If you’ve recently purchased a new iPhone, you may have noticed that there was no charging brick included in the box. This change by Apple caused quite a bit of backlash, leaving many wondering why Apple would not include a charging brick with a thousand-dollar phone.
Apple’s official reason for this change was that not including a charging brick is more environmentally friendly, and there is some truth to that. The material that makes up each power brick is a durable plastic that is designed to keep users safe if the unit overheats. However, this also means it is difficult to break down and recycle, contributing to the growing e-waste problem.
Another reason is that not including a power brick or headphones means a smaller box, allowing Apple to fit 70% more iPhones on each shipping pallet. In total, the reduction in carbon emissions would be like removing 450,000 cars from the road each year.
Apple also claimed that over 2 billion iPhone power bricks are already in circulation, so most users wouldn’t need a new one anyway. However, the vast majority of the power bricks already in use aren’t USB-C, which means the cable included with a new iPhone won’t plug in to an old brick.
In addition to the environmental aspect, there is a significant financial aspect to this decision that Apple hasn’t acknowledged publicly. The iPhone 12 models were the first to feature 5G, which was an expensive technology to include. Previously, the iPhone 11 Pro’s most expensive component was its triple lens camera system at about $73, but with the iPhone 12, the 5G modem became its priciest component at about $90.
This additional expense was not limited to the higher-priced iPhone models, as was the case with the triple lens camera. Instead, every model, including the $700 12 mini, had to account for the $90 modem.
So, in an effort to cut costs and retain a high profit margin, Apple stopped including a charging brick and headphones. They also enjoyed reduced shipping costs since they could fit 70% more units on each pallet.
While this change does benefit the environment to some degree, the type of green that Apple appears to be after is money. There are many reasons behind Apple’s decision to stop including a charging brick in the iPhone box, but it is ultimately up to the consumer to decide whether this change is a positive or negative one.