Tech giant Apple has reportedly decided to stop including chargers and wired earphones with iPhone models, in what the company has described as an effort to cut consumer costs. It is unclear how customers will feel about the costs saved by not having a charger when they will just have to buy one separately to use the new iPhone anyway.
For years, iPhones have shipped with chargers and earphones. Some models have shipped with a power adapter after Apple eliminated the headphone jack, making it impossible for users to charge their phone and listen to music at the same time with earphones.
As Fox Business reports, the iPhone 11 models currently come equipped with power adapters and Lightning-to-USB cables. Now, Apple plans to discontinue its current line of power adapters in lieu of an “optional” 20W adapter.
Apple’s removal of basic accessories being bundled with the iPhone 12 are reportedly aimed at cutting consumer costs, as the 5G-capable technology and OLED-only screens on the iPhone 12 are claimed to significantly increase the cost of production.
However, a joint investigation by NBC News and TechInsights in 2019 found that the cost of producing the iPhone 11 Pro Max, which retails around $1,100 and scales up to around $1,400, is actually only around $490.50 for Apple.
While the exact components and production costs involved in producing the iPhone 12 are unknown at this stage, the idea that the overhead is so high that including a charger and plastic earphones with the device is completely unfeasible does not seem credible to many current iPhone users.
