iPhone 11, XR, and SE No Longer Come With EarPods and Power Adapter But USB-C to Lightning Cable Included

Apple's new iPhone 12 models don't come with EarPods or a power adapter in the box in order to save on packaging materials to reduce environmental impact, and following today's event, Apple has removed the power adapter and EarPods from the box for all other ‌iPhone‌ models as well.

iphonesewhatsinthebox
As was rumored this morning, the ‌iPhone‌ 11, XR, and SE will no longer be shipped with power adapters or EarPods, much like the ‌iPhone‌ 12 models. This will allow Apple to use new, slimmer packaging.

All of the ‌iPhone‌ models will, however, come with a USB-C to Lightning cable, an upgrade from the standard USB-A to Lightning cable that used to be included.

Despite rumors that Apple would introduce a Lightning cable with a braided design, that did not happen, and iPhones new and old ship with a standard Apple-designed rubber USB-C to Lightning cable.

Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

iOS 26

iOS 26.4 and iOS 27 Features Revealed in New Leak

Friday December 12, 2025 10:56 am PST by
Macworld's Filipe Espósito today revealed a handful of features that Apple is allegedly planning for iOS 26.4, iOS 27, and even iOS 28. The report said the features are referenced within the code for a leaked internal build of iOS 26 that is not meant to be seen by the public. However, it appears that Espósito and/or his sources managed to gain access to it, providing us with a sneak peek...
apple beta 26 lineup

Apple Leak Confirms Work on Foldable iPhone, AirTag 2, and Dozens More Devices

Monday December 15, 2025 2:05 pm PST by
Last week, details about unreleased Apple devices and future iOS features were shared by Macworld. This week, we learned where the information came from, plus we have more findings from the leak. As it turns out, an Apple prototype device running an early build of iOS 26 was sold, and the person who bought it shared the software. The OS has a version number of 23A5234w, and the first...
Apple Logo Top Half

Early iOS 26 Software Leak Uncovers Dozens of Upcoming Apple Features

Monday December 15, 2025 3:05 pm PST by
Software from an iPhone prototype running an early build of iOS 26 leaked last week, giving us a glimpse at future Apple devices and iOS features. We recapped device codenames in our prior article, and now we have a list of some of the most notable feature flags that were found in the software code. In some cases, it's obvious what the feature flags are referring to, while some are more...
Apple Foldable Thumb

Leak Reveals Foldable iPhone Details

Monday December 15, 2025 9:09 am PST by
The first foldable iPhone will feature a series of design and hardware firsts for Apple, according to details shared by the Weibo leaker known as Digital Chat Station. According to a new post, via machine translation, Apple is developing what the leaker describes as a "wide foldable" device, a term used to refer to a horizontally oriented, book-style foldable with a large internal display....
iOS 26

Apple Releases iOS 26.2 With Alarms for Reminders, Lock Screen Changes, Enhanced Safety Alerts and More

Friday December 12, 2025 10:10 am PST by
Apple today released iOS 26.2, the second major update to the iOS 26 operating system that came out in September, iOS 26.2 comes a little over a month after iOS 26.1 launched. ‌iOS 26‌.2 is compatible with the ‌iPhone‌ 11 series and later, as well as the second-generation ‌iPhone‌ SE. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones over-the-air by going to Settings >...
iOS 26

iOS 26.2 Coming Soon With These 8 New Features on Your iPhone

Thursday December 11, 2025 8:49 am PST by
Apple seeded the second iOS 26.2 Release Candidate to developers earlier this week, meaning the update will be released to the general public very soon. Apple confirmed iOS 26.2 would be released in December, but it did not provide a specific date. We expect the update to be released by early next week. iOS 26.2 includes a handful of new features and changes on the iPhone, such as a new...
macOS Tahoe 26 Thumb

Apple Releases macOS Tahoe 26.2 With Edge Light

Friday December 12, 2025 10:08 am PST by
Apple today released macOS Tahoe 26.2, the second major update to the macOS Tahoe operating system that came out in September. macOS Tahoe 26.2 comes five weeks after Apple released macOS Tahoe 26.1. Mac users can download the macOS Tahoe update by using the Software Update section of System Settings. macOS Tahoe 26.2 includes Edge Light, a feature that illuminates your face with soft...
airpods max 2024 colors

AirPods Max 2 Likely to Offer These 10 New Features

Monday December 15, 2025 7:41 am PST by
Apple released the AirPods Max on December 15, 2020, meaning the over-ear headphones launched five years ago today. While the AirPods Max were updated with a USB-C port and new color options last year, followed by support for lossless audio and ultra-low latency audio this year, the headphones lack some of the features that have been introduced for newer generations of the regular AirPods and the ...

Top Rated Comments

eneisch Avatar
68 months ago
This was a little weird to me. They get rid of the USB A cable, but most iPhone users have more USB A iPhone charging cubes then have USB C charging cubes.
Score: 39 Votes (Like | Disagree)
IsaacM Avatar
68 months ago
Let me get this straight:

- they removed USB A charger because "customers already own it" and they wanna save the planet
- then they proceed to ship the phone with a USB C cable.


???
Score: 31 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MacFan782040 Avatar
68 months ago
Apple: "We care about the environment and the billions of cables and chargers out there."

Also Apple: "Everything is USB-C now so you're gonna have to replace that cable and charger you already have."
Score: 28 Votes (Like | Disagree)
justperry Avatar
68 months ago
They should've included a USB-C to A Dongle with all models.
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Andres Cantu Avatar
68 months ago
Great, now we’ll have to order those separately at our work. Thanks Apple, passing the costs to businesses.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BootsWalking Avatar
68 months ago
"..in order to save on packaging materials to reduce environmental impact"

Another way to reduce the environmental impact is to stop millions of previous-generations iPhones from being thrown into a land fill every year from Apple needing to feed their voracious corporate income monster with new phone models every 12 months.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)