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Apple’s decision not to include more wall chargers and headphones in its new iPhone 12 cases is good for business, but it’s harder to see how good it will be for the planet. The move saves the company money, but some of the environmental benefits could be offset if people buy headphones and chargers separately.
Apple made the announcement during its October 13 event. Unlike previous models, the iPhone 12 will come with just a USB-C to Lightning cable. The company said that excluding the wall charger and headphones would lead to less carbon dioxide emissions from mining, packaging and global warming associated with making the products. The company also received praise from some environmental groups for reducing e-waste, a growing problem that Apple contributes to with its steady stream of new devices. This week’s announcement is the latest step Apple has taken to become a more environmentally friendly company, and follows a great promise it made in July to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
“They sold this as kind of an environmentally friendly rule,” says Angelo Zino, a senior industry analyst at investment research firm CFRA Research. But Apple’s waste reduction move is also a good financial move. “Clearly, the end result has a lot to do with it.”
The transition to 5G is a big reason why Apple could be looking for cost savings by including fewer accessories on its phones, tech analysts say. The edge. For the first time, Apple’s entire line of new phones will support 5G. That makes the iPhone 12 more expensive to make compared to the iPhone 11 because the components that enable 5G speeds are more complex and expensive.
Zino estimates that the RF components in the new iPhone 12 will cost 30 to 35 percent more than in previous iPhones. “Apple will look to cut costs on other aspects of the phone,” he says.
Deciding not to include a power brick and AirPods with a new phone is one way to go. That alone could increase the company’s gross telephone earnings by just over 1 percent, says Gene Munster, a managing partner at venture capital firm Loup Ventures. But it’s something. “In general, I would think of this as a move to keep the phone profitable today,” Munster says.
A company that makes a production decision that is good for business Y good for the planet seems like a win-win. But Apple assumes that people who buy the new iPhone already have old headphones and chargers ready to go.
If people decide to buy AirPods anyway because they don’t have headphones yet, that’s a huge win for Apple, but not for the planet. If Apple sells roughly the same number of phones this year as it did in 2018, about 217 million, and only 5 percent of those people decide to add AirPods to their cart, the company may make an additional $ 700 million in gross profit, according to a Munster.
The problem is, buying chargers or headphones separately could mean more packaging waste and emissions from separate deliveries. Some of that could add to Apple’s carbon footprint, and some could add to different companies’ carbon footprints if consumers choose to buy accessories from other vendors. That doesn’t necessarily reduce emissions overall; it simply spreads greenhouse gases between different companies.
“This will be a boon, at least in the short term, for accessory makers who will sell USB-C chargers,” says Avi Greengart, founder and principal analyst at consultancy Techsponential.
This is because the cable included with the iPhone 12 is not compatible with the power packs included in many older iPhones. Consumers without a compatible charger will have to purchase a USB-C wall charger or wireless charger in order to use their new phones.
There’s another reason why scrapping accessories might not result in as great a reduction in greenhouse gases as Apple predicts. The new iPhone 12 will ship in a smaller package, as the box will be packed with less stuff. That allows 70 percent more boxes to be shipped on a pallet, according to the company. More boxes on each pallet should translate into fewer delivery trips and less exhaust pollution, according to the company. But it plays out differently in real life, says Sara Behdad, associate professor of environmental engineering sciences at the University of Florida.
Just because there is more space on a pallet does not mean that it will fill up. “Shipping to stores is demand-driven,” says Behdad. The fill density of a pallet can depend on the number of phones the retailer thinks it will sell and the amount of storage space available. Therefore, smaller packages do not necessarily lead to a large drop in shipping emissions.
There are so many factors that could affect the sustainability initiatives of companies. “It is actually very difficult to make a specific statement about how sustainable a specific product could be,” says Behdad. “New features [that claim to make products more sustainable] bring us many questions ”
That uncertainty leaves room for skepticism, especially when it comes to incremental changes aimed at tackling giant problems like climate change or e-waste. “Selling the new iPhone 12 with or without headphones / airpods or an included charging pad distracts us from the bigger question: why Apple and other electronics companies haven’t taken a greater responsibility to reuse and recycle their products, the vast majority [are] it is still available in the US and around the world, ”said Scott Cassel, executive director of the Product Stewardship Institute, a nonprofit organization, in an email to The edge.
The company would have a greater impact if it made it easier to restore its products so they don’t become “outdated and junk after a few years,” Cassel wrote. Apple’s AirPods, for example, tend to have a shorter lifespan than traditional earbuds because the lithium-ion battery inside is very difficult to replace.
This particular announcement was one of the smallest steps Apple has taken to improve its environmental game. In July, it pledged to zero its carbon emissions by 2030 and unveiled a new robot called “Dave” to take apart old iPhones and recover materials that can be used again.
“Historically, I feel like they have really been at the forefront in terms of talking about climate change,” says Zino. The edge. The company’s influence on the industry and consumer behavior leaves it with a lot of responsibility. “There is so much they can still do.”
