Rumors of a missing iPhone 12 feature have seemingly been confirmed by Apple's newly revealed Apple Watch 6 and Apple Watch SE.
As we learned yesterday at Apple's Time Flies event, neither of the new Apple smartwatches come with chargers, although the charging cradle and cable are still included. This has been done in the name of reducing the impact of Apple's new products on the environment.
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Rumors of the iPhone 12 losing its in-box charger and wired EarPods first emerged a few months ago, again with the rationale that it's good for the environment. But with Apple's most recent move, and respected Apple leaker Mark Gurman also claiming no chargers for the iPhone 12, the evidence is now impossible to ignore.
There it is: Apple removing USB power adapters from Apple Watch. Next month: iPhone.September 15, 2020
While it sounds crazy that you could buy a 2020 flagship phone that doesn’t have such a simple accessory included, a charging block is not as essential an inclusion as you might think.
First off, all you really need to charge the iPhone is a cable. And it looks like Apple will still include them as such cables are bundled in with the new Apple Watches. Whether the other end of the Lightning cable is USB-A or USB-C, you should easily find somewhere to plug it in to power-up, such as your last phone’s charger, and get the iPhone's basic 5W charging speed.
However, it is unfortunate if you want to use Apple’s fast charging option, and don’t already own a fast charger. That'll cost you another $29 today if you want the official Apple charging brick, although you could likely find cheaper options if you look around.
There's always the option to wirelessly charge at 5W too. In fact, this may be the direction Apple ends up focussing on in the near future. Rumors for the iPhone 13 have suggested that the 2021 iPhone won't have a Lightning connector, but will use only wireless charging to power up.
That's still a year away, though. For now, we have the iPhone 12's launch event to look forward to in October. Not only will we be seeing the four new iPhone models, featuring upgrades like 5G compatibility, A14 Bionic chipsets, and LiDAR sensors on the Pro models, but also some new products like the AirTags trackers.
