Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Five Chinese students are suing Apple for not providing a charger with the iPhone 12, first reported by Vice. Apple stopped including EarPods and wall chargers with iPhones in 2020, opting only to include a USB-C to Lightning cable in its packaging. According to Apple, ditching the charger and EarPods is supposed to reduce carbon emissions and preserve raw materials.
There’s some skepticism as to whether Apple really did this to cut costs, rather than save the environment, as the transition to 5G could make iPhones more expensive to make. Skipping out on chargers and EarPods could be a way for Apple to save a buck, and forcing customers to purchase accessories separately may help increase profits.
The students’ argument in court, which…