I honestly can't be mad at this point because what they SHOULD do is sell cables in bulk packaging to the Apple store, and then when they sell a phone they say "Do you need a USB cable? Free with the phone." If they say "No we're okay I've got hundreds of them by now" no problem, if they say "Yeah in fact can I get two?" Sure. Same with chargers. Of course this is Apple we're talking about, so they're probably $69.99 each.

Now, Apple might argue that they’re being environmentally conscious by reducing packaging waste. That’s a fair point,

It isn't... That's like not flushing the toilet in a public bathroom to "save water"

Apple: As long as we can gaslight you into thinking we're classy, we can do whatever the fuck we want

They should remove the USB-C ports, so you have to send it back to Apple for charging

Final step would be to remove the phone from the box. They would do world a favor.

fear not you can buy an apple magic connector for just $60

Why even have a box at this point? Just put the phone in the mail by itself, it's durable right?

Now it’s just a fuck you at this point

Important to note that they removed the cable from the AirPod 4’s box, not the iPhone’s. They are also not the first company to do this.

Next up: you have to buy the box first, which is empty. Then you can buy the phone. No box? No phone.

For me this would mostly be a non-issue. I’ve got enough extra USB-C cables that I don’t even unwrap the ones Apple has been shipping. Not to mention that I’m pretty used to charging my AirPods via MagSafe these days anyway.

When do they start removing the phones from the boxes?

Frankly, I don't see much of a problem with this.

They'll sell the "Apple" charging cable for $40 or something fucking insane, but as long as you can buy and use a normal USB-C cable that does exactly the same thing, go for it.

Of course being Apple, they will probably void the warranty or add an identifier to their cables so that nothing else works. In that case, I hope the EU bankrupts them completely.

2030: After headphone jacks, Apple removes USB-C charging ports in favor of wireless charging.

Once the phone runs out of battery, send it to warranty repair

They are a huge tech company. They should have a checkbox in the checkout flow that lets you add a free cable if you need one.

But what about ... new users entering the Apple ecosystem?

What ecosystem do they think people are coming from where they didn’t already have a USB C cable or wireless charger?

EDIT: This refers only to the new Airpods, not to iPhones. iPhones still come with a charging cable.

Yet more proof that Apple has ceased to be an innovator that adds features to phones and now takes things away and leaves it to fans to make up justifications for it.

Are we running out of things to get mad about?