Taiwanese Carriers Believe iPhone 12 Sales Will Be Highest Since iPhone 6

I've basically been waiting since the iPhone X for an iPhone SE (org) sized full screen phone, and the iPhone 12 mini is basically that. Whether or not I'll actually get it, or wait for the inevitable version with both touchID and faceID, ... I don't know yet.

Not to mention year by year they have been doing sneaky stuff like removing headphone jack, decreasing battery capacity, making things harder to repair and then removing earphones/ wall adapter all in the name of “courage”/“save the environment” when it’s ultimately to profit from their user base.

I'll admit I'm a little fanboyish, but have also experienced my fair share of rage at their decisions sometimes. Their explanation for not including a power brick or headphones though... makes sense. I have stacks of unopened headphones behind me on my bookshelf. Our house is littered with power bricks and USB cables, I still have fresh, unused cables from products a year or two ago. There's definitely a lot of e-waste generated every upgrade cycle and a lot of fluff distributed with each iPhone.

If you can afford to buy such an expensive phone, you're likely also able to afford a US$19 power brick, assuming you don't have one you can re-use from the prior phone.

I'm not sure why you want to poke around inside your phone, but I certainly don't want to and accidentally break something. But I wouldn't mind a slightly thicker, heavier phone, if it had a larger battery.

As for the headphone jack... never going to miss that. My bluetooth headphones are great thanks.

Why do people feel the need to upgrade?
I’m with a XR and will happily sit this one out, will only consider once Apple offers a TouchID+ FaceID combo alternative or better refresh rate on their phone.
Plus it’s the pandemic so save the money for rainy days.

For me, better cameras.

Every year they are promoting better cameras. Next year will probably be the same.

Not to mention year by year they have been doing sneaky stuff like removing headphone jack, decreasing battery capacity, making things harder to repair and then removing earphones/ wall adapter all in the name of “courage”/“save the environment” when it’s ultimately to profit from their user base.

Firstly, every year they are providing better cameras. They aren’t promoting something they’re not doing. If you need a camera better than the one you currently have, and you have the money, what’s the big deal? Everyone has to decide their own reasoning for upgrading or not.

Secondly, your latter paragraph is full of loaded language and cynical assumptions:

How is anything you listed that Apple has done been “sneaky?” They release a product, and you figure out if you need it or not. If a headphone jack makes or breaks you, buy another device. There’s no anti-farkingdom conspiracy at Apple.

As far as “battery capacity” it is only one part of the equation. What you should care about is battery life. Bench-racing the specs on phones with different processors and different operating systems is for fools and children.

When it comes to removing the power transformer and EarPods from the box, they said they were doing exactly that in the midddle of a heavily-advertised presentation to the public - so I don’t know how much less sneaky they could’ve made it. In any case, I doubt you can speak in an informed way about Apple and their motivation. It is entirely possible that they are saving money and benefiting the planet in one fell swoop.

i beg to differ. yes, these will still sell like crack but iphone 6 was a complete redesign and that’s why so many people bought one.

Their explanation for not including a power brick or headphones though... makes sense. I have stacks of unopened headphones behind me on my bookshelf. Our house is littered with power bricks and USB cables, I still have fresh, unused cables from products a year or two ago. There's definitely a lot of e-waste generated every upgrade cycle and a lot of fluff distributed with each iPhone.

Exactly.

When Apple sells 200 million iPhones in a year... that's 200 million power bricks that they have to produce... and 200 million sets of headphones too... every year... whether you want them or not!!!

And if we expand beyond Apple... there are 1.5 billion smartphones sold every year... with charging bricks and headphones included! EVERY YEAR!!!

That's completely ridiculous.

I know Apple is getting a lot of flack for this... but I support what they're doing. And I hope this trend continues industry-wide.

Let ME decide which power brick I want and I will make that purchase on my own. I prefer to have better multi-port chargers from Anker since I like to charge more than one thing at a time. I also have multi-port 12-Volt chargers in my cars that Apple doesn't even offer.

So... I don't need to purchase any additional charging gear for my new iPhone 12 since I already have plenty of chargers and cables that I'm currently using today. And I'm sure there are many other people like me.

Of course we will hear about some people who buy an iPhone 12 and have ZERO ways to charge it out of the box. They will be a vocal group, shouting "WTF APPLE!" every chance they get. But I imagine they are a VERY small number of users overall.

So while this is definitely a risk for Apple... I still support their decision to remove chargers and headphones from the box. And I hope other companies follow in this direction.

There is simply no need to produce billions of chargers and headphone every year.