The Apple Effect- Why Your Next Smartphone Won’t Come with a Charger
Get ready to pay extra , if you want one
Nobody can deny it.
There was a time when Apple was all about innovating and bringing the latest and greatest tech to the table in iPhones.
They introduced the touch screen in their phones when the whole world was losing their minds over QWERTY Keyboards.
They brought APP Store and iTunes at a time when mobile apps were... terrible.
Gorilla Glass, Touch ID, you could go on and on about the tech that the company has brought to mainstream smartphones.
But nowadays, most of their innovation seems to be removing things from the iPhone than putting things into it.
They started this practice, when they removed the headphone jack from their iPhones a couple of years back.
I don’t remember what out of the world explanation they gave for the decision at that time,but if you see through it,
Apple just wanted to push their expensive wireless earphones, AirPods
And removing the headphone jack,
Would make every new iPhone buyer to get one.
No wonder, Airpods made Apple 6 billion dollar in sales last year according to top analysts,
A number probably greater than the GDP of a few countries.
Now Fast-Forward to 2020,
And Apple once again decides during one of their board meetings, that it is the right time to remove another thing from the iPhone.
Only this time it is going to be the charger- because,why not?
So starting with iPhone 12 , they stopped shipping their smartphones with the charger in the box.
And the Reason they gave was — They wanted to go green.
(I’m pretty sure the green they meant were dollar bills 💸💸)
So if you don’t have an apple compatible charger lying around or broke your previous one, you have to pay separately for it.
I had a conversation about this controversial move by Apple in a tech group recently and someone said,
Well they’re creating unnecessary need to sell an unnecessary product
And The argument seems logical. At least from a customer perspective.
Now here’s the thing :
I have no problem with Apple making money.
In fact, I’m an avid android user.
So as long as Apple users are okay with decision and don’t question,
Why should I even care?
Because Unfortunately,
Apple happens to be the Decision Maker.
Whatever decision apple takes, all other smartphone manufactures follow the same step blindfolded.
And it becomes a norm of the entire smartphone industry going forward.
No questions asked.
They don’t think why, how or any sensible reasoning is thrown out of the window.
Apple did it, and other companies got to do it too.
Simple.
to be honest, this was a good thing when apple was actually innovating
Like the capacitive touch and gorilla glass which other companies copied
But right now, it’s a nightmare.
When the news of headphone jack being removed from iPhone came out,
other smartphone companies took a sneaky dig at apple,
Only to remove it from their own phones the next year
And launch their version of airpods.
And history only continues to repeats itself, Again and Again.
Few months since the iPhone 12 launch,
Xiaomi has recently started hinting that the next Mi Flagship phone might not ship with a charger in the box.
Not just them, with Samsung sneakily pulling down a post from social media few days back that mocked Apple,
People in tech have started speculating that the Upcoming Samsung Flagship Phone, Galaxy S21 might also come without a charger in the box.
Now it is only a matter of time for OnePlus and other companies
to take the same path.
So be prepared to pay another $25–$30
more from next year onwards,
along with your SmartPhone purchase for- not a case,not a tempered glass and not a powerbank
But to get the charger that powers your phone.
Something without which your Phone wouldn’t even turn on.
And Why isn’t that included in the box ? Because Apple thought that it can remove it and get away with it.
What are you thoughts about not getting a charger when you purchase a Smartphone?
Are you happy with the way tech is progressing?
Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
