When Apple unveiled its latest iPhones, watches, and earphones last week, the spotlight was firmly on the new features: longer battery life, enhanced noise cancellation, and even real-time translation. What the company didn’t emphasise was what it had quietly removed — the charging cable.
The decision marks the latest step in Apple’s long-running trend of slimming down product boxes. Until just a few years ago, iPhones came packaged with a charging cable, power adaptor, and wired earphones. The adaptor and earphones disappeared in 2020, and last year Apple dropped the cable from its standard AirPods line. Extending this practice to its premium AirPods Pro range signals that the shift is here to stay.
Critics argue the move is less about sustainability and more about profit. While USB-C cables are inexpensive to produce, omitting them reduces costs and allows smaller packaging, cutting shipping expenses. Analysts at CCS Insight estimated in 2022 that Apple’s removal of iPhone accessories had boosted profits by $6.5 billion, partly by fitting 40% more boxes into each shipping container. Customers purchasing cables or adaptors separately also added to Apple’s bottom line.
The financial benefit from leaving out AirPods Pro cables may be smaller, but still significant. Even shaving a euro or two off production costs translates to millions of euros in savings annually.
Officially, Apple insists its motivation is environmental. The company points to the widespread adoption of USB-C cables, now standard across its product line thanks to European Union rules mandating a universal charger. Apple argues that most customers already own compatible cables, so including extras is wasteful.
The EU law, which took effect last year, forced Apple to abandon its proprietary Lightning connector after two decades of resistance. The company had previously argued that universal chargers would harm innovation and increase waste. Yet with compliance no longer optional, Apple has reframed the change as an environmental win — one it can now use to justify reducing what comes in the box.
Consumer advocates, however, say the shift risks becoming anti-consumer. While many households currently have spare cables, that stockpile will shrink as fewer are included with new devices. That could leave buyers of $1,000-plus gadgets forced to make extra purchases simply to use their products.
Apple is unlikely to remain alone in the strategy. Competitors like Samsung once mocked Apple’s removal of the headphone jack, only to follow suit a few years later. If customers accept fewer accessories in the box, analysts say, other manufacturers will be quick to adopt the cost-saving model.
For now, Apple maintains its stance: fewer accessories mean less e-waste. But for many users, the absence of something as basic as a charging cable feels less like progress and more like paying more for less.
