My view is that this is not the place for government to regulate; people shouldn’t be so weak willed.
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iPad Why do some countries not receive a charging brick with the new iPad?
- Thread starter ric22
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Well, people are! They watch advertisements and those attack them everyday diluting their willpower.
So we need governments and regulations. And, this is a good regulation, and comes from a group of representatives of group of governments, some are not even connected to a given government.
If governments start telling companies to release products less often, they get less VAT revenue. This is probably part of the reason the UK haven’t binned the EU directive post Brexit - USB C means the same VAT on the device being sold at the same price point without a charger as it would’ve been with + extra VAT on sales of USB C bricks or USB A to C cables; had USB A been the standard, far fewer people would need to buy a thing.
I’d be quite happy for advertising to be outlawed.
This I would like, if only to see the back of the damn distracting animated advertising hoardings you see during football matches!!! 😅
Agree on leaving the world in a better place for our children. Like I said before, the focus should be on the most significant ways we are harming the planet first, before spending time and resources on all the little stuff.
Disagree on the charger law coming in to force before people have built up a few higher wattage USB-C chargers at home.
Disagree on companies being told not to release new stuff annually, for too many reasons even to begin listing.
There’s nothing stopping people from buying high wattage USB-C chargers right now; the market is full of them. We don’t need to wait before removing them from boxes as there is already loads and loads of choice all over.
We are harming the planet with more charger production, and...more electronic device production, as some of them go to the so-called 3rd world countries to disposed off.
Well, some countries make them much, much cheaper...and, they live longer.
If they want to release a new electronic device every year, they should be told to maintain the older ones for 10 years or so. People don't buy fridges, washing machines, dishwashers every year, some are there for 10-20 years. Computers should too!
And there would be an option to include a charger in the box for a nominal charge. Appe is clearly cashing in a nice margin for anyone buying a separate charger.
We've been over this already, you and I. It means we are paying double. We pay Apple just as much money as we would with a charger, but don't get one, then have to buy one.
Obligations to maintain devices would be nice. Enforcing things like user removable batteries and no soldered SSD's would also be nice.
The inhabitants live longer? 😉
I wouldn't charge a metal framed laptop without an earthed/grounded (delete as applicable to the country you live in) charger, as on 240v the tingle you get through your palms/wrists feels unpleasant. Apple chargers are grounded if you use the extension lead (now sold separately of course- thanks, Tim Cook), but not via the duckheads, so as to save them 1 cent on each device.
Off brand USB-C chargers and multi chargers do not tend to be earthed/grounded, roughly 99.9% of the time. It's not a legal requirement, so who cares about the annoying tingle?
You aren’t going to get a discount just because the charger isn’t included in the box. No charger in the box is the new normal; prices won’t change because of that.
Look at when headphones were removed from the box, the price did not change.
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There is already an option to include a charger with your order. It won’t be in the box but I don’t think it’s a necessary that it is actually in the same box.
So you agree with me the consumer is getting charged more because of the law. We went round in a circle and came to that conclusion once before. It is a lovely gift from the EU to the likes of Apple.
I think it's time we stopped responding to each other's posts on this topic, as there's no point going on a third lap round the same park.
Edit: If the charger comes on a separate box that means more packaging= that can't be good for the environment? If the consumer buys from a third party that means not only more packaging but also more transportation pollution= even worse for the environment.
Errr, yes, the consumer is being charged more. I’m not sure this is a new revelation to anyone.
Because of the EU's policy coming in to place 5-10 years too soon. Maybe a gift to Apple as an apology for enforcing USB-C?
Anyway, please let's you and I drop the subject, as we're going round and round in circles, and will clearly always have differing opinions.
But usb-c chargers of all sizes and capabilities are already widely available for people to purchase. There’s no need to wait 5-10 years to remove chargers from boxes. They can go now. I’m not sure why we need to wait.
Because they should go when only the minority need to buy them, the majority able to do as the directive intended and reuse what they already have. The implementation coming when USB-C is relatively new is costing the average consumer, since as we all recognise, Apple et al were never going to drop the price when the accessories were removed.
USB-C came to Macbook in 2015, the iPad in 2018 (on the Pro, which means the majority of iPad users getting it for the first time between 2020-22 if they happened to upgrade at the point that USB-C came to their line) and the iPhone only last year, NEVER getting a brick in the box. Therefore only tech enthusiasts don’t lose out here - four generations of Pros (the average user probably does upgrade within that time, but don’t buy the Pro) two Airs, one Mini and one base iPad shipped with USB-C before the chargers were removed. Tech enthusiasts were also more likely to buy multiple sizes of devices while the chargers were still in the boxes.
Currently, it is tech enthusiasts with the spares/entirely unnecessary chargers since they make a free choice to buy a better one, and the average consumer having to pay for a means of charging when it was provided with the device before. Had the chargers been included long enough for the average consumer to upgrade from a USB-C device to a newer one (5-10 years), they too would be in the position of having everything they need for years to come. As it is, the balance is weighted more in favour of the environment/profits rather than a central position where the average consumer would never have used the charger even if it had been provided (the very definition of waste.)
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The regulation is designed to be in favour of the environment.
It’s only really a consumer benefit in so far as you can use the same/one charger for everything. Plus massive reduction in the number of chargers being produced and dumped, which is a big help for humanity.
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I don’t know that it’s really reduced things yet as people are buying them perhaps more now then they were 10 years ago. We have more devices now and quite often people buy multiple chargers for around the home. In theory it’s a good thing, I’m just not convinced it’s a benefit we are seeing yet. I think the ill feeling also comes when manufacturers do not include chargers, but you won’t see £30 come off the retail price and the general prices go up to mask it even further. As already said though, great for third party manufacturers who have suddenly seen a spike in sales though so at least it’s not all going to Apple.
I typically like to use original Apple chargers and cables. There’s no USB-A to USB-C Apple cable. I have two USB-C to USB-C cables (the one that came with my Air 5 and a 2m cable I bought), but nothing else.
Were I to get a USB-C iPhone, I’d probably have to buy one.
Like I said, postponing this decision for a short period of time would do nothing. I don’t upgrade frequently (I don’t update iOS so my devices work perfectly for as long as I want them to), and I’d need years of Apple including USB-C Power Adapters to accumulate enough.
I will buy them when I need to. I’m very environmentally friendly, but this sounds like “I’ll save money under the guise of the environment”, IMO.
I haven’t dumped a single charger. I have them all. Is there a point where I can say I have enough? Yes. I probably have three extra 5W USB-A Power Adapters. Not much.
Apple can probably claim that, by now, users have enough 5W Power Adapters so as not to include them. (Anecdotally, MacRumors typically agrees, with the frequent updaters of this forums having “dozens” of them laying around). Everything else should be included, in my opinion.
Well we can probably be pretty certain that fewer chargers are being manufactured and shipped now.
At worst the same number of chargers are being manufactured (assuming every device sold is also sold with a charger).
However I suspect that far fewer chargers are now being manufactured as not everyone will buy a new charger with every device as they’ll either use their existing chargers, or they’ll buy one and keep it from then on out for future devices.
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Not really, as it is against the consumer laws of a given country, or a group of countries, then the seller is liable for large fines. If Apple directly sells the product, Apple is the seller too, and liable. The little profit off one item is not worth the fines.
When there are too many tech shops vying to sell a product, there's always a price war, discounts appear every few weeks. So, waiting is the best bet. Never pre-pay for a product, never buy a product on the release day, week or month, wait. It is our right to buy something at our convenience. And, waiting helps.
Companies have to sell what they make, and as quickly as they can, otherwise costs rise. So, to get rid of the first batch, and to start with the 2nd batch they have to hurry to sell them off. And, at a discount. Waiting is the best bet.
Not too early at all, it is actually too late, really. There are thousands of other device producers, who have to comply. The user is the winner here.