iPhone 11, XR, and SE No Longer Come With EarPods and Power Adapter But USB-C to Lightning Cable Included

[youdontsay]

So… as I said many times, there are earphones in the box in France

In France, they will have to include EarPods (this is a transcription of an EU law) as described by Consomac:

There will be earphone in the box, at least in France
This is a transcription of an EU law as described by Consomac

Keep in mind that when I posted this quote originally, it's a google translate of a French text so I would not rely too much on the words In any case, here is another source that basically says the same.

There will be earphones, at least in some countries: https://consomac.fr/news-12524-apple-pourrait-elle-vendre-l-iphone-sans-ecouteurs.html

Again, there will be earphones, at least in some countries: https://consomac.fr/news-12524-apple-pourrait-elle-vendre-l-iphone-sans-ecouteurs.html

“Radio terminals intended to be connected to a network opened to the public for the provision of the telephone service cannot be sold without an accessory making it possible to limit the exposure of the head to radioelectric emissions during communications"

 

[now i see it]

We're like frogs in a pot of warm water- unaware that we're slowly getting cooked to death.

So rewind back to the iPhone 7:

What would the world have said if they had removed the headphone jack (which they did) AND the headphones AND the CHARGER AND the common USB A cable AND kept the same price?

The world would have screamed bloody murder. But since they've strung out the culling of accessories to 5 years now - for some reason, everyone is fine with it.

Oh and don't get too cozy with the included charging cable that now comes in the box - soon that's going to be axed too in the name of saving the planet.

 

[MiniApple]

I can understand with the removing the power adapter plug and giving us a more durable USB-C to lighting cable.

I'm NOT ok with the price increasing (compared to many 11 models), rather than decreasing or staying the same.

the switch from USB to USB-C has to happen eventually for most devices that use a physical connection for transfer/charging, but a lot of people don't have a (standalone) USB-C power adapter plug yet, so off they go and buy one or power it by hooking it up to a computer etc., who also draws energy just to charge...
Apple saves money by not having to produce these items anymore + being able to ship more items due to the smaller package on the same pallets/boxes/crates.

Motive: clearly financial, painted as environmental

 

[lkalliance]

USB-C cable doesn't go well in the USB-A charger...

No, you use your existing lightning cable and adapter, you hold onto the USB-C cable that comes with the phone for when you feel like upgrading down the line to a USB-C adapter.

 

[Hustler1337]

They include a USB-C to Lightning cable in the box, touting environmental benefits.

But, most iPhone users will have their USB-A to Lightning chargers which cannot be used on the new iPhones.

This means the majority of new iPhone owners will HAVE to purchase a USB-C to Lighning charger - most likely to be an Apple-branded one.

This is clearly designed to sell more Apple chargers and drive traffic to Apple's online or physical stores. The environmental benefits are also out the window when you factor in the additional packaging, travelling/shipping for those new purchases.

This is just another money-making scheme under the guise of eco-friendliness. Apple are essentially saving costs and passing these on to the consumer.

 

[MiniApple]

So… as I said many times, there are earphones in the box in France

VIVE LA FRANCE 👍
Does the law apply to all of EU or just France?

 

[carestudio]

Everything now is USB-C and Thunderbolt. I have been using Type-C technology and really love it. From dock to storage , Samsung T5, T7, Caldigit TS3 Plus dock, tuff nano, apple usb-c to lightning cable... everything is so much easier comparing with Type-A. Last year, I finally unified my traveling gears with type-c support, it made me so much easier to prepare my travel kit. Oh.. but I dont believe I can travel within a couple years due to Covid

 

[Dieu]

“Saving the planet” is a red herring. Has Cook passed the $38 (EarPods with Lightning Connector + 20W USB-C Power Adapter) savings to the consumer? Has Cook leveraged his planet saving initiative across the entire produce line (iPad)? I see the iPads still include the 20W USB‑C Power Adapter. Why just the iPhone? Because Apple’s iPhone business accounted for approximately 55% of total sales in 2019 and iPad just 8%. This has nothing to do with the planet or packaging and has everything to do with margin and shareholder value. Apple, under Cooks direction has become a company of consumption. Apple does not innovate, they manipulate! Perhaps Cook and company should spend a little less time trying to bilk its customers out of $38 and spend a little more time investigating its suppliers (Communist Party) forced labor practices.

 

[ericinboston]

Do people really not have existing USB-C devices in their homes?...

Our family...3 kids, 2 adults. Tons of iPads, iPhones, iPods, and an iMac. We have a boatload of PCs and random electronics yet NOT A SINGLE USB-C device.

 

[ersatzplanet]

Apple: "We care about the environment and the billions of cables and chargers out there."

Also Apple: "Everything is USB-C now so you're gonna have to replace that cable and charger you already have."

The phone has a Lightning connector on it so my old cable and charger will work fine.

 

[Rogifan]

If this is about the environment then why is Apple shipping a USB-C cable in the box? If they’re assuming people have power adapter is lying around their house then they must have cables too? The fact that they included a USB-C cable seems to me to be another stupid upsell thing. Hey look at how great we are for the environment but we‘ve got these great adapters you can by for just $20.

 

[ersatzplanet]

Let me get this straight:

- they removed USB A charger because "customers already own it" and they wanna save the planet
- then they proceed to ship the phone with a USB C cable.


???

Most likely your old charger has a lightning cable and that will work fine. The USB C cable is to connect it to the new generation of Apple laptops and computers that don't have a USB A connector on them.

 

[andywaynebrooks]

All the grandparents and non techie normies who buy this are going to be so confused and frustrated.

 

[andywaynebrooks]

Do people really not have existing USB-C devices in their homes? I have a Switch, two MacBook Pros, a GoPro Hero 8 and accessories, an iPad Pro, and two portable power bricks... plus a power strip that has regular power plus two USB-A and a USB-C ports. My monitor connects to my Macs via USB-C, as does my portable SSD. I didn't think I was that much of an anomaly.

Correct, most people don't own all the stuff you just listed off.

 

[chabig]

Let me get this straight:

- they removed USB A charger because "customers already own it" and they wanna save the planet
- then they proceed to ship the phone with a USB C cable.


???

Because those same people already have plenty of USB-A to Lightning cables.

 

[hybrid_x]

Is this the ****** standard-Apple-quality lightning cable, or have they finally stepped up with a Kevlar-reinforced, nylon-overwrapped cord that won't break in three months?

If it's still a ****** cable, then I question Apple's commitment to reducing waste, because those will still end up in the e-waste stream. Either include a cable worthy of the phone itself, or stop including one at all and drop the price $15 and let users buy a quality cable like an Anker PowerLine+.

 

[bdrolshagen]

Apple's new iPhone 12 models don't come with EarPods or a power adapter in the box

Finally, Apple has made it much more easy for me today to thoroughfully consider changing the ecosystem.
Protruded lenses? Check! Missing Touch ID? Check! Useless 5G (at least in most areas of the world)? Check! Missing Charger (at the same price as before, with a charger)? Check! Missing adapter for a USB-C to A charger of which I would have plenty at home? Check! Quality of software releases missing? Check!
With all that checked, what exactly keeps me from considering buying into other "ecosystems"? Fortunately I refused to buy into propriatery "wanna-be-standards" like their "Music" or "TV+" or "Film/Movie" Services. However, the loss on invested App cost is not too high to make this move (away from Apple) in the near future.
Maybe macOS will follow soon thereafter - it's not too many apps keeping me to switch away either. The hard- and software is pretty reasonably priced, although their software quality is not up to par at all, however.

 

[Kuckuckstein]

I really appreciate all the environmental efforts Apple brings to their products and personally I don't care about in-ear headphones, love my Sennheiser active noise controlled headset and have a couple of chargers and plenty of USB C sockets available.
But bottom line: Apple drives such a huge accessory industry, that all of these environmental savings they talked about in the video are swallowed in a second. Now there will be yet another set of bands, covers, magnetic chargers, adapters ... and their constant "innovation" ensures that this year's fancy is next year's trash. And all of this comes in fancy wrappings.
Really split about Apple ...

 

[MiamiBeach]

I still think a regular USB to lightning cable would have been more beneficial than USB C. Most people still have the USB A plug in their cars, at home, etc and it is always good to have a backup to keep at work, in the car, in a travel bag...

 

[GristlyBear]

FYI:

You need to use a USB-C cable (provided) and a 20 watt USB-C compatible power supply (which came with your iPhone 11) to properly charge an iPhone 12.

The 5 watt USB-A legacy bricks do not provide enough power to charge an iPhone 12 that is switched on.

 

[t76turbo]

This was a little weird to me. They get rid of the USB A cable, but most iPhone users have more USB A iPhone charging cubes then have USB C charging cubes.

Yep. Nice environmental move Apple. Now people will have to buy a usb-c cube to use the cable thats in the box. So most likely they may buy extra cables with usb-c as well for other devices. So what happens to the usb-a boxes AND cables..? Most likely end up in a drawer and eventually a landfill.

They are disguising this as environmental but it is a money saving thing pure and simple.

 

[MadeTheSwitch]

I guess they are doing it for reasons of compatibility, but it seems strange to still have a lightning connector on phones, when their computers and even most ipads have switched to USB-C. Such a confusing product line. I really think they ought to just move to the same connector on all devices and make it simple.

Do people really not have existing USB-C devices in their homes? I have a Switch, two MacBook Pros, a GoPro Hero 8 and accessories, an iPad Pro, and two portable power bricks... plus a power strip that has regular power plus two USB-A and a USB-C ports. My monitor connects to my Macs via USB-C, as does my portable SSD. I didn't think I was that much of an anomaly.

Only got my first USB-C device just this summer (a Macbook Pro). So around my house at least, USB-C is quite rare. And another place where it mostly does not exist yet is in cars. I did rent a car that had both USB-A and C just this week though which was interesting to see.

Talking about the environment, what is the reason behind still selling iPhone XR? Has it ever happened that Apple kept on selling the same iPhone model for two years after it had been replaced (by iPhone 11 and now iPhone 12)?

The reason quite simply is that it awesome. 😎 Love my XR.

 

[Janichsan]

Apple's new iPhone 12 models don't come with EarPods or a power adapter in the box in order to save on packaging materials to reduce environmental impact, ...

So, if you need a new charger compatible with your new included USB-C cable and need or want new EarPods (or AirPods or any other headphone), you'll need to order them separately.

The charger comes in a separate package.

The headphones come in a separate package.

Yeah, I can see how this is supposed to "save" packaging materials...

 

[Janichsan]

This was a little weird to me. They get rid of the USB A cable, but most iPhone users have more USB A iPhone charging cubes then have USB C charging cubes.

What's weird about that? Apple obviously wants you to buy a new USB-C charger.

 

[jms-uk]

No, you use your existing lightning cable and adapter, you hold onto the USB-C cable that comes with the phone for when you feel like upgrading down the line to a USB-C adapter.

In that case, what's the point of having the new USB-C cable included, if the assumption is that I already have a charger?

If I have a charger, I probably already have a cable too.

So, they could've gone completely eco-friendly and not included the new cable - and then, down the line, I can get new charger and cable if/when needed.