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EU Didn't Stop Apple From Including Charger With M5 MacBook Pro
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It seems pretty clear they must offer a no charger option in the EU, it's not an option. The option is to also offer a charger, which they do, for a price.
I agree it is a commercial decision to sell it separately, but I suspect if they offered one for free the EU would decide they were violating the spirit of the rule and fine them.
I suspect the same, people would just take a free charger.
Where do you get 2028; the directive has 28 April 2026 as the date for laptops.
Because the alternative is to make you pay full price for a charger. Or give away the charger completely free. We were talking about some way of offering a free/discounted charger while also providing some incentive for people not to take it if they don't need it.
Except, at least in the UK, it didn't get factored out when they removed the charger - the apparent EU price cut is welcome, but likely down to long-term exchange rate changes rather than saving money on the charger. Anyway, the charger doesn't cost Apple anything like the £60 retail price and their Mac prices are based on strategic "price points" based on market research, not bill-of-materials + some fixed markup rate. They have plenty of flexibility in pricing - you think Apple get the same profit whether they sell a £1600 Mac online, through an Apple Store or an independent retailer? How can the big retailers afford discounts? It's not like a bargain basement £300 PC where the seller only makes a profit if they also sell you credit, an extended warranty and a Monster HDMI cable.
Then throw away the gift card - Apple were never going to hand you £60 in real money. Gift cards pay for themselves because some people never use them while others top them up with cash to go on a shopping spree.
Anyway, Apple are perfectly entitled to do exactly what they did, it's just not very customer friendly.
Except the EU regulations in question were passed after the UK left, and last I heard the government were still pondering over if and when to adopt something similar. Yet Apple are still removing the charger (but noit dropping the price) in the UK...
That and the fact that it just makes sense now that even Apple are offering a choice of different adapters wtth the MacBook Pro.
Ignoring facts is EXACTLY what you are doing.
Apple lowered the price. In fact the cost of buying the laptop plus the charger separately is LOWER than the previous model which included the charger.
Guess commenters can do slimy things too when they ignore the facts and falsely accuse others of doing so.
EU will also expand to 250w and mandate the cable has the wattage capacity on it.
Eu doesn’t require it. They have made it a requirement to have a choice to exclude it.
It’s no different from them excluding the charger when iPhones sold after 2020. And the law just makes this to be the option for everyone.
Considering every device can charge with usb c, Apple just have less incentives to include it
You missed the point where the gift card (or the "free" charger) was priced into the Macbook offering already. Whether I want a charger or not, whether I will use the gift card or not, I'd have to pay for it either way. So obviously I'd either choose the "free" charger or get whatever £60 would get me in an Apple store. But I don't want to buy anything other than the Mac, so this is neither consumer friendly nor will it reduce e-waste.
The purpose of the law is to reduce the amount of extra unnecessary chargers. You achieve that by selling your product without a charger and whoever really needs one can buy a charger by their brand of choice from any place that sells them.
It's almost as if manufacturers like Apple set their prices as high as the market allows to maximize profits. I fail to see the relevance for this thread. Apple has one of the highest profit margins in the business. That's long established and not news.
Yes, Apple has increased prices in the UK. We have been over this multiple times. The UK economy hit rock bottom. Prices are soaring everywhere in the UK across all sectors. That's what happens after 14 years under the leadership that gave the UK certified bangers like austerity and the brexit. Apple isn't responsible for that and they're certainly not going to eat the additional costs of doing business in the UK.
Apple actually dealt with this price increase in the most customer-friendly way: If you don't need yet another charger you won't pay more for the new M5 Macbook Pro than you would have for the M4 Macbook Pro. If they had kept the charger bundled then every single M5 Macbook Pro customer would be paying extra just so they can get a charger they might not even need. Apple obviously would still have increased the price.
So it was either increase the price for everybody or use the EU regulation as an oppertunity to hide the increase by leaving out the charger. And people who still need a new charger are not required to buy the overpriced Apple charger so that's another customer benefit.
The facts are that the legislation introduced additional costs for product vendors and so it was only natural that manufacturers would act to mitigate the risks.
You will also be aware that the EU requires that the UK align with EU policies in specific areas as part of the negotiations and to enable recent trade agreements.
My full quote was “Apple has caused unjust damage to competitors (they have been proved to abuse their dominant position repeatedly, blocking their software)”. So that’s not the context and Samsung just doesn’t do that. And yes, Apple, since they also control the software and kept it completely under their control until forced by the EU, is way worse than Samsung, no matter their market share.
The EU doesn’t stop you or fines you BEFORE the act.
It silently waits hiding behind the curtain for the gadget, feature, store or service to become extremely successful to then stab hard at it. And worldwide at that.
It silently waits hiding behind the curtain for the gadget, feature, store or service to become extremely successful to then stab hard at it. And worldwide at that.
Well, Macrumours is also running a promotion for Anker products here.
For users in the EU, this is as good a time to start checking them out. I just bought a 140w charger online, for no reason other than I could. If and when Apple starts removing chargers from laptops in my country as well, I will be well-stocked.
For users in the EU, this is as good a time to start checking them out. I just bought a 140w charger online, for no reason other than I could. If and when Apple starts removing chargers from laptops in my country as well, I will be well-stocked.
Well anker do have some nice chargers. Don’t think I will ever need a 140w one tho xD. Il stick to the nano and 100w for their ultra compact sizesWell, Macrumours is also running a promotion for Anker products here.
For users in the EU, this is as good a time to start checking them out. I just bought a 140w charger online, for no reason other than I could. If and when Apple starts removing chargers from laptops in my country as well, I will be well-stocked.
Or just admit Apple is finding a slimy way to increase their profits instead of trying to spin it that they are doing nothing wrong. Its ok to admit Apple is not perfect.
Samsung Asus Dell and alike still include chargers or options to buy one (i live in Holland). So it at feels like cheap imitation of trying to make more money
Well i would say it’s probably a mix of opportunism and something good
Me myself is a bit positively biased towards apple but critical towards them. Considering EU have so gracefully forced everything to be USB-c and the fact the new ecodesign requirements mandates more efficient chargers Apple most likely didn’t want to spend the money to manufacture more efficient chargers using GaN. and the opertunity to slim the packaging for more efficient transportation.
Apple isn’t really know for cheap prices or low margins.
A bit sarcastic, but EU hasn’t employed mindreaders yet
When I buy a laptop, tablet, cellphone, etc. I want the box to include everything I need to actually be able to use the device. Yes, I understand that there will be higher quality third party accessories, and I may in fact upgrade to those someday…but I still expect to be able to use a product I purchased on day-1 without having to research and buy a bunch of third party items that are required for my device to function.
I feel the same way about cars. When I go to the dealer and buy a brand new car, I expect it to come with tires, so I can actually start using the car on day-1. Yes I understand that stock tires are almost always trash, but I don’t want to go buy a brand new car without tires, then have it towed to a tire shop, where I can choose what tires I want installed on the new vehicle.
If I was building my own PC from scratch or building my own car in my garage, I would feel different obviously….
And the Apple store online offers you to add the charger when you add the Mac to the basket. You might want it to be included by default yet is it unreasonable to check what you actually get in the box for nearly 2 grand or even more? You say you don't want to do research but anyone who buys a computer for a significant amount of money usually either does that research anyways or they'll ask the sales person.
You realize the direct comparison would be an electric car charger for an electric car? The dealership asks you if you already got a wall charger in your garage and you'll go from there. And you don't expect to find that wall charger installed unless you ask the dealership for it. Why is that ok but someone buying a computer for around 2 grand can't be asked to check this beforehand?
You missed the point where gift cards and giveaways can actually make money as 'loss leaders'. Otherwise, they'd never happen... You also missed the point that retail prices for things like Macs just aren't calculated that way.
But the current law doesn't require that - just the option of buying the product without a charger. If that doesn't work then maybe the EU will tighten the law (its hard to see how you could stop resellers throwing in free chargers if that gives them an edge over the competition)... and the EU law doesn't require anything in the UK because it was passed after the UK had left ane the UK are still dithering over whether to implement something similar...
Which is Apple's (and their customers') problem, not the EU's.
If I buy, say, a cordless garden tool. I'll often have the choice of the bare tool, or a "kit" including charger and battery
(hopefully at a better price than buying the pieces separately). If I buy a Raspberry Pi 500+ (that's a fully assembled computer - not a bare board) there's a choice between the bare computer and a 'official starter kit' including a power supply, basic mouse, video cable etc. (all generic stuff) for less than it would cost to buy those parts separately. When I used to assemble my own PCs, components like graphics cards and optical drives frequently used to be available as colourful "retail boxes" including cables, screws, blank CDs, free games etc. or slightly cheaper "OEM/white box" versions just containing the bare component. When I bought my last Pixel phone a couple of years ago Google had already unbundled the charger, but you could get a phone+charger+airpod-alikes for about the same price as the bare phone.
Why is Apple such a special snowflake that they couldn't have offered something like that, at least for a transitional period? The fact that they have higher margins than most makes that easier for them to do.
Except they haven't increased prices of Macs in the UK. Everything is still the same price as it was, except the £1600 14" MBP no longer includes a £60 (retail) charger. Mac prices across the range in the UK are still mostly the US prices with the $ changed to a £ (roughly fair allowing for 20% VAT + localisation costs) as has been the case for years. The 14" MBP is the same price as it was at launch in 2023. Personal computer prices have never had anything to do with cost-of-living inflation anyway.
Also:
Pound/dollar exchange rate, last 5 years:
Pound Dollar Exchange Rate - GBP USD (1971-2025)
Interactive historical chart showing the daily British Pound - U.S. Dollar (GBPUSD) exchange rate back to 1971.
www.macrotrends.net
Euro/dollar exchange rate, last 5 years:
Euro Dollar Exchange Rate - EUR USD (1999-2025)
Interactive historical chart showing the daily Euro - U.S. Dollar (EURUSD) exchange rate back to 1999.
www.macrotrends.net
The gross trends are pretty much the same, they're both currently trending upwards. They've both gone up significantly vs. the dollar since the 14" MBP price point was established in 2023. Folk from all sides of the UK political spectrum like to interpret these figures to fit their narrative, but reality is that they're dominated by global issues like Covid, Ukraine/Oil prices, US Tariffs etc.
My experience is that Macs are generally less popular & widespread in mainland Europe than in the UK so methinks maybe the real reason for the difference is that Apple think they can get away with it in the UK.
...but I'm pretty sure that the UK version of the "common charger directive" hasn't been implemented yet - there was a call for evidence last year.
Apple has a high paid PR team, they don't need their customers to defend their indefensible clearly profit driven moves for free.
Or their customer friendly price reductions rather than hold the line at current prices. Given customers already pay the higher price holding the line would likely have little impact on sales.
I could see the EU deciding free chargers violated the spirit of the rule and make Apple stop or fine them. Free chargers would be malicious compliance since the intent is to lessen the number of chargers to reduce ewaste; and free chargers would subvert that rule.
The UK is just collateral damage...
SIM card? USB-C to HDMI cable? Microsoft Office? Cleaning cloth? Case? 4-way mains strip?
Does the Mac Mini come with everything you need to use it? Keyboard? Mouse? Monitor?
"What you need to use it" is completely personal and arbitrary - and can change with time.
In the past, you needed the charger because it was a unique, proprietary device with a proprietary connector, and using anything else was - at best - a case of "do you feel lucky". Now, any non-fake USB-C charger will charge your MacBook (if only slowly) and there's a wide choice of chargers - even from Apple - that can do the job while offering other features.
Apple already offered a choice of 2 chargers with the MacBook Pro, and all the EU required them to do was to add "no charger" to that list. Which they have done for the new MBP. The only relevant debate is whether Apple have passed on any resulting savings to the customer (rather than use the EU as scapegoat for a stealth price rise), or whether they should have shown a bit more customer respect by offering a free or discounted charger as an option.
Why tires?
OK, you need the stock tires if you want to drive it to your preferred tyre dealer to get better ones - but that's a false equivalence because you don't need to have a laptop charger in order to buy a better laptop charger.
Why not spare wheel, car stereo, heated windscreen, heated seats etc. - which are usually extras - or that anti-corrosion treatment that they always try and push on you? Why not insurance, car tax/license plates (depending on country) - last time I bought a car I actually had to prove I had it taxed and insured before the dealer would hand me the keys.
I am continually amazed how hard some people are working to find ways to absolve Apple of this. Its going to be worldwide maybe even starting with M6 since they only did it in the EU for profit reasons anyway.
Maybe some Americans are currently defending it since they don't care that our European friends have to pay extra for the charger now.
You'll be paying extra next though.
Though I bet the same people will defend that too, cause there is literally nothing Apple could do that would stop them from offering immediate free defense of the company.
Imagine giving a company thousands of dollars and also being excited to do some free public relations for them as well. While also happily saying "Yes, Apple please make me pay even more!"
Maybe some Americans are currently defending it since they don't care that our European friends have to pay extra for the charger now.
You'll be paying extra next though.
Though I bet the same people will defend that too, cause there is literally nothing Apple could do that would stop them from offering immediate free defense of the company.
Imagine giving a company thousands of dollars and also being excited to do some free public relations for them as well. While also happily saying "Yes, Apple please make me pay even more!"
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