There’s a rumor going around that Apple won’t be including a charging brick with the new iPhone 12. That means when I buy a new iPhone I’m going to have to buy a charger as an add-on purchase to be able to use it. I don’t know about you but this is just wrong and it feels like Apple nickel-and-diming us to improve their margins. The thought of this just pisses me off. Apple this is stupid!
You have to ask yourself why would Apple do this? M.G. Siegler wrote about this subject over on his blog 500ish.com.
None of those points are false, but let’s be honest here, that’s not why Apple is doing this. Here’s the breakdown in terms of order of importance as I see it:
1) Margins. The next iPhone’s margins are going to be under assault due to the ‘5G’ components, amongst other new technology. And COVID has altered the supply chain immensely. The charger may not seem like a huge margin savings, but it adds up in aggregate. Also, there’s up-sell opportunities galore with the new faster charging bricks — or, even better, Apple’s inevitably still-forthcoming wireless charging solution.
2) Shipping. You know what else adds up in aggregate? Shipping these units from China. If Apple can make these boxes more svelte, they’ll pack more in. This helps the environment, in a way, but it helps the bottom line even more.
3) Transitions. The next iPhone — the one after this one — is already rumored to forgo wired charging entirely. If that’s the case, it may make some sense to move people beyond the notion of including a wired charger in the iPhone box now. Force more customers to get ready for the wireless charging revolution.
4) Environment. This is on the list. But it’s the last item on the list. Not the first item on the list.
I know that all sounds cynical, but come on, that is clearly what is happening here. It’s not all point number one, but it’s a combination of all four points with the first one being the most important in terms of deciding what to do here. They could have made this change at any point over the past few years with the same rationale. Yet they’re doing it this year.
Again, I’m sitting here shitting on a decision that is a rumor. But the source (which is a second source, no less) would seem to be credible enough that this is likely going to happen. And so maybe there’s still a chance to affect the outcome. Not within the boxes themselves — that ship has undoubtedly already sailed, even if the shipping containers haven’t yet — but perhaps there’s an opportunity to offer a power brick as a free add-on for those who want/need one at the time of an iPhone purchase.
Again this is just stupid to sell a product without being able to fully use it out of the box. And that’s exactly what Apple appears to be doing if the rumor is true.
ldstephens 