Students In China Sue Apple For Not Providing IPhone 12 With A Charger

JAKARTA - A group of students in China sued Apple because they were not satisfied with the product they received, where they complained that when they bought the iPhone 12, Apple did not provide a charging adapter.

According to a report by the Shanghai Law Journal, students sued Apple in court to provide an iPhone 12 Pro Max power adapter that one of the students purchased, paying $16 for breach of contract and covering legal costs.

The student admitted that the USB-C to Lightning cable that came with the iPhone 12 Pro Max was not compatible with other chargers on the market. Hence, they were unable to charge their new iPhone as advertised on Apple's website.

Reporting from Neowin, Thursday, October 28, students against Apple say that the company doesn't give it a choice like Chinese phone makers, which are currently giving consumers a choice whether to include a charger or not.

On Apple's own website, UK for example, after adding an iPhone to a shopping cart, shoppers will be offered the option to add accessories. Like the MagSafe wireless charging shown first and at the bottom of the page is the USB-C power adapter. However, this is not provided for free, the buyer has to pay extra fees.

The students believe that Apple has cheated by releasing free chargers, not for environmental reasons, but encouraging people to buy MagSafe chargers and they point out that wireless charging is less efficient than wired charging.

Therefore, the students stated that Apple really doesn't care about the environment as it claims.

Apple did start shipping its iPhones without a power adapter or earphones in 2020 to help reduce waste, reduce the amount of packaging used, and potentially help keep the cost of its phones lower than they would otherwise be. But this decision also reaps pros and cons.

However, Apple's move is pretty much followed by several smartphone vendors. They opted for a model where most people would still have a compatible charger from their previous phone purchase and waste would be reduced.

Apple is also facing pressure in other countries over iPhone chargers. Earlier this year, Brazil's consumer protection agency imposed a fine of nearly $2 million on Apple for selling the iPhone 12 series without a charger.

If Apple wants to reduce wastage even further, it can remove the USB-C to Lightning cable and simply replace the iPhone's connector with USB-C. Previously reported, the European Union's ongoing efforts have also been launched to force all mobile phone manufacturers to use USB-C.