New iPhone 12 won't come with headphones or power adapters

Ethan Wolff-Mann
·Senior Editor
Updated
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After years of including power adapters and headphones with new phones, Apple (AAPL) is making these items accessories that are sold separately.

In unveiling its new iPhone 12 models, Apple said this would be more environmentally friendly, allowing for smaller packaging, fewer cables and adapters in the junk drawer. The company said it is carbon neutral in 2020, and would like to have a net-zero climate impact by 2030.

The move also will likely be a boon for the sales of AirPods, the company's now ubiquitous wireless headphones that have become a key moneymaker for the company.

A smaller package without headphones or a charger. (Apple via screenshot)
A smaller package without headphones or a charger. (Apple via screenshot)

[See also: Apple unveils iPhone 12 & iPhone 12 Pro]

Apple does not release statistics anymore about how many phones it sells, but analysts estimate that 2019 saw a small decline in sales. Still the company sells around 11 million phones per quarter.

The iPhone has had the same “Lightning” cable design for years now, since it was introduced with the iPhone 5 in 2012. So users have likely accumulated spares over the years, especially since the iPad also used that port.

[See also: Apple unveils $99 HomePod Mini smart speaker]

However, iPads are now using USB-C adapters, which have both USB-C hardware on each end. This has become the new de facto standard for electronics. Apple hasn’t used USB-C for its small devices for very long, so some expect Apple to keep those chargers for the devices that require the new standard of connectivity. Some Apple observers speculate that the 2021 iPhone may not even have a port and instead feature something completely new.

Apple on Tuesday also unveiled a new HomePod smart speaker—its first Mini edition of the product.

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Ethan Wolff-Mann is a writer at Yahoo Finance focusing on consumer issues, personal finance, retail, airlines, and more. Follow him on Twitter @ewolffmann.

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