Until now, our French neighbors still got the Apple EarPods when they bought an iPhone 13, unlike here and in the rest of the world. But that magnanimity is now ending – for good reason.
Update from January 24, 2022: So far, Apple still had to include headphones with French customers with the iPhone 13 and all other cell phone models, so this generosity was required by law with our neighbors. But this is now changing.
From now on applies new law to reduce the ecological footprint of digital technology. This removes the previous obligation to enclose the headphones, so Apple no longer has to provide them free of charge (source: Consomac). Even if the manufacturer has not yet mentioned this fact on its own website, the dealers have already been informed about it. Accordingly, for example, the chain Fnac informs in its own shops that the headphones will no longer be included with the iPhone from the week of January 24th (i.e. today).
Original article:
Apple made short work of it last year. If you buy a new iPhone, you will not receive a power supply unit or the usual headphones. The only thing left in the packaging is a USB‑C to Lightning cable. This does not change with the iPhone 13 either, but there is one exception.
Only in France: iPhone 13 with free headphones
Namely who If you buy an iPhone 13 in France, you still get the original, wired EarPods (Lightning version) worth 19 euros free of charge (Source: MacRumors). With the iPhone 12, Apple was already forced to upgrade the scope of delivery of its cell phones accordingly. However, the manufacturer does not do this voluntarily, because according to the law he is obliged to do so.
The background: The French state wants to protect children under the age of 14 from possible electromagnetic radiation. Therefore, the option of an included “hands-free device” must be retained. The wired EarPods meet this legal standard.
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What is well-intentioned for the children is, on the other hand, harmful to the environment. Not only are headphones put into circulation that may not be used at all, Apple is also producing more packaging waste again. It’s a bit bizarre that Apple is celebrating the iPhone 13’s particularly space- and resource-saving outer packaging, only to then put it in a larger box that also contains the EarPods. In short: In France, the iPhone 13 is now boxed twice, as the original box no longer leaves room for the headphones.
However, the following applies: only a small price advantage
By the way, anyone who is now planning to buy an iPhone 13 in France should note the following point. Probably also because of the higher VAT, Apple charges a little more for the cell phone there – 10 euros, to be exact. So on paper you would achieve a price advantage of 9 euros. If you now consider that the EarPods do not cost much more than 13 euros in stores (view at Amazon), then the advantage is currently shrinking to around 3 euros.