Students from China sue Apple for the iPhone 12's lack of charger

A couple of students from China have filed a lawsuit against Apple. The lawsuit is regarding Apple not including a charger in the iPhone 12 Pro Max’s package. According to the Shanghai Law Journal, the students claim the included USB-C to Lightning cable wasn’t compatible with the chargers they had, making for false advertising in Apple’s waste reduction campaign. The lack of a charger resulted in one student being unable to charge their phone.

Reportedly, Apple told the Beijing virtual court that plenty of phone brands don’t include chargers in the box and sell them separately and that this has now become common practice. In response to that the students claim that plenty of Chinese phone manufacturers give the option to include the charger before purchasing. This is true, as you can buy plenty of Xiaomi phones with or without a charging brick. Actually, before the iPhone 12 release most smartphones came with a charger in the box, so it is safe to assume this trend is Apple's fault.

The students also say they don’t believe in Apple’s waste reduction policy goals. According to them, this was an excuse to promote MagSafe wireless chargers. They said those types of chargers are actually less efficient and consume more energy than their wired counterparts. The students want Apple to pay their legal fees, supply them with a compatible charger, and give 100 yuan ($16) for breach of contract.


The case could lead to Apple offering the charger on checkout in some countries like China. However, bringing back the charging brick in the box of the iPhone is something that seems highly unlikely at this point.

Recently, Apple has been under a lot of pressure in countries like Brazil and France which claim the removal of the charging brick and the Apple earbuds from the iPhone's package isn’t justified. The Cupertino company is also under pressure for the iPhone’s Lightning port from the European Union. The union claims the iPhone should adopt USB-C like the rest of the phone brands as this way it will comply with waste policies.