The iPhone Sans Charger Debate
The Internet has been losing its mind the last several days over a rumor that Apple will ship the next iPhone without a charger or cable. The argument for is, of course, that you need a charger and a cable if you want to keep using your phone past the first charge. The case against is that nearly all consumers already have multiple chargers and cables, and the costs of shipping (and later disposing) of all of that is a lot more than you’d think. MKBHD did an excellent job summarizing (below).
This story is interesting to me in a few ways. In a lot of ways, I think your reaction to this story gives a good indication of your general thoughts about Apple. It is also curious to me how worked up people are getting over a mere rumor. Does Apple even know for sure how they’ll be shipping later this year? It is 2020, after all, and every day seems to bring new surprises.
If I were Apple, I’d be looking at ways to ship the phone without a charger or cord, but also have some mechanism where, if customers need those things, they get them with zero delay, friction, or cost. Apple is a pretty smart company. They can figure it out.
One last point is that if true, Apple will have effectively also ended the debate/outrage we all feel every year when they continue to ship $1,000 iPhones with 5W chargers.