Your next expensive iPhone purchase will not come with a charger or earbuds

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Apple unveiled the new iPhone 12 range yesterday, bringing the classic stylings of the iPhone 4 back to relevancy. With all of the new technology that Apple has stuffed into the box, two things will no longer be included – a wall charger or the wired EarPods that usually accompany iPhones.

Now, Apple says it’s to reduce the environmental impact of the phones, after already removing the charging brick from Apple Watch boxes. That’s partly from being able to use a smaller box, meaning 70-percent more units can fit on a shipping pallet, reducing the overall carbon emissions of the whole logistics equation. It also means they don’t have to use as many raw materials in the production stages.

All of this adds up to an estimated 2 million metric tons of carbon emissions annually. That’s the amount of carbon that comes from 450,000 cars in a year! Whew. Still, it hasn’t changed the MSRPs of the iPhone 12 range, which got a $30 increase across the board this year.

The internet got pretty outraged at this, but then again it won’t change Apple’s sales figures. Does anyone actually use the wired EarBuds? I think every pair I’ve ever gotten is still inside the packaging, untouched. I do use the wall brick though, but I’m slowly gaining more USB-C chargers so maybe that won’t matter next time I buy an iPhone. I do acknowledge that I have far more tech than most and that the majority of USB wall chargers out there are USB-A, not the USB-C needed to use the cable that comes with the iPhone 12.

Oh, and if you think that means you can buy an iPhone 11 to get those, Apple is going to start removing those from the iPhone 11, iPhone XR, and iPhone SE. At least Apple reduced the price of the USB-C power adapter by $10…

What do you think? How do you feel about Apple removing these things from its products, including the iPhone 12? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• The HomePod mini is the $99 smart speaker you probably didn’t know you needed
• Apple’s new MagSafe can now wirelessly charge an iPhone 12 twice as fast
• The iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max features 5G, a pro camera system, and the biggest Super Retina XDR display
• Judge claps back at Epic Games, says Apple justified in banning Fortnite from the App Store

Joe Rice-Jones

Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience at KnowTechie, SlashGear and XDA Developers. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere, with particular focus in gadgetry and handheld gaming. Shoot him an email at joe@knowtechie.com.