The Brazilian government has suspended the sales of iPhones without chargers, it announced today. Apple is also facing a BRL$12,275,500 fine (about $2.3 million) from Brazil's Ministry of Justice and Public Security (MJSP). This is on top of a reported $2 million fine Apple incurred in 2021 after announcing its first smartphone to ship without a power adapter in the box, the iPhone 12 series. Apple can appeal Brazil's decision.
The MJSP also ordered the iPhone 12's registration with Anatel, Brazil's national telecoms agency, to be canceled.
In 2021, the Brazilian state of São Paulo's consumer protection agency, Procon-SP, fined Apple $2 million over the iPhone 12. It said Apple sold what the country considers to be an incomplete product. Since then, Apple hasn't worked to "minimize the damage and continues to sell cell phones without chargers," according to a Google translation of the announcement in Portuguese.
Samsung faced similar consequences from the Brazilian government but reportedly decided to provide free chargers to customers in Brazil who bought its new smartphones that had been shipped without a power adapter.
As of writing, the iPhone 12 and later still appear to be available for purchase on Apple's Brazil website.
"If it persists in the infractions, Apple may be considered a repeat offender, with the application of new, even more severe punishments," the MJSP said in its announcement.
When Apple announced in 2020 that it was ridding its new iPhone and EarPod headphones of power adapters, it cited interest in "further reducing carbon emissions and avoiding the mining and use of precious materials, which enables smaller and lighter packaging and allows for 70 percent more boxes to be shipped on a pallet."
"Taken altogether, these changes will cut over 2 million metric tons of carbon emissions annually, equivalent to removing nearly 450,000 cars from the road per year," Apple claimed at the time.
In its iPhone 12 Product Environmental Report from 2020 [PDF], Apple claimed that, based on "estimated production volumes," it expected that by getting rid of some included accessories with the iPhone 12 series, it would avoid "mining more than 600,000 metric tons [of] copper, zinc, and tin ore."
However, the Brazilian government refutes that, saying that Apple only shifted the burden to the consumer.
It also argued that if Apple were so concerned about the environment, there's more it could do, like have its iPhones support USB-C charging (a move Apple is rumored to be considering). In June, Anatel announced a proposal for making USB-C mandatory for phones sold in Brazil. The European Union has already passed legislation requiring USB-C charging on smartphones and other electronics come 2024. Meanwhile, some politicians are pushing for a similar USB-C strategy in the US.
Finally, Brazil's federal ministry noted that dropping chargers from iPhone boxes didn't reduce prices.
"Therefore, it is understood that the price is mainly determined by commercial strategy instead of corresponding to production costs," the announcement said, as per Google's translation.
Apple is expected to announce an iPhone 14 sold without a charger tomorrow during its Far Out event.
Ars Technica reached out to Apple for comment and will update this article if we hear back.
211 Reader Comments
I agree but the Samsung route of not including it in the box but offering a free one if requested seems like a good solution. Reduce e-waste without screwing over the customer who needs/ wants the charger.
Brazil under Bolsonaro... E-waste is the least of our worries.
I have two USB chargers that I use between 4+ devices. One by my bed, and one by my desk. I really don't need more chargers just so I can add another one to my box of old power adapters that I'm never going to use but can't make myself get rid of just in case I find a use for them one day. As if I'll ever find a device that takes 7.2V AC or need 15 USB chargers at once.
Last edited by Dark Pumpkin on Tue Sep 06, 2022 1:20 pm
Still, Brazil is wrong. They’re effectively forcing the consumer to buy a charger with every phone, whether they need one or not.
As opposed to when you put it in the box with the phone so that consumers pay for it.
I agree but the Samsung route of not including it in the box but offering a free one if requested seems like a good solution. Reduce e-waste without screwing over the customer who needs/ wants the charger.
Who pays when you give out "free" stuff? Samsung's other customers including all the people who are willing to use their existing chargers and kept them in good condition. It's a pretty basic tenet of environmentalism that you shouldn't be able to pollute "for free". If you want more metals and fossil fuels to be mined so that something can be produced and shipped to you, you should be willing to pay for it yourself.
I honestly think even a modest fee ($5, or some likewise small percentage in non-US markets) would be reasonable. If you actually need it, great! It's only 1% (less, in reality) of the device cost. If you don't, you're opted out by default. I wouldn't have held this opinion 10 or even 5 years ago, but chargers are pretty well proliferated at this point.
The small fee keeps the take rate down a little and reduces the waste and is not unduly burdensome to someone that does want the charger. It doesn't need to be a profit center - that *will* piss people off - but a little resistance to grabbing up another chunk of eventual electronic junk just because you can is a good idea to me.
I can see a counter-argument where it gets into margins, what Apple can afford, what we used to get "for free," etc, but I think that misses the point. The point is to reduce the waste, not collect things we can because we feel or felt entitled to them.
edit: clarified language & formatting
Last edited by Mechjaz on Tue Sep 06, 2022 1:47 pm
Edit: ninja'd by Mechjaz
Last edited by DaveSimmons on Tue Sep 06, 2022 1:27 pm
As opposed to when you put it in the box with the phone, in which case, consumers pay for it.
Apple would charge the same price with or without the charger included. So, I would say the consumer is already paying for it whether or not they actually get one. 230 million iPhones sold a year w/out chargers @ roughly $5.00 raw cost is another BILLION dollars towards the bottom line. It may very well be good intentions for Apple, but don't pretend this isn't also about the $$$.
Why not just pull all chargers from iPads and MacBooks? Most people probably have those chargers lying around as well...
edit: added time frame for 230 million iPhones
'"Therefore, it is understood that the price is mainly determined by commercial strategy instead of corresponding to production costs," the announcement said, as per Google's translation.'
Well, yeah. Was this written by someone who knows absolutely nothing about how pricing works, even from an academic perspective?
Please note: there are multiple chargers in use, these are the ones that aren't used at all.
They removed the charger but did not reduce the price. This is the problem. An official charger here costs a small pile of cash.
What makes you think so? Can a random charger charge a MacBook?
Is the sale volume of these as big as iPhones?
It *might* be a good idea anyway but not for the reasons you cite.
People are arguing that the companies doing this have less than no interest in the environmental benefits of removing chargers, and every interest in nickel-and-diming consumers to improve their margins.
The cheapest AC adapter Apple sells is $19 USD, and the cheapest cable is also $19. That's $38 extra you need to pay if you're buying an iPhone for the first time and don't already have a USB-C AC adapter (someone upgrading from an older Android phone won't necessarily).
If as a matter of good faith Apple had dropped the price of the iPhone by $20 when they announced that they were going to start removing chargers in the box, I think people would have had a very, very different reaction to the announcement.
Last edited by Turbofrog on Tue Sep 06, 2022 1:32 pm
They removed the charger but did not reduce the price. This is the problem. An official charger here costs a small pile of cash.
The solution seems wasteful regardless.
As opposed to when you put it in the box with the phone, in which case, consumers pay for it.
Apple would charge the same price with or without the charger included. So, I would say the consumer is already paying for it whether or not they actually get one. 230 million iPhones sold a year w/out chargers @ roughly $5.00 raw cost is another BILLION dollars towards the bottom line. It may very well be good intentions for Apple, but don't pretend this isn't also about the $$$.
Why not just pull all chargers from iPads and MacBooks? Most people probably have those chargers lying around as well...
edit: added time frame for 230 million iPhones
Coming soon: the iPhone 16 Box. $1200. Phone optional.
I agree but the Samsung route of not including it in the box but offering a free one if requested seems like a good solution. Reduce e-waste without screwing over the customer who needs/ wants the charger.
Who pays when you give out "free" stuff? Samsung's other customers including all the people who are willing to use their existing chargers and kept them in good condition. It's a pretty basic tenet of environmentalism that you shouldn't be able to pollute "for free". If you want more metals and fossil fuels to be mined so that something can be produced and shipped to you, you should be willing to pay for it yourself.
Again, the issue seems to be the fact there wasn't a price decrease from removing part of the product that does cost quite a lot if you want to buy them from the manufacturer instead of some shady low-quality stuff.
They removed the charger but did not reduce the price. This is the problem. An official charger here costs a small pile of cash.
The solution seems wasteful regardless.
The solution is Apple stop being assholes and reducing the price of their product accordingly. Consumer protection got it amazingly right this time. They are just saying if Apple wants to sell iphones without the charger then they should price it accordingly.
Please note: there are multiple chargers in use, these are the ones that aren't used at all.
And yet my household has almost no unused chargers that are still serviceable at this point (to the point that we had to scrounge hard through all the drawers to find some 2A adapters for some USB-powered LED plant grow lights we bought).
If you have a lot of these still, it probably also points to buying a large quantity of consumer electronics in general. The surplus charger pile here is the tip of the iceberg in terms of the environmental impact, but that huge quantity of consumer electronics that the chargers were included with are the real invisible problem.
Basically, if you're the kind of person that is worried about Apple including chargers in the box, you should probably also take a good look at your lifestyle and make a general habit of consuming less, and it will have a far greater impact on the environment.
Last edited by Turbofrog on Tue Sep 06, 2022 1:47 pm
Coming soon: the iPhone 16 Box. $1200. Phone optional.
They do have nice boxes….
Why? Was Apple planning on a small price cut to go along with excluding the charger?
Hu? I'm charging my iPhone with an Anker PowerPort Atom III using its USB-C port. Pumps a whopping 27W in my iPhone.
What makes you think so? Can a random charger charge a MacBook?
Is the sale volume of these as big as iPhones?
It *might* be a good idea anyway but not for the reasons you cite.
Yes. A random (reputable) USB-C charger can 100% charge a MacBook w/out issue.
I mean, this would be fine if apple didn't change them for what feels like every 3 years.
You mean the same Lightning charger that’s about to celebrate its 10th birthday? That’s some serious time dilation…
The solution is Apple stop being assholes and reducing the price of their product accordingly. Consumer protection got it amazingly right this time. They are just saying if Apple wants to sell iphones without the charger then they should price it accordingly.
That’s not the solution Brazil went with.
A non-Apple MFI $5 USB-A -> Lightning cable works fine with an charge you already own..
'"Therefore, it is understood that the price is mainly determined by commercial strategy instead of corresponding to production costs," the announcement said, as per Google's translation.'
Well, yeah. Was this written by someone who knows absolutely nothing about how pricing works, even from an academic perspective?
It's an attempt at illuminating the bad faith of these companies for the general public who are almost certainly not aware of how pricing works, even from an academic perspective.
The burden was *always* on the customer.
All not force-bundling an adapter does is give the consumer a choice to not buy one (or buy a different one) if they so choose.
It's not saving the consumer money... the costs are passed on. (yes, I know pricing isn't that straight-forward)
Plus: I got more adapters than I know what to do with (and I charge wirelessly anyway). This is created unneeded e-waste.
Last edited by JerryLove on Tue Sep 06, 2022 1:44 pm
Please note: there are multiple chargers in use, these are the ones that aren't used at all.
Add about 100% to 200% to the price you pay for each of those chargers if you want a brand new and sum them all. You'll have the value of this box here. Then imagine the manufacturer selling you the phones without the chargers and not reducing the price so you'll have to buy them eventually either because they fail or because they don't fast charge. Imagine.
Apple: *checks couch cushions* Here you go!
Edit: ninja'd by Mechjaz
This seems like a strange concept. Are phone mfgs going to sit on a warehouse of chargers that they paid money to mfg or are the chargers going to be built to order upon request? This is a solved problem. Include a charger in the box and stop "passing the cost on to consumers". Consumers who, in Dead-End Capitalism, don't have the benefit of passing their costs on to anyone.
The same approach taken to all other parts, from the phones themselves to spare parts for repairs.
It's hardly new.
You must login or create an account to comment.