When you buy a mobile in Spain, the usual thing is that it comes with a charger and sometimes even with headphones. In this sense, Apple has decided to take a leap from what the company would have defined in another era as courage, doing something as simple as eliminating accessories that previously included.
Since the rumor emerged, there has been a lot of controversy about it, and it seems that many people do not like that they stop including it. Apple says it does it for the environment, but is it really so?
The reality is much more complex and has multiple readings about it. We try to objectively analyze the situation, and if it is a path that should be taken on Android.
Android summary not very brief of the presentation of the new iPhone 12The iPhone 12 are here, and as this is a blog about Android we are going to make a casual, but objective summary about what is new from Apple, good and bad.
The iPhone 12 leave chargers and earpods for “environmental issues”
At least it is as explained by Apple during the presentation event yesterday. According to Apple, iPhone users already have many chargers at home, so they have decided that the best thing for everyone is to remove the charger that until now they included in their devices. Specifically, this is the official statement from Apple:
Across the entire iPhone lineup, we’ve chosen to include an ultra-fast charging USB-C to Lightning cable that most people need rather than the power adapter and EarPods that are not often used. In this way, packaging and the total number of shipments are reduced by fitting more boxes in each batch. In addition, we help our manufacturing partners to switch to renewable energy. All these efforts allow us to avoid the emission of 2 million tons of CO₂ per year.
Emissions savings equivalent to removing 450,000 cars from circulation annually.
The other part of the movie, the accessories business
Apple’s justification seems excellent to us,it is. For many people it is usual to use only the charger that includes their mobile, but there is also a reality in whichmany chargers go from the device box to the trash can. Same with headphones, which rarely end up being the main headset. Many people appreciate that they are there “just in case.” But let’s face it, we rarely resort to “just in case.”
The AirPods appeared just as Apple removed the headphone jack.
In the case of the iPhone, it is remarkable because the charger that they included was, literally, to be thrown away. A small charger whose maximum speed was 5 watts. If you wanted fast charging on the iPhone, yes or yes you should buy a charger
But as Apple does, it is controversial, mainly because it is a company that is often criticized. But for this reason there is one more reason, and it is that it is not the first time that Apple boasts of environmental protection while creating an alternative business route.
It was the year they took the courageous act of eliminating the headphone jack port when they began selling their successful new Airpods, and it is worthy of study that the year they eliminate the stock charger they begin to sell their new charging system. MagSafe, which coincidentally costs 45 euros.
Apple benefits from these movements on a commercial level, and this argument is the one that, according to linear logic, seems to disallow Apple from actually making this move for the environment. To a certain extent it is understandable, but it is good to understand that it can have an economic interest and that this does not disallow the packaging being more ecological by requiring fewer trucks for transport.
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This same argument has not had a thousandth impact with the Teracube 2e, a terminal that claims not to include headphones or charger in the box to avoid electronic waste as much as possible. The result between Apple and this is essentially the same, but given the approach, it seems that Teracube has “like more reason” for the simple fact that it is not trying to sell us anything.
The mobile with a 4-year warranty and removable battery is not only sustainable, but also cheaper than everThe Teracube 2e project takes the principles of its first model further than ever, lowering the price barrier and being more environmentally friendly.
And since we are, Apple, it would be great to carry this obsession with ultra-compact packages to reduce the load of CO2 with the Apple Watch, a box that just to carry a watch is devilishly large and could perfectly occupy a third. The same could apply to Samsung, that the case of the Galaxy Watch 3 is gigantic too, and that of the new Zepp even more.
Should this practice be imposed on Android?
Let’s be honest,removing or maintaining the charger will not save the environment, but it is also true that small details on a large scale and added can make a difference. In the end, as users we are going to need at least one charger, and it is likely that you use several in your day to day life. The chargers will not disappear, we will continue to use them and they will continue to be manufactured.
Chargers will continue to be sold. The point is that all that are manufactured are used and not become electronic waste.
The question is not to stop or not to include accessories or to stop being manufactured, but in those that are manufactured end up being used as much as possible, and that is where Apple’s movement is successful. And it would be good if it ended up extrapolating.
In the rest of Android the situation is not as easy as in the iPhone, and it is that being such a fragmented market, many brands have their own fast charging standards that only work with their charger included in the box and that in the end This charger remains anchored to the useful life of the mobile itself and does not transcend it. This is terrible, and if Apple were to adopt USB C charging like the OnePlus, it would be criticized just as much from Apple.
Beyond the debate on whether or not removing a charger is eco-friendly, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Creating mobiles that are easier to repair and having system updates for many years (even at the cost of raising prices) are ways that no manufacturer seems to want to explore. Android in that sense is full of smartphones that go from being used to throwing away in a year, and this has much more impact on the environment.
The entry Is removing the charger from the mobile really ecological? Apple opens the melon with its iPhone 12 appears first in The Free Android.
