Apple has managed to dramatically scale down the packaging for the iPhone 12 because the superfluous charger and EarPods have been cut from the team. However, that isn’t quite the case in France
Because of a health and safety law across the channel, Apple is still shipping the iPhone 12 with the EarPods headphones. As a result, Apple has decided to place the iPhone 12 box within a box.
The French authorities recommend using headphones when making calls due to fears over electromagnetic radiation, so Apple is compelled to include a pair with its latest smartphone.
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The somewhat clunky anomaly emerged in a hands-on video published by French YouTuber TheiCollection, which you can see below:
Without the need for the headphones and the mains adapter, the iPhone 12 box looks decidedly sleek. All that remains beyond the handset is the Lightning cable, a SIM tray tool and the trusty Apple logo sticker.
The change has enabled Apple to fit 70% more handsets on a shipping pallet, which is an important part of its strategy to go completely carbon neutral by 2030. The company has pledged to hit net-zero emissions worldwide within the next decade, 20 years sooner than the IPCC target.
Of course, the company is also saving a massive amount of unnecessary plastic by nixing the mains plug and EarPods, which will hopefully see a reduction in the amount of e-waste that ends up in landfill every year. If you still feel the need to grab another plug and some decidedly sub-par earphones, Apple has reduced them both by £10/$10.
“We hope others will follow, making this impact even bigger for our planet,” says the leader of Apple’s environmental efforts Lisa Jackson. Unfortunately, using two boxes in France is a bit of a setback on that front.
Are you upset Apple has nixed some of the accessories from the iPhone 12 box? Let us know @trustedreviews on Twitter.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
