EU Didn't Stop Apple From Including Charger With M5 MacBook Pro

[theluggage]

Sure, it sounds trivial, but it would force 2 configuration options to stock and ship for each unique product offering (size, memory, etc). That effectively doubles the number of products they need to carry.

Nonsense. If Apple can offer a choice of 2 keyboard sizes, mouse and/or trackpad at discounted prices when you buy a £1300 iMac, they can offer a choice of no charger/basic charger (free)/fast charger (£extra) when you buy a £1600 MacBook.

Apple - and every other retailer - already stock and sell chargers separately. Ask the nice person behind the counter, tick the box on the online order form and they give/send you a charger as well. I'm sure the logistics will cost Apple pennies... and if you can't upsell enough customers to more expensive chargers with bells and whistles then you fail retail forever.

That may have been harder back in the bad old days when every different model of computer needed a unique model of charger - but this is part of the point of the whole common charger thing: Any generic charger with the appropriate power capacity will do the job. In fact, Apple offer several different models of suitable charger (inc. some 'approved' third party ones) that you might want to choose instead of the basic, non-fast-charging one they used to bundle - if e.g. you preferred a multi-port charger, fast charging, one with international mains plugs, a docking station etc.

Some of those basic bundled chargers are probably already going straight-to-landfill when customers buy a better charger.

If Apple want to sell complex, high-value products with the same logistics costs as selling bottles of water, that's on Apple. The EU scheme is sensible and should help stop companies gouging for proprietary power supplies whether or not it actually cuts waste. If Apple choose "malicious compliance" and don't pass on the savings to the customer or offering them a free charger, that's on Apple.

 

[Reason077]

Its high time people purchase a unified third party or OEM charger for multiple devices. Apple is totally right on this one and it will help the environment.

Yep. This year I bought a new MacBook Air M4. It's almost 6 months old now, and the power adapter (and the stupid MagSafe cable) are still in the box, never been used.

 

[Ru_C]

No it's not. The M5 version they're selling now is cheaper than the M4 version it replaces. In fact if you add back the charger it's still cheaper.

Not in the U.K unfortunately

 

[theluggage]

Why not? Let's exclude chargers from all tech products moving forward.

Yes, that's the plan.

With everything now using USB PD it makes no sense to bundle a minimum-spec charger when there are better alternatives to choose from. Even in the Land Of The "Free" Apple only include a 70W charger with an MBP that is capable of fast charging at 96W - which is pure waste for customers who go on to buy a fast charger.

 

[mrochester]

There are two reasons Apple went above and beyond what the EU regulations require:

1) it’s better for the environment
2) it’s better for Apple’s bottom line.

 

[okkibs]

Not in the U.K unfortunately

But this article is specifically about the EU.

£1600 MacBook.

EU customers care as much about UK pricing as they care about the sales tax holiday in Texas.

I wish people who vociferously defend Apple at every turn would hold them to account when they are choosing compliance methods that are bad for consumers.

And once again I ask how it's bad to give EU customers who don't need another power supply a lower Macbook price. Again as I posted earlier, when you go through the order process Apple tells you there is no power supply included and once you add the Macbook to the cart it prompts you to add a charger and Applecare. So you can always get the charger included with your order if you want it.

You just claim that this is bad for Apple's customers but you don't explain why.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

On the other hand, Apple has caused unjust damage to competitors

Apple, which has less marketshare has caused MORE damage than Samsung which has MORE marketshare?

 

[Unregistered 4U]

There are two reasons Apple went above and beyond what the EU regulations require:

1) it’s better for the environment
2) it’s better for Apple’s bottom line.

And, most importantly, the EU won’t take up any consumer complaints about not including it.

 

[theluggage]

No power adapter with a new computer. I expect this from 10 year old used laptops on eBay, not Apple. And this is their "Pro" edition.

Remember when a spare MacBook or iDevice charger came with a mains extension cable? I do.
Remember when the Apple iPod/iPhone dock came with a charger? I do.
Remember when any Mac or iDevice came with a cleaning cloth? I do.
Remember when the MBP came with a DVI-to VGA dongle? I do.
Remember when the Mac Pro came with the mounting brackets and cabling for extra internal hard drives? I do.

Some of those might still be around with 10 year old used Macs from eBay - but they're certainly gone from new Apple products.

So, yeah, that's definitely what I expect from Apple.

 

[turtle777]

Another episode in “EU plays stupid games, wins stupid prices.”

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

But this article is specifically about the EU.

In all fairness, the article does talk about UK pricing.

 

[christophermdia]

Every single one of my Apple boxes goes in the closet with the charger in the box. I don't even take them out of the box. If I eventually sell the device, then the charger goes with it. Most times the same applies to the cord. I rather have a multiport brick anyway. When I travel, I have a phone, an iPad and a MacBook to charge, so im definitely not bringing 4 bricks with me to accomplish all that.

 

[theluggage]

EU customers care as much about UK pricing as they care about the sales tax holiday in Texas.

They've removed the charger in the UK, too - and unlike the EU not cut the price (the EU price cut was probably down to the € vs $ exchange rate change, not the charger).

...and the UK will probably copy the common charger directive before long, anyhow.

 

[EugW]

Every single one of my Apple boxes goes in the closet with the charger in the box. I don't even take them out of the box. If I eventually sell the device, then the charger goes with it. Most times the same applies to the cord. I rather have a multiport brick anyway. When I travel, I have a phone, an iPad and a MacBook to charge, so im definitely not bringing 4 bricks with me to accomplish all that.

I use the chargers and cables as necessary. For example in my limited experience, I have found keeping them new in the box doesn’t really help for selling the device in most cases when the time comes. What used buyers are most interested in is the condition of the actual device itself. As long as the charger and cable are clean and in good condition, people are satisfied with that.

For our M4 MacBook Air, I ended up upgrading from the included 30 W adapter to the 35 W dual port adapter, since it would have cost more than that upgrade price to get a dual port third party adapter anyway. Furthermore, I find that in general, Apple adapters run cooler, and I’ve had more reliability issues with third party adapters.

 

[bigluonei]

I thought the confirmation bias is pretty strong over here. Apple solution is clean to follow the spirit of the law. The alternative is to include a $0 charger option, which defeats the purpose of the law isn’t it.

 

[akidd]

... they also probably want the EU lawmakers to feel some shared pain...

Oh, come on. The MEPs don't care (most of them probably don't understand the directive) and neither do the civil servants.

 

[satchmo]

20 years?

Yes, my mistake. 14 years.

It only feels like 20!

 

[mansplains]

For these people, the EU is to blame for everything.

The EU makes it pretty easy tbf, although I don’t share this opinion

 

[mansplains]

Apple needs to release the nuclear powered models so we don’t need chargers ever again

 

[Frixos]

EU didnt force Apple to remove the floppy disk, optical drive, headphone jack and so on...
Apple is setting the trend...the others will start to follow next year for sure

The MacBook still has the headphone jack.

 

[ifxf]

Apple also benefits from a set of people who believe you need Apple chargers to charge Apple devices. I have a family member who has this belief. Finally managed to convince him that you don’t need this for phone but he still stuck with this belief for his laptop. His reasoning is the concern that his device might be damaged if his uses a charger that can deliver more power than the Apple charger.

 

[Jeo_cz]

The device is now 100€ cheaper in Germany. If you buy the 96W charger, it costs you 85€. So you have a choice now and if you buy it you save 15€.
I don’t see a problem.

You forgot that just this year, the USD has lost about 15% to the EUR. That reduction in price is just a small compensation for that and has nothing to do with a not-included power charger.

 

[Terry2023]

"The company could, for example, offer customers the option to include a charger at checkout for no additional cost"

Yeah. Because Apple is well known for its long history of giving stuff away for free!

But on a more serious note there are real world logistics issues here. If I have to deliver two boxes instead of one my profit on every sale takes a significant hit. And yes, we said at the start they like to make money. But if it even costs 10 euro to ship multiply that by a few hundred thousand and you have real money.

It is all analogous to the INFAMOUS California emissions standards. The federal government allowed them to have their own emissions standards. This was probably illegal from go because the enabling legislation ordered the EPA to regulate emissions. It did not authorize the EPA to farm out that responsibility to all takers.

Regardless all of America suffered because it took the auto manufacturers about a year to figure out building One design was A LOT cheaper than building Two. Thus California set emissions standards for the entire nation. Fundamentally this is no different. The EU is requiring "X". Apple is just saying 1X is cheaper than 2X.

 

[okkibs]

Regardless all of America suffered because it took the auto manufacturers about a year to figure out building One design was A LOT cheaper than building Two.

Please explain how anyone is suffering due to being forced to live with less pollution.

In all fairness, the article does talk about UK pricing.

Fair enough, the UK got a price increase. It's nothing more and nothing less than that and we know prices in the UK have been increasing as the economy across the pond hit rock bottom. The UK chose on their own to no longer benefit from the EU and now that prices are rising everywhere why is Apple being blamed? It's not like they got a solid economy where prices remain stable and Apple is an outlier here.

Apple solution is clean to follow the spirit of the law. The alternative is to include a $0 charger option, which defeats the purpose of the law isn’t it.

Apple's solution really does follow the spirit of the law in my opinion. Other manufacturers have indeed included a "no charger" option that costs exactly the same as the one with the charger. For example Valve does that with their Steam Deck offerings in the EU. I doubt anyone buys these. No customer is able to save anything and everybody still gets the charger whether they need it or not. After all it's the same price.

 

[mrochester]

Apple also benefits from a set of people who believe you need Apple chargers to charge Apple devices. I have a family member who has this belief. Finally managed to convince him that you don’t need this for phone but he still stuck with this belief for his laptop. His reasoning is the concern that his device might be damaged if his uses a charger that can deliver more power than the Apple charger.

Yeah I still hear this it’s weird. ‘Have you got a Samsung charger?’ As if that were a specific thing!