In the iPad Mini 7 Box: No Charger in Europe, New Braided USB-C Cable

[JPack]

What about getting users to “think differently” as well?

About 140 million people born every year. A portion of those will be first time iPhone, iPad, and AirPods owners. Not everyone has a built-up inventory of existing accessories.

No one is asking Apple to include cables, EarPods, and power adapters in the box.

A voucher program works best. If you need one, redeem at the store.

 

[adb1973]

Yes. The priorities of a company. EVERY SINGLE COMPANY. The only reason a company EVER does something is to make money. That's why it's called capitalism.

Why should Apple go out of their way to give you a voucher for something they just as easily can sell you? There is absolutely no logic there. And this is what I've been saying for a very long time now, every single EU legislation has unwanted / unforeseen downsides that are designed to be worse for the citizins.

Total ******** it's designed to battle E-waste nothing more nothing less.

Either not include it and lower the price or not include it, keep the price level and combine with a voucher.

 

[webkit]

If Apple wants to think differently, they can even make the vouchers valid at any Apple Authorized Reseller.

A voucher program works best. If you need one, redeem at the store.

A problem is that most consumers won't turn down a "free" $19 product. Whether they actually need a charger or not, people will still use the free voucher to get one as a backup, for other devices, to resell, etc. which means a voucher program probably won’t do much to reduce waste if that is a primary goal.

 

[JPack]

A problem is that most consumers won't turn down a "free" (with voucher) $19 product. Whether they actually need a charger or not, people will still use the free voucher to get one as a backup, for other devices, to resell, etc. which means it probably won’t do much to reduce waste if that is a primary goal.

So then Apple should lower the price of most products by $19.

Right now, Apple is having their cake and eating it too.

Let the people who want to be green, be green and not redeem the voucher. Or provide a year of free Apple One for not redeeming the voucher. There are plenty of easy ways to solve this motivational "problem." The issue is, Apple doesn't want to because they can collect more money and offer less.

 

[SanderEvers]

Total ******** it's designed to battle E-waste nothing more nothing less.

Either not include it and lower the price or not include it, keep the price level and combine with a voucher.

Except it's causing the opposite. People are going to buy a seperate charger, so another thing to package, ship, and then throw away. Removing them from the box adds E-waste.

 

[adb1973]

Except it's causing the opposite. People are going to buy a seperate charger, so another thing to package, ship, and then throw away. Removing them from the box adds E-waste.

Zero proof for that assumption. Tons of evidence they won't do that in large percentages.

By all means I'm in the 'lower price' team but for Apple it's peanuts they couldn't care less...

 

[SanderEvers]

Zero proof for that assumption. Tons of evidence they won't do that in large percentages.

By all means I'm in the 'lower price' team but for Apple it's peanuts they couldn't care less...

Okay where are those tons of evidence? And please specify a neutral source. Otherwise that "zero proof" also applies to your claim.

And I didn't say I had proof for it. Except from what I've seen in the Apple store where people bought iPhones. About 80% also bought the latest charger. And sure N=1. But it's easy to see a pattern.

 

[mrochester]

So then Apple should lower the price of most products by $19.

Right now, Apple is having their cake and eating it too.

Let the people who want to be green, be green and not redeem the voucher. Or provide a year of free Apple One for not redeeming the voucher. There are plenty of easy ways to solve this motivational "problem." The issue is, Apple doesn't want to because they can collect more money and offer less.

£19 is the retail cost of the charger, not the cost Apple pays for it. If Apple no longer has to pay for a charger to put in the box they have saved only a very small amount of money. It would be daft to reduce the price of the product from £399 to £396.50, Apple might as well just pocket the saving since the price difference won’t change customer behaviour.

 

[MilaM]

And I didn't say I had proof for it. Except from what I've seen in the Apple store where people bought iPhones. About 80% also bought the latest charger. And sure N=1. But it's easy to see a pattern.

It takes some time to educate consumers. Also, many iPhone customers are probably upgrading from older phones, so they might in fact objectively benefit from buying a charger with higher power output. The older Apple chargers only support 18/20 Watts. To use the full potential of fast charging you need a 30 W charger.

I'm pretty geeky about tech and don't have USB-C chargers in every corner of my house yet. Half of them still have USB-A sockets.

 

[Abazigal]

Except it's causing the opposite. People are going to buy a seperate charger, so another thing to package, ship, and then throw away. Removing them from the box adds E-waste.

Perhaps. I am hoping that users will use this opportunity to re-evaluate their charger needs and consolidate accordingly. For example, say you want to charge an iPhone, an Apple Watch and AirPods concurrently. Do you want to buy 3 separate charging bricks, or given the chance to start over on a clean slate, maybe consider one of those 3-in-1 chargers or a charging brick with multiple ports?

And now that you have your charging setup all ready, it's there when you next upgrade your phone, and that's really when Apple's decision to not include a charging brick starts to pay off (especially when your charger is likely better than whatever Apple would have bundled anyways).

I feel it can work, but people must want it to work, and it will likely entail some inconvenience in the short run as customers adjust their charging habits. Right now, it just seems like people here do see the value and the potential, but are using their dislike of Apple to anchor criticism so they don't have to change.

 

[mrochester]

Perhaps. I am hoping that users will use this opportunity to re-evaluate their charger needs and consolidate accordingly. For example, say you want to charge an iPhone, an Apple Watch and AirPods concurrently. Do you want to buy 3 separate charging bricks, or given the chance to start over on a clean slate, maybe consider one of those 3-in-1 chargers or a charging brick with multiple ports?

And now that you have your charging setup all ready, it's there when you next upgrade your phone, and that's really when Apple's decision to not include a charging brick starts to pay off (especially when your charger is likely better than whatever Apple would have bundled anyways).

I feel it can work, but people must want it to work, and it will likely entail some inconvenience in the short run as customers adjust their charging habits. Right now, it just seems like people here do see the value and the potential, but are using their dislike of Apple to anchor criticism so they don't have to change.

A good example of this and that since the iPhone 12 mini I have not needed to obtain any new chargers for my phone. So both my iPhone 13 pro max and 15 pro max purchases didn’t need a corresponding charger purchase, thus reducing the number of chargers Apple/any other company needed to manufacture.

My iPhone 12 mini went to my dad who continued using the charger he had for his iPhone 7 Plus, which was sold to a mobile phone recycler. My 13 pro max went to my husband who continued using his existing iPhone SE charger. His SE got recycled as it was broken.

You can really see how effective the regulations are.

 

[Lioness~]

I mostly appreciate the larger Apple chargers that comes with the portable Mac's that needs a bit nore creme and power. Doubt Apple will touch them.
For other iStuff and non-apple stuff that use USB-A & C connecters there's multi-chargers that takes up less space then Apple's chargers that I have a few of, and will probably get more of.
It doesn't mean I don't have use for all my old Apple-chargers, they are everywhere anyway. But multichargers is the future and the best for lower consuming peripherals.
So I am ok that apple withdraw their chargers for smalller iStuff. No big deal.

 

[webkit]

So then Apple should lower the price of most products by $19.

Apple did at least lower the price of the iPad mini, and by more than $19 USD. In the UK, for example, the 256GB iPad mini price with VAT had recently been £649 (around $844 USD) and the new one is £599 (around $779 USD). Go back three years when the last iPad mini launched in the UK, the price with VAT of the 256GB version was £619 which at the time was around $848 USD.

The new 256GB iPad mini is $65 USD cheaper than the previous gen 256GB iPad mini had recently been and $69 USD cheaper than the 256GB iPad mini had been three years ago at launch.

 

[JPack]

Apple did at least lower the price of the iPad mini, and by more than $19 USD. In the UK, for example, the 256GB iPad mini price with VAT had recently been £649 (around $844 USD) and the new one is £599 (around $779 USD). Go back three years when the last iPad mini launched in the UK, the price with VAT of the 256GB version was £619 which at the time was around $848 USD.

The new 256GB iPad mini is $65 USD cheaper than the previous gen 256GB iPad mini had recently been and $69 USD cheaper than the 256GB iPad mini had been three years ago at launch.

We know those have nothing to do with the lack of adapter, but rather exchange rate fluctuations.

 

[webkit]

We know those have nothing to do with the lack of adapter, but rather exchange rate fluctuations.

Not true. I factored in the exchange rate change in my reply. The prices were reduced more than the impact of the exchange rate fluctuation.

 

[turbineseaplane]

So then Apple should lower the price of most products by $19.

Right now, Apple is having their cake and eating it too.

Let the people who want to be green, be green and not redeem the voucher. Or provide a year of free Apple One for not redeeming the voucher. There are plenty of easy ways to solve this motivational "problem." The issue is, Apple doesn't want to because they can collect more money and offer less.

That's the issue I have

This is really just further padding profits while hiding behind "helping the environment"

If they were transparently offering you a $20 credit at time of purchase that you could apply to a Charger or Cable or take off the total price, I would feel differently

 

[mrochester]

That's the issue I have

This is really just further padding profits while hiding behind "helping the environment"

If they were transparently offering you a $20 credit at time of purchase that you could apply to a Charger or Cable or take off the total price, I would feel differently

Nothing wrong with padding profits and being better for the environment.

It’s also not the retail price that would come off the device price, it would be the price Apple pays for it else you’d be cutting into the product margin. It would be pointless to transparently discount the price by £2-£3 to cover the cost of the charging plug.

 

[JPack]

Not true. I factored in the exchange rate change in my reply. The prices were reduced more than the impact of the exchange rate fluctuation.

If Apple price adjustments were due to the adapter, the iPhone 11, XR, and SE would have seen price adjustments back in 2020 when they were first removed. We know Apple doesn't adjust prices after removing accessories.

Apple's exchange rate adjustments are infrequent and typically hedged. The adjustments target to where the market is heading.

We know for a fact the iPad mini 7 costs more today in UK than iPad mini 6. Those prices are explicitly stated in Apple UK press releases. In the U.S, the price hasn't changed from $499.

£479 in 2021

Apple unveils new iPad mini with breakthrough performance in stunning new design

Apple today introduced the powerful new iPad mini with a larger 8.3-inch Liquid Retina display in four gorgeous finishes.

www.apple.com

£499 today

Apple introduces powerful new iPad mini built for Apple Intelligence

Apple today introduced the new iPad mini, supercharged by the A17 Pro chip and Apple Intelligence.

www.apple.com

 

[JPack]

That's the issue I have

This is really just further padding profits while hiding behind "helping the environment"

If they were transparently offering you a $20 credit at time of purchase that you could apply to a Charger or Cable or take off the total price, I would feel differently

Apple is doing the classic, slow boil of the frog.

They've removed EarPods, power adapter, SIM tray (with tool), stickers. For AirPods, they've now removed even the cable. You need to be a Pro buyer to get them now.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Apple is doing the classic, slow boil of the frog.

They've removed EarPods, power adapter, SIM tray (with tool), stickers. For AirPods, they've now removed even the cable. You need to be a Pro buyer to get them now.

And have people defending it

You can't make this stuff up

I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry while watching it occur

 

[webkit]

If Apple price adjustments were due to the adapter, the iPhone 11, XR, and SE would have seen price adjustments back in 2020 when they were first removed. We know Apple doesn't adjust prices after removing accessories.

Apple's exchange rate adjustments are infrequent and typically hedged. The adjustments target to where the market is heading.

We know for a fact the iPad mini 7 costs more today in UK than iPad mini 6. Those prices are explicitly stated in Apple UK press releases. In the U.S, the price hasn't changed from $499.

£479 in 2021

Apple unveils new iPad mini with breakthrough performance in stunning new design

Apple today introduced the powerful new iPad mini with a larger 8.3-inch Liquid Retina display in four gorgeous finishes.

www.apple.com

£499 today

Apple introduces powerful new iPad mini built for Apple Intelligence

Apple today introduced the new iPad mini, supercharged by the A17 Pro chip and Apple Intelligence.

www.apple.com

You're comparing iPad minis with two different storage sizes. The £479 2021 iPad 6 mini had 64GB while the new £499 iPad mini 7 has twice the storage at 128GB.

Again, the price for a same storage size iPad mini in pounds and the price factoring in the exchange rate are now LOWER in the UK.

When the iPad 6 mini launched three years ago in the UK, the 256GB version was £619 with VAT or around $848 USD at the time. The new 256GB iPad 7 mini is £599 with VAT or around $779 USD. That's £20 less in pounds and $69 less in USD.

More recently, the 256GB iPad 6 mini price with VAT was £649 (around $844 USD) and the new 256GB iPad 7 mini is £599 (around $779 USD). That's £50 less in pounds and $65 less in USD.

 

[JPack]

You're comparing iPad minis with two different storage sizes. The £479 2021 iPad 6 mini had 64GB while the new £499 iPad mini 7 has twice the storage at 128GB.

Again, the price for a same storage size iPad mini in pounds and the price factoring in the exchange rate are now LOWER in the UK.

When the iPad 6 mini launched three years ago in the UK, the 256GB version was £619 with VAT or around $848 USD at the time. The new 256GB iPad 7 mini is £599 with VAT or around $779 USD. That's £20 less in pounds and $69 less in USD.

More recently, the 256GB iPad 6 mini price with VAT was £649 (around $844 USD) and the new 256GB iPad 7 mini is £599 (around $779 USD). That's £50 less in pounds and $65 less in USD.

Of course I’m comparing base model to base model. Who would compare 256GB?

We know NAND and DRAM costs halve every 2-3 years. Those are normally occurring drops to storage cost.

Nobody would compare $329 iPad 8 and iPad 9 and say the price dropped because the base storage increased. Similarly, nobody would say iPhone 16 Pro dropped in price because it has 8GB RAM and 128GB storage compared to iPhone X at 3GB RAM and 64GB.

 

[webkit]

Of course I’m comparing base model to base model. Who would compare 256GB?

We know NAND and DRAM costs halve every 2-3 years. Those are normally occurring drops to storage cost.

Nobody would compare $329 iPad 8 and iPad 9 and say the price dropped because the base storage increased. Similarly, nobody would say iPhone 16 Pro dropped in price because it has 8GB RAM and 128GB storage compared to iPhone X at 3GB RAM and 64GB.

If you're not comparing or adjusting for like specs such as storage size (especially if talking about just a few years), you're adding another variable which makes assessments regarding exchange rates, charger removal, etc. pretty meaningless.

That's why I was comparing iPad mini prices with the same storage. In the UK, the price of the 256GB iPad 7 mini is LOWER than the price of the 256GB iPad 6 mini. It's lower compared to a month ago and lower compared to three years ago.

 

[Abazigal]

And have people defending it

You can't make this stuff up

I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry while watching it occur

I will say that I am largely indifferent to it. Not least because I already have my favoured charging setup, and every new charger and cable which comes with my Apple devices likely just ends up going into this plastic Toyogo box on my shelf. And I wager I am not alone.

What's happening here is that I see the opportunity to (hopefully) do some good without me really having to do anything extra on my end, and I am for it.