iPhone 12 models, as well as the iPhone 11, XR, and SE, no longer come with EarPods or power adapters but include a USB-C to lightning cable
but there's good news Joe Wituschek / iMore : Apple lowers price of accessories no longer included in the iPhone box Omar Sohail / Wccftech : New iPhone SE, Older iPhone 11 and iPhone XR Models Won't Have Wired EarPods or Charger in Their Packaging GSMArena.com : iPhone 11, SE (2020) and XR also lose in-box chargers and EarPods Tweets: Mark Gurman / @markgurman : Look for the iPhone SE box to shrink considerably. Also for the USB-A to Lightning cable to become a USB-C to Lightning cable. Headphones out too. Mark Gurman / @markgurman : In addition to removing the charging adapter from the newest iPhones today, look for Apple to do the same for the SE and other iPhones it'll keep selling. Danny Sullivan / @dannysullivan : If I could just get an iPhone that uses USB-C, they could also drop the Lightning to USB-C cable, and I'd be so happy. So happy. https://www.techmeme.com/... Benedict Evans / @benedictevans : Apple removing the headphone jack - ‘courage’ Apple removing headphones and chargers from the box because you already have them - ‘good for the planet’ Both probably good decisions but 🤣
Context & Ripple Effects
Kuo's June report that the iPhone 12 would ship without earbuds or a charger — with a 20W adapter sold separately — is now confirmed, and the cut is broader than expected: it reaches back to the existing iPhone 11, XR, and SE lineups, not just the new models. The swap of the USB-A to Lightning cable for USB-C to Lightning also quietly moves the ecosystem toward USB-C.
The playbook rhymes with Apple's 2016 headphone-jack removal, where dropping an in-box accessory preceded a push toward wireless and Lightning peripherals. The difference this time: Apple immediately lowered standalone accessory prices to soften the optics, and the box change would eventually be echoed by regulators — the EU's common charging rules explicitly cover unbundled charging bricks.
First-order effects
- Buyers of the iPhone 11, XR, and SE — the value tiers of the lineup — now pay extra for a power adapter and EarPods they previously got in the box, while every new iPhone ships with only a USB-C to Lightning cable.
- Apple converts a bundled cost into an accessory sale, offset by its own price cuts on EarPods and adapters announced alongside the change.
Second-order effects
- Third-party charger and earbud makers get a larger addressable market as millions of upgraders source adapters separately, and the USB-C to Lightning cable nudges case and dock makers toward USB-C assumptions.
- Rival phone makers face a template they can copy — smaller boxes, lower shipping costs, unbundled chargers — with Apple absorbing the reputational risk of going first.
Third-order effects
- Voluntary unbundling became the regulatory baseline: the EU's common charging rules later codified brick-unbundling alongside the USB-C mandate, and Apple ultimately pulled the Lightning-port iPhone SE and iPhone 14 series from EU sale when the deadline hit.
- If the pattern holds, the in-box accessory list keeps shrinking toward cable-only — and the next battleground is whether regulators treat bundling decisions as consumer-protection issues or environmental ones.
The trend: Smartphone makers are stripping chargers and earbuds from the box to cut costs and steer ecosystems toward USB-C and wireless, with regulators converting the practice from choice to mandate.