.
The Brazil, thing, though is inexplicable - Apple are doing the sensible thing in not supplying more and more redundant chargers to folk who's cupboards are already stuffed with the things. Stopping that is really regressive. If Apple are trousering the savings rather than passing them on to the consumer then shame on Apple, but that's between them and their customers who are completely free to complain online, write to Apple and - if that fails - the Android phones with "free" chargers are on that shelf over there.
What the EU and Brazil should be doing is forcing Android phone makers to remove power bricks so that they can't use "power supply included" as a competitive advantage (not necessarily over Apple - Android makers are mainly competing with each other and won't want to be the first one to drop bundled chargers).
...because what I'm seeing at the moment is that only Apple give me the choice of whether or not I want to throw a charger in the bin (even if they're not rewarding me for my greenness), so casting them as the bad guy seems odd...
Still it is needed...you can't do anything with it without one. The case, earbuds, etc are not. Note: I am not saying that they should bundle the AC Adapter, but your example is quite not apples to apples.
I totally get what you are saying, but if Apple is truly doing this for environmental reasons (which I do not think is the case), then it wouldn't be Apple giving chargers for "free".
They're right to sue. The fact they don't give a charger anymore is PURE greed. They're just using "carbon emissions" propaganda to conceal their greed. Literally when you get a new iphone your purchase doesn't end there, you literally have to go online or go to a store to buy a new charger. They will always try to extract as much money as they can on their products and don't give a charger for a phone?! Plus, now their cables are usb-c on one end which means you can't even use their standard charger we're all used to; you have to buy a whole new product, they should DEFINITELY give you a new charger. They should be publicly shamed for this. Chargers/cables have the highest mark up value. They're produced for pennies and sold exponentially higher. Brazil is right in their motion to say it is an "incompete product." It is!! We use phones everyday and therefore need to be able to charge them. You literally spend over a grand on an iPhone and they don't even give you means to charge it?! That's disgusting. The fact they are THAT greedy as to not include a charger is a disgusting shame. Propaganda is real. More and more companies use global warming as an excuse to conceal their greed. This is one of the biggest richest corporations in the world. They should be sued by more countries for their shameless greed. It would literally cost them PENNIES to include a charger. But the greedy pigs decide hey let's sell them a separate charger and make them pay $40 for it. I love apple products but I have no sympathy for shameless greed, no matter who it's coming from. There's no excuse for this. **** apple on this! I hope brazil wins and more countries follow suit!
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No they shouldn’t.
Yeah, nah. That whole rant is just that.. a rant. I’ve got so many old usb a chargers because Apple forced me to have some with earlier products. It’s disgusting I tell ya!
Buy your own chargers and live your life.
Except that it is not. Yes, countries have laws. But no where is it stated, implied, or proven that any laws were broken.
The Brazilian consumer protection agency determined themselves that the iPhone delivered without a charger is not a complete product," whatever that means exactly. They brought a civil suit in a Brazilian court that levied the initial $3m fine. Apple appealed the contention that the iPhone is not a complete product and the initial fine. That appeal is still pending (I believe based on the way the article is worded). The agency brought a second civil suit for the same issue with the ruling of a $19m fine. And, as the article states, it is expected that Apple will appeal this ruling as well.
The thing here is that the Cactus Flea Market Big Mac combo was sold out all over the place, so you couldn't get that combo. And why would you get a regular combo now when there's no toy?
Yes they should.
The people who need a charger can get one for free, and the people who don't need one wont ask for one. All of Apple's environmental reasons for not putting them in the iPhone box can be upheld, and chargers in non-retail, light-weight minimal packaging can be shipped separately, and more efficiently, to resellers.
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What is it about Macrumors and people who seem to be programmed to defend a trillion dollar company as if it were a family member?
It's been said before and I'll repeat it here... but Apple could just offer a free accessory...
Pick one:
- Charger
- Wired Headphones and a 3.5mm adapter
- Decent PTU case.
- xxx months of Apple TV or Music on top of the current 3 month freebie.
- App Store $xxx credit...
Surely a simple selection like this means nobody loses out and nothing goes to waste...
Got an adapter, choose headphones.
got headphones, choose a case.
Don't want a case... get some free TV or Music.
If all of that seems like bollocks... get a free App Store credit.
Apple offer fkkall any more and their prices go up and up every few generations.
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This isn’t as ridiculous as it sounds. As part of the online order process they could simply have a checkbox as to whether or not you need a charger. They can even say hey be green if you don’t need a charger don’t get one, but if you do, order one with it for no extra charge.
Doesn’t have to be in the same package as the iPhone but can ship alongside it in the same box, and this is already the company who will gladly send a gas powered truck out to your house to hand you a box with a cloth in it for $20. It’s no more or less green.
Some people should take a break from MR as they can't handle opposing points of view.
This is exactly what I say every time. It only shows what is in the box. It never informs you that you will need a charger if you don't already have one.
This is why I think since they no longer include the adapter, give a USB-A to Lightning cable noe. There's a much better chance of someone having an A port on something in their home. Not so much C though.
During the online ordering process it is plainly visible.
The boxes also say what is included AND what sold separately.
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This is stupid on so many levels. It's not like the grey market electronics stores in Times Square in the 70s and 80s where you would see a smokin' deal on a TI calculator only to discover that the purpose-built charger wasn't included. iPhones can be charged in a bunch of different ways and eventually more ways now that the EU decided that the dreadful USB-C connector standard was the way to go.
If this discussion were happening in 2007 I would agree. However in 2022 I believe Apple is being genuine that chargers are a prevalent part of the consumer landscape.
Yes I agree, a way to charge the phone is needed. Not necessarily a charger.
This is faux outrage is about the best I've seen. In many areas one can pickup a charger from almost any place. Maybe if you live on Pitcairn Island you would have trouble getting a charger, but then you may have trouble with electricity. If you are new to electronic gadgets and one of the few that doesn't have a cable, charger and presumes no computer than yeah, you have to buy a charger.
Otherwise just use one from one the many in the junk draw.
No other country is going to follow suit because it's environmentally not a sound proposition.
First 4 posts and probably many more don't seem to understand the case.
It's the law in Brazil, case closed.
Fact, Apple is in essence criminal here, not abiding by the Brazilian law.