Apple started shipping adapters for environmental reasons.
Apple used to provide customers with a set of EarPods and an adapter with every phone purchase until 2020. Things changed after the launch of iPhone 11 series.
Apple is facing a public interest lawsuit for a decision they thought they took with noble intentions. A group of university students in China filed a lawsuit against the company and demanded that the tech giant provide an iPhone charger in the box. Apple used to provide customers with a set of EarPods and an adapter with every phone purchase until 2020, when the Tim Cook-led company decided to terminate shipping its phones with power adapters. The decision was taken to reduce the company’s carbon footprint and save roughly 2 million metric tonnes of carbon annually. However, accusations of saving money and accessorising beyond bounds have also surfaced with the company’s announcement of the decision.
The students also stated that Apple is using environmental reasons as an umbrella for MagSafe chargers and its promotion, even though wireless chargers waste more energy than wired ones, Vice reported. In addition, according to the Vice report, the students argued that the USB-C-to-Lightning cables are not compatible with other adapters available in the market. This is because the cable itself is not enough and needs a USB-C adapter for the cable to support it.
On the contrary, most of the users have USB-A adapters, which are not compatible with USB-C cable. In addition, students say that the retailers are monopolising the sales by offering different deals on iPhones – Boxes with adapters and boxes without adapters. The lawsuit by Chinese students was filed against Apple’s iPhone 12. However, whatever direction the verdict takes will affect and apply to the company’s latest addition to the series, the iPhone 13. According to the report, the varsity students demand that Apple provides a wall charger for an iPhone 12 Pro Max bought by one of the students, cover the legal fee, and pay 100 Yuan for breaching the contract.
This is not the first lawsuit that Apple is facing regarding its iPhone charging adapters. In Europe, Apple is directed to switch from Lightning cable to USB-C cable to protect consumer interest. In Brazil, Apple was slapped with a fine of around $2 million for selling iPhone 12 phones without adapters.
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Telegram.
