iPhone 12 has no charger in box – we reveal if YOU need to buy new £20 plug before upgrading
APPLE on Tuesday confirmed that it would no longer ship a power adapter in the box of its iPhones in a bid to cut its environmental footprint.
The white wall plug will have come in the box of every Apple mobile for 13 years until the release of the iPhone 12 series next week.
But does that mean you'll have to buy a new power adapter, or will your old one work just fine if you upgrade?
Which iPhones won't come with power adapters?
According to Apple, the entire iPhone 12 range won't come with a power adapter (that's the bit that plugs into your wall) in the box.
They'll also be missing Apple's wired earbuds, the EarPods.
The phones will still come with a USB type-C charging cable, however, which you can connect to a laptop or your own power adapter.
For clarity, the iPhone 12 range – announced October 13 – includes: The iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max and the iPhone Mini.
Will I have to buy a new power adapter?
Whether or not you'll need to buy a new power adapter depends on what you have lying around the house.
As mentioned above, the iPhone 12 series will come with a USB-C power adapter.
Type-C is a smaller kind of USB connector found on most modern laptops, including every Macbook released in the past few years.
The trouble is, iPhone adapters until now have been USB type-A, meaning the one you got with your last Apple mobile won't fit the iPhone 12's cable.
What this means is, unless you have a laptop with a USB-C port – or a random USB-C adapter lying around – you'll likely need to buy a new adapter to charge any of the iPhone 12 series.
A new 20W USB-C wall adapter popped up on Apple's online store on October 13 selling for £19 in the UK or $19 in the US.
That may seem a bit of a cheeky move, but Apple actually reduced the price of its USB-C adapters in the wake of Tuesday's announcement.
Previously, an 18W USB-C charger on its store (now replaced by the 20W one) was priced at £29 / $29.
Why doesn't the iPhone 12 come with a power adapter in the box?
Apple confirmed on October 13 that the next iPhone will be the first to drop the charging plug and headphones from the box.
The company's white wall plug and wired Earpods have been bundled with every iPhone since 2007, but they'll now be sold separately.
Apple made the announcement during the unveiling of four new iPhones at its "Hi, Speed" virtual event on Tuesday.
Speaking during the showcase, hosted at Apple Park in California, Apple's Lisa Jackson said that more than 700million pairs of Earpods and 2billion Apple power adapters were in circulation around the world.
"And that's not counting the billions of third party adapters,"added Jackson, who is VP of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives at Apple.
"We're removing these items from the iPhone box," Jackson said. "Which reduces carbon emissions and avoids the mining and use of precious materials."
Jackson said the removal of these items allows for a slimmer and lighter iPhone box, meaning Apple can fit up to 70 per cent more products on a shipping pallet.
This will also help reduce carbon emissions, she added.
The move is part of Apple's commitment to having net zero carbon impact by 2030.
That means reducing a lot of its waste and changing what materials it uses.
New iPhones – What are they?
The iPhones 12 series make up the latest and greatest smartphones from Apple, and are the US tech titan’s first to come with 5G connectivity.
They were unveiled during a virtual event on October 13 recorded from Apple's space age headquarters in Cupertino, California.
Apple boss Tim Cook said: “Today is the day of a new era for iPhone. We’re bringing 5G to iPhone.”
In total, Apple announced four new mobiles, with a range of specs and sizes on offer.
They're the 6.1-inch iPhone 12, 6.1-inch iPhone 12 Pro, 6.7-inch iPhone 12 Pro Max and a palm-sized, 5.4-inch iPhone Mini.
The mobiles' release dates are split. The iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro are out October 23 while the Mini and 12 Pro Max launch on November 13.
Samsung, arguably Apple's biggest competitor in western markets, unveiled its Samsung Galaxy S20 in February.
For the purposes of this comparison, we'll be stacking the S20 against the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro, as they come closest in terms of their pricing.
iPhone tricks to try today
Here are some of the best…
- Typing cursor – When typing, hold down the space bar to turn your keyboard into a trackpad, letting you move around words and sentences more easily
- Close all Safari tabs – To do this in one go, simply hold the overlapped squares in the bottom right-hand corner, and press close all tabs
- Delete lots of photos quickly – Hold down on a photo and then drag your finger diagonally in Photos to select lots of images at once, then hit delete
- Convert currency quickly – Swipe down from the top of your Home screen (or swipe left to right on an iPhone X or later model), then tap in the bar and type a currency (like $200) and it will automatically covert to your local currency
- Check if you're due a battery upgrade – Batteries inside smartphones degrade over time. Just go to Settings > Battery > Battery Health, and check out the Maximum Capacity reading. Generally a battery is considered worn when you're down to 80% capacity. If you're below, you can buy a battery swap from Apple
- Move apps around faster – Hold an app until it starts wiggling, then (while still holding) tap other apps, causing them to stack so you can move them around easier
In other news, Apple recently unveiled the latest version of the Apple Watch – its cheapest smartwatch in years.
There's a new iPhone homscreen in iOS 14, and fans are divided over it.
Find out about all the new iOS 14 features here.
What do you think of the new iPhones? Let us know in the comments!
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