EarPods WILL NOT Be Included With iPhone 12: Is It True?

An in-depth look at Apple’s strategy in 2020.

A report from Ming-Chi Kuo, one of the most reputable Apple leaker has mentioned that Apple will remove the included EarPods (Apple’s wired earphone) inside the box for the upcoming iPhone 12. Well, is it necessary for Apple to do that?

I believe that most of you knew Apple for their bold move by removing a feature on their flagship smartphone each year. Before moving further, let’s recap what Apple did in the past.

Apple’s history of removing/replacing features

In 2016, Apple did start the trend by removing the 3.5 mm headphone jack on iPhone 7. They claimed that the headphone jack was an ancient technology and it doesn’t make sense to keep a technology that only had a single purpose. Obviously, the introduction of a new true-wireless earphone, which called “AirPods” was the main reason, which helps Apple boost sales and increase their revenue. Indeed, the AirPods suddenly become one of the best-selling true-wireless earphones in the world, regardless of the $159 price tag.

In 2017, Apple introduced the iPhone X, which they claimed as the future of smartphones with the edge-to-edge design and a tiny notch. With this new design, they have to remove the Touch ID fingerprint scanner and introduce a new facial recognition called Face ID. This immediately causes controversy to some people. Face ID took longer to authenticate, compare to Touch ID, which unlocks instantly. Others said that Face ID is less secure than Touch ID, regardless of what Apple marketed as a secure way of authentication.

With the introduction of iPhone Xs and Xʀ in 2018, Apple once again removed a feature, which is the included lightning to headphone jack adapter inside the box. This is not a big deal for some people since they can still use the included EarPods with a lightning adapter, but not for people that often use their headphone jack accessories.

The latest iPhones: 11 and 11 Pro was gaining a controversy in the removal of a fundamental feature: 3D Touch. It was introduced in iPhone 6s throughout iPhone Xs, a feature that detects pressure sensitivity on the screen, allowing users to expand the usability with quick actions, multitasking and adjusting the keyboard cursor. The iPhone 11 and 11 Pro had this feature removed and replaced by a new Haptic Touch (First introduce in iPhone Xʀ). It allows people to do the same thing as 3D Touch using a long-press gesture, instead of applying pressure. Many people that used to have 3D Touch iPhone wasn’t very happy with the replacement since Haptic Touch takes longer to perform these tasks.

So what will happen in 2020?

As we are closer to the launch of the 2020 iPhones, which rumoured to be in September, is it true that Apple will remove the included EarPods?

If it is true, why is that?

AirPods. Yes, the same reason why Apple removed the 3.5 mm headphone jack on iPhone 7.

News and leak sources mentioned that this move helps Apple in boosting the sales of their AirPods. AirPods sales had been off the chart since the introduction, from 15 million units sold in 2016 to 60 million units in 2019, thanks to the introduction of the AirPods Pro. When the basic and the pro model combined in sales, Apple gains $12 billion in 2019, which contributes almost 2% of Apple’s total revenue.

Kuo also believes that Apple will release another version of AirPods Pro, that is more affordable and reaches more customer segments. He mentioned that Apple has a projected 80 million pairs sold in 2020, which means that the projected revenue soar up to $13 billion. It’s just $6 billion less compare to the iPad total revenue at $19 billion.

This ambitious move by Apple is not the first one. Google did it first with their latest flagship, the Pixel 4 which doesn’t include the earphone and adapter inside the box. Most people were not happy with this move since the phone itself is expensive and lacks a fundamental feature that competes with its other flagships. In particular, Google also follows Apple’s strategy by introducing a new wireless earphone, the Pixel Buds. Still, it didn’t quite beat the AirPods sales and popularity.

Hence, if Google didn’t succeed with this transition, will Apple try doing the same thing this year? It’s still a mystery until the launch of the new iPhone 12, but people believe that Apple will be more successful than what Google did. The reason being, AirPods market is more matured than Pixel Buds and has a better market reputation. Matter of fact, the sales figure from previous years explains how successful AirPods is.

This is a reasonable answer to it, but there’s more.

As people owned their audio accessories, either wired or wireless, the removal of the included EarPods seems to create a lesser controversy compared in 2016. Besides, another rumour suggests that Apple will introduce a lower starting price of the iPhone 12, which is $649, with a new form factor, OLED display and much more. This price is lower than the current iPhone 11 with a $699 price tag. With Apple making some sacrifices in the accessories department and making the iPhone with more features, I didn’t see the point why people should be upset with the removal of the wired EarPods.

We still have a few months until the release of the new iPhone 12 and let’s see if this rumour happens to be true.

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Christopher Reno Budiman is a writer, explorer and entrepreneur-minded person. He received Bachelor of Business (Hospitality Management) and Bachelor of International Hospitality Management with Swiss Hotel Association accreditation. He’s on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn if you would like to know more about him.