This is true, but the rumors getting a lot of traction seem to point to Apple looking to cut costs elsewhere, such as lower capacity batteries and excluding charging bricks (despite creating a new one) to offset 5G component costs. It feels more like a balancing act than anything else. But, I'd argue not as many people are going to benefit from 5G during the lifespan of this phone than would a better battery or fast charging.
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Rumors Persist About Apple Selling iPhone 12 Models Without a Charger or EarPods in the Box
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This is true, but the rumors getting a lot of traction seem to point to Apple looking to cut costs elsewhere, such as lower capacity batteries and excluding charging bricks (despite creating a new one) to offset 5G component costs. It feels more like a balancing act than anything else. But, I'd argue not as many people are going to benefit from 5G during the lifespan of this phone than would a better battery or fast charging.
I didn't say they owe me anything? But what do I owe them? Consumers can be bothered that companies want to give them less for the same or more
Exactly. Consumers are perfectly entitled to complain or share opinions to improve products and services. Without this sort of feedback, companies will continue to do the bare minimum to gain profit. It’s difficult discussing this with Apple though as some people will defend them to the hilt. We all enjoy Apple products though and it’s not sacrilege to criticise certain aspects when we want a positive outcome.
To those who say Apple don’t owe us anything; Well, they kind of do in the respect that consumers en masse contribute to their vast profits every year and without that sort of expenditure they wouldn’t be the company they are today. They certainly owe the people who buy their products a lot more than we do to them. It’s a very mature market and it’s wide open for options and no company can take that for granted.
Actually, no. Most people have no idea how much their phone costs when they finance it. These are the same morons that pay 60 bucks for a car charger for their flip phone at Verizon.
With the rumors about battery size shrinking, this is likely more to do with improved chip performance giving them the ability to reduce battery capacity (if indeed the reduction is true). I would say that they may reduce battery capacity, not just because it’s saving them money on the battery itself, but because a lower weight device takes up less space and costs less to ship.
This is a crucial piece given the reduction in airfreight capacity globally (because of COVID-19) means getting product shipped around the world is more difficult. So reducing the size of each box likely would have a significant positive effect on how easily they can move products around. And with the reduced capacity, the smaller and lighter boxes may cost them the same as last year’s devices, so Apple wouldn’t be profiting from the change.
It’s funny how last year everyone said Apple was behind the time on offering 5G, now they’re going to be blamed for offering 5G that no one wants? The reason Apple didn’t include it last year was the 5G radios available were too power wasteful. Hopefully between Apple’s new SOC and other improvements, new 5G service won’t negatively effect overall battery life, but that is of course yet to be seen.
Nope.
I definitely pity those who have headline knowledge base and virtue signal based on what they're told to care about.
No one does. The people here saying this are some of the most narrow-minded, confused people you will ever talk to.
These people, who buy way too many devices, and can't comprehend that other people are not just like them, have drawers full of unused chargers...no one is throwing them away, including the people who claim people throw them away.
And if any of them were even remotely concerned about the "waste" of something that is sitting in a drawer...they could give them to people who need them, or sell them on eBay considering they have value of nearly $20 a piece.
There is positively no way you could make the argument that included-chargers are 'e-waste' of any kind and be serious. Oh you can make the comment...plenty do, because they think it makes them look woke. They don't understand it, can't explain it, but they think it makes them look woke, and they don't think they need to explain or justify any "woke" view points to anyone who doesn't implicitly agree with them.
Quite a life, isn't it? Imagine how ignorant you can be if your stance is to never explain yourself to anyone who disagrees with you.
Reading through the thread where quite a lot of people are defending Apple for not including a charger and headphones and something crossed my mind. Do some of these people upgrade regularly and contribute to the ever growing problem of tech waste through the desire to have the latest iPhone? People don’t tend to throw a £15 charger or £25 set of earphones in the bin and in the grand scheme these are the least of our worries even if they did.
Are we still talking about Apple saving thousands of metric tons of e-waste?
So yes of course it’s virtuous of Apple to care so much about e-waste. Believe it or not, that’s something that many thinking people care about. There truly are virtuous people in this world 🙂
Of course, there are always people who are real “rebels”. They prefer to immorality signal by complaining about the virtuous who care about equality, acceptance, the environment, public health, education, etc.
Apple ignores them and continues their virtuous work, as do we all who work for a better world, right?
No it’s more like this: 5G added $50-100 of cost, and unless we can cut costs somewhere, we’ll have to increase the price.
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Everybody who upgrades their phone in 5 years or less is a hypocrite if they promote the notion they are concerned about the e-waste problem though I think. We are probably all guilty of contributing to this and it seems like a keeping up appearances exercise to show support over the charger/headphone reduction in all honesty.Are we still talking about Apple saving thousands of metric tons of e-waste?
So yes of course it’s virtuous of Apple to care so much about e-waste. Believe it or not, that’s something that many thinking people care about. There truly are virtuous people in this world
Of course, there are always people who are real “rebels”. They prefer to immorality signal by complaining about the virtuous who care about equality, acceptance, the environment, public health, education, etc.
Apple ignores them and continues their virtuous work, as do we all who work for a better world, right?
I’ve spotted numerous posters who are vocally in favour of this move by Apple because ‘in this thread’ they are concerned for the environment. On the other hand these same people are excited to trade in their 12 month old iPhone for a shiny new iPhone 12 in many of the other tgreads. Reeks of hypocrisy on many levels I think.
No, they know exactly how much it costs.
the phone costs over $1k. They can’t afford to purchase it all at once or it’s too huge of a dent for them to do at once.. so they take a loan or do an upgrade program.
If it’s a loan, the price is no different from if they paid for it all at once except if it’s spread out over 24 months vs all at once... it’s actually cheaper for them over 24 months if they knew what to do with the cash that they already had but again don’t want to pay that large sum at once.
because instead of paying $1249 plus tax upfront. They’re paying $70 something and the tax. That’s leaving over $1k still in their bank to collect, even if at the very minimum, a little interest.
Well there are degrees of hypocrisy. Does someone always have to buy refurbished instead of new if they support reducing e-waste? You tell me 🙂
I’m sure someone can be in favor of reducing e-waste by thousands of tons while also being ok with buying a new phone for themselves and passing on their old one. Or trading it in. Throwing their old phone in the trash would be rather hypocritical though lol.
I don’t think my 6s is worth anything as a trade in. I guess it’s still e-waste if it sits in my drawer, I’m sure I can give it away though. It’s still fast and a year after a battery replacement still going strong.
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I don't believe Apple will go that way because it's not a winning marketing strategy. They don't bother customers with the RAM specs in iPhones, so I don't see them inviting customers into their whole component pricing structure - - but time will tell.
How many 12 month old iPhones are going to the dump as e-waste?
What’s not a winning market strategy? Preventing price increases by offsetting increases costs with cuts to accessories? I think it is.
Apple wants to keep the 12 Pro at $999, even though 5G costs an est. $50-100 extra to include with every iPhone 12. Sure, they could just add it on and raise prices.
But Apple doesn’t want to raise prices, it wants to keep them the same. So it has to cut costs somewhere. Accessories is one place that might be cut, and the earphones and the charger were deemed expendable.
Many or maybe even most iPhone buyers won’t need to buy anything, they’ll use what they were using with their previous iPhone 🤷♂️
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I can’t tell you whether someone has to buy refurbished or not but it would certainly be less hypocritical if their point of view supported a reduction in e-waste. This isn’t my point of view by the way but I’m sure you already know that.Well there are degrees of hypocrisy. Does someone always have to buy refurbished instead of new if they support reducing e-waste? You tell me
I’m sure someone can be in favor of reducing e-waste by thousands of tons while also being ok with buying a new phone for themselves and passing on their old one. Or trading it in. Throwing their old phone in the trash would be rather hypocritical though lol.
I don’t think my 6s is worth anything as a trade in. I guess it’s still e-waste if it sits in my drawer, I’m sure I can give it away though. It’s still fast and a year after a battery replacement still going strong.
If we really want to delve into the environmental impact of this industry then we could also speak out about the mined minerals used in modern smartphones. Bauxite, gallium, sphalerite, indium etc that are sourced for our luxuries and often mined by children. These minerals go through several chains before the likes of Apple and Samsung get hold of them though so the conscience is slightly less burdened. Who knows, perhaps these companies invest in cancer treatments for these poor individuals who give the ultimate sacrifice so we can enjoy that super fast processor in that shiny new iPhone 11 lol.
My point is it gets a bit muddy taking the moral high ground in rather murky industry.
It’s not the 12 month old phone that goes to the dump it’s the knock on effect of newer phones forcing older handsets to be put to waste. I’m not suggesting buying a new phone is wrong, just highlighting that promoting a reduction in e-waste can be rather hollow when the person desires having a new phone every year.
If you put older handsets to waste, then you must be a baller!
People I know pass their old iPhones down in their family heirarchy or sell them on the brisk market for used iPhones. Even five year old iPhone 6S's can be sold for US$147, so how many of those oldtimers are even getting tossed in the dump?
You might find this interesting:I can’t tell you whether someone has to buy refurbished or not but it would certainly be less hypocritical if their point of view supported a reduction in e-waste. This isn’t my point of view by the way but I’m sure you already know that.
If we really want to delve into the environmental impact of this industry then we could also speak out about the mined minerals used in modern smartphones. Bauxite, gallium, sphalerite, indium etc that are sourced for our luxuries and often mined by children. These minerals go through several chains before the likes of Apple and Samsung get hold of them though so the conscience is slightly less burdened. Who knows, perhaps these companies invest in cancer treatments for these poor individuals who give the ultimate sacrifice so we can enjoy that super fast processor in that shiny new iPhone 11 lol.
My point is it gets a bit muddy taking the moral high ground in rather murky industry.
Apple promises to stop mining minerals to make iPhones — it just isn’t sure how yet
Apple has one of the most aggressive sustainability and recycling programs in tech, but it still pulls plenty of metals and toxic rare-earth materials out of the ground to make iPhones, iPads, MacBooks, and other products. That’s about to change. The company is set to announce a new...
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This is MacRumors. Apple could give away new phones and there'd be folks mad about it.
Whether they are put to waste or send off to be recycled, there is still a huge impact on the environment. Look at the recycling factories in China where tens of millions of iPhones and other smartphones are stripped down for their components and metallic properties. With any tech there is a footprint for its end of life that isn’t entirely positive. With all things considered a charger being supplied is rather minimal lol.
You might find this interesting:
Apple promises to stop mining minerals to make iPhones — it just isn’t sure how yet
Apple has one of the most aggressive sustainability and recycling programs in tech, but it still pulls plenty of metals and toxic rare-earth materials out of the ground to make iPhones, iPads, MacBooks, and other products. That’s about to change. The company is set to announce a new...
A very positive step I would say.
Well talk is cheap, so we’ll see how things progress... but it does give some reason to be hopeful anyway.
The most humorous aspect of this post is that you're literally replying to the post that calls you out for virtue signaling without any sort of explanation or justification...and you do it again.
Virtue signalling, the most overused made up phrase ever, is about looking good, not doing good. Doing good is "walking the walk" not "virtue signalling". Saving tons of e-waste is doing good for the environment.