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

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.