The controversy this week has been the arrival of the new iPhones, which are the first phones from Apple and the world to be sold without a charger or headphones, or at least this will happen in the countries that are allowed, since in France and Chile seems that the company will have to include the charger in the box of the devices by the regulations of each country.
Apple has given a speech in which they argue that this decision is driven by its mission to reduce its carbon footprint. Many people have not been convinced by these words, the company says that this will reduce more than 2 million metric tons of carbon emissions per year , which is the equivalent of taking 450 thousand cars off the road each year, however, many They are still incredulous that this is a pro-planet movement, but it has been a strategy not to significantly increase the price of this year’s devices and also to be able to sell more accessories.
Apple needs cheaper phones to convince more Android users to bet on iOS
This year the iPhone did not increase considerably in price despite including 5G, which is a technology that is still expensive and that has caused the price of many Android devices to rise considerably, especially in the premium range. With the iPhone 12 strategy, it is clear that Apple wants an iPhone that can be an attractive option for many Android users who bet on 20,000-peso phones, although for this they have had to make some sacrifices.
One of these sacrifices seems to have been the 120 Hz refresh rate screen, while on the other hand the company has chosen to eliminate the charger and headphones, which regardless of whether this works to reduce the carbon footprint, it is a fact that It is a saving for Apple, because not only will it spend less money on the boxes that will now be smaller, but users who want a charger will have to buy it, and this is an additional income for the company.
Apple says that other iPhone chargers work perfectly for the iPhone 12, and that EarPods are not as widely used anymore, another detail with which they could increase sales of AirPods, since now you will need EarPods from previous iPhone, or buy a bluetooth headset or with a lightning port.
On the other hand, Apple has lowered the price of the charger and the cable headphones from its store, and at least in the United States the EarPods and charger dropped 10 dollars, in fact, the 18W charger has been discontinued and has been the sale of 20W that works for fast charging of the iPhone 12. In the case of Mexico the charger and the headphones are worth 549 pesos each, that is, if you want them you will have to spend another 1,100 pesos in addition to the value of your iPhone.
It is good that the price has been lowered, what is criticized for Apple is that if its plan is to take care of the environment, then … shouldn’t it offer an additional discount for taking your old charger and changing it for a new one that could last you for Two other generations of iPhones no problem? This way they can recycle old chargers and give people a new one for less. Well, this is where the dilemma comes in as to whether the environmental discourse is simply a front to actually sell more chargers and headphones, but only Apple will know its true motives.
And the same thing happened 4 years ago when they removed the 3.5mm Jack, where many accused the company of doing this to boost sales of AirPods, because without a 3.5mm Jack input it was impossible to listen to music and charge the phone , so many were “forced” to bet on a model of bluetooth headphones, and what better way to do it than with the new Apple headphones.
Samsung’s speech, unlike Apple, seems to be more focused on saving costs so as not to further increase the price of phones that with new technologies increase each generation.
Samsung was among the first to make fun of Apple when it removed the 3.5mm jack, and when its first phones arrived without this port the company removed the video where it made fun of this situation .Unlike other Android manufacturers where each new premium phone arrives with a very different charging power than the previous generation, with Samsung equipment we constantly see that it is maintained or changed slightly, so a charger for the S20 could be used for the S30 , just to give an example, which is something similar to what happens with the iPhone.
The only thing I hope is that when this happens (because I think it will happen sooner than we would like) then Samsung will also lower the price of the chargers and offer a speech that is more in line with its actions.
