About a week ago or so, I talked about how you apparently need a special charger for the new Pixel 9, and it’s not included in the box.
I said, sarcastically (but also not), that we’re being ‘scammed’, and we’re loving it.
But then on September 9, Apple unveiled the new iPhone 16, and there’s something else, a seemingly small thing that most people ignored, that proves we’re being ‘scammed’, again, and we’re loving it, again.
Starting with iPhone 12, unveiled in 2021, Apple stopped including the adapter and wired headphones in the box.
They cited the inevitable and predictable ‘environmental concerns’ for that decision (yeah, right), but the truth is Apple has so far saved around $6.5 billion (!) by not shipping those things with the millions of iPhones it sold since.
Other brands did what they always do. They criticise, they mock… and then they copy.
These days, you probably won’t find an adapter with your new smartphone, and you definitely won’t find wired headphones.
Then Apple did something else, they removed the audio jack.
Once again, everyone criticised, mocked, and then they copied.
So that means you either buy an adapter for your headphones, or you buy bluetooth ear buds, which, granted, they may be better and more convenient, but a lot pricier.
But then Apple did something else, and this is kind of a low blow.
With iPhone 16, Apple will no longer include the Apple sticker.
There have been Apple stickers in nearly every Apple box since the dawn of time, and people love those things, for whatever reason, but they do.
And Apple removed them.
You can still get it, for free, if you buy an iPhone from an authorised Apple reseller, but you have to ask for it.
If you buy it online or from third-party sellers, which is what a lot of people do, you won’t get one.
So they saved $6.5 billion on adapters and headphones, and I guess a few more billions will be saved by removing stickers in the coming years.
bitcoinea 
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