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The iPhone 12 won't come with earbuds or wall charger

The new line of iPhones will not come with the standard earbuds and charger.

Donovan Erskine

October 13, 2020 1:50 PM

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iPhones have seen a lot of evolution and change over the last decade, but one thing has always remained constant. When you buy a new iPhone, the box also includes a pair of earbuds and a charger, some basic starter accessories to use with your new iPhone. However, Apple is doing away with this tradition with the release of its newest line of phones. When the iPhone 12 family of devices ship, they will not come with earbuds or a wall charger.

This news flew quietly under the radar during the October 2020 Apple Special event, where the company revealed the new set of iPhones. It was here that we learned that Apple had no plans to include the typical accessories with the iPhone 12 line. Apple explained that this move will help reduce the number of raw materials used for each iPhone distributed.

Apple has continuously preached about its efforts to be more environmentally friendly, with the ultimate goal of being 100% carbon neutral by 2030. iPhone boxes have been notoriously big for years, and limiting what comes in that package will surely help them get that box size down, lessening the number of materials used. Of course, this is also a move that won’t go over well with users, and many will accuse Apple of using its environmental initiative as an excuse to cut back on accessories. 

Now, when purchasing the iPhone 12, users will get the phone itself, as well as a USB-C to lightning cable. Buyers will not receive a wall adapter, meaning that they will have to charge their phone either using another port, or a wall adapter from an older device. As for earbuds, users will have to pick some up separately.

Apple’s October Special Event featured several new announcements from the tech company. The new iPhones will go on sale this week and will ship later in the month.

Donovan Erskine

News Editor

Donovan is a journalist from Maryland. His oldest gaming memory is playing Pajama Sam on his mom's desktop during weekends. Pokémon Emerald, Halo 2, and the original Star Wars Battlefront 2 were some of the most influential titles in awakening his love for video games. After interning for Shacknews throughout college, Donovan graduated from Bowie State University in 2020 with a major in broadcast journalism and joined the team full-time. He is a huge film fanatic and will talk with you about movies and games all day. You can follow him on twitter @Donimals_