EU Gets What It Asked For, There Is No Charger in the Macbook Pro Box
Posted3 months agoActive3 months ago
appleinsider.comTechstory
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AppleEU RegulationsSustainability
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EU Regulations
Sustainability
The new MacBook Pro no longer includes a charger in the box, as per EU regulations aimed at reducing electronic waste, sparking debate among users about the practicality and environmental impact of this decision.
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Although USB-C chargers are extremely ubiquitous, the ones capable of charging laptops in a reasonable period of time are not nearly as common. It’s pretty hard to find a charger that is so bad it can’t charge a phone in a few hours (and, most phones are charged overnight anyways). But usage patterns for laptop charging are, in my experience, more opportunistic, so you tend to plug in temporarily and want to get a good charge within the hour (or less) while also using the device.
The people in most need of new chargers are those buying their "first" of a product category. A first phone, a first laptop, a first gaming laptop. Which is also why Apple bundles chargers with their entry-level devices like the Macbook Air and the base iPad, but not their higher-end ones.
All my 3 laptops I've had since USB-C has become decently common didn't come with a USB-C charger themselves. Only the newest can actually charge via USB-C but even with my own 100W charger it is decently slow compared to the charger it came with. But then again it might have something to do with the fact I keep buying gaming laptops :)
And while they might not be common exactly, they are pretty available - and I can only assume more so when shops realise that Apple buyers will need a charger and they can easily find cheaper chargers with more features than the official one.
But that's not the case. It's just another way they can milk their consumers out of their money. Of course they will use the EU law as an excuse, and naive is the person who believes Apple is speaking the truth. The reality is, they want to profit from it.
Guess Apple idea is that you would return old and buy a new laptop each time the battery is empty