Ryan-Thomas Shaw / Android Authority
Roger Fingas
In October 2020, Apple decided to abandon the power adapter not only from the iPhone 12 series, but also from all future iPhones, which made headlines. Samsung has joined flagship stores like S21 to ensure that this decision will have a wide-ranging impact. Will these policies soon become industry standards, forcing every new smartphone user to buy basic accessories on top of increasingly expensive hardware?
First, let’s review and talk about motivation. During the iPhone 12 conference, Apple did a lot of work in reducing its environmental impact, which is undeniable. Any type of electronic products require minerals and plastics, which deprive the earth of limited resources, not to mention the pollution generated by the supply chain. Fewer accessories can reduce packaging, thereby saving resources such as trees and making transportation more environmentally friendly. This is offset to a certain extent by the additional materials and supply chain required for third-party accessories, but as long as people do not increase their purchases, the logic will be verified.
However, the reality is that Apple and Samsung do not provide free adapters (or related earplugs) to shoppers who need them. They charge full price and don’t even discount their phones to compensate. Obviously, profit margins are the main motivation, if not the main motivation, for abandoning bundled accessories.
Where will Apple and Samsung go?

Eric Zeman/Android Authority
The decision to abandon the power adapter means that the only thing currently included in Apple and Samsung phones is the cable. Of course, as far as Apple is concerned, it is a Lightning cable, which further limits practicality. Apple withstood the pressure to switch the iPhone to USB-C-this may be the strongest argument against its environmental stance. Proprietary ports mean that customers must purchase separate proprietary accessories.
Looking ahead to the next few years, people speculate that Apple will completely remove the port. It showed the “courage” to abandon the 3.5mm headphone jack on the iPhone 7 in 2016, and has since become the wireless charging standard, even if the recharge time lags behind many Android devices. The Lightning port continues to provide multiple functions-CarPlay, accessories, faster charging and iTunes synchronization-but it is easy to imagine Apple claiming that wireless is the future everyone needs. It will allow the company to remove all bundled accessories, cut component costs, and clean up the internal design space of the iPhone.
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For more than a decade, Samsung has been imitating Apple, so if the iPhone really doesn’t have a port, it may not be too far behind. However, the possibility of jumping in with both feet is unlikely. Most of Samsung’s mobile revenue comes from markets where people tend to budget models and don’t necessarily afford wireless accessories. It is expected that high-end phones in the Note and Galaxy S series will be the first to go on the market.
Even Apple may try some kind of step-wise approach, at least keeping the old iPhone equipped with Lightning while the updated model achieves a leap. In theory, it can retain portless technology for Pro phones, but if every new model is on board, it may be easier to encourage adoption.
What about the rest of the smartphone market?

Dhruv Bhutani / Android Authority
Due to budget-conscious demographics, without some bundled accessories, let alone portless devices, it is difficult to sell to the masses on mobile phones. The latter may require technologies such as 5G and high-speed Qi charging to feel seamless-and these technologies are not yet popular in Europe or North America, forget about the rest of the world.
Cost savings and the influence of Apple and Samsung are hard to resist, so the long-term trend is to decline in accessories.
Even if Apple and Samsung are in the lead, other industries may take years to follow up, and there is no guarantee of a complete transition. Bundles can be a competitive advantage, as OnePlus Nord 2 has proven, it reverses the trend of abandoning power adapters and other accessories by including not only a USB-C cable and charger, but also a protective case and screen protector. . In France, it even comes with wired earplugs. Xiaomi does not provide a charger in China, but it does provide a charger for free and bundles the accessories with the global version of Xiaomi 11.
Cost savings and the influence of Apple and Samsung are hard to resist, so the long-term trend is to decline in accessories. It is safe to say that when they all disappear, everything becomes irrelevant. Consumer response will slow down this process, hoping that when the last cable is taken out of the smartphone box, wireless technology will become better and more common.