Here's how Apple is shipping EarPods with iPhone 12 orders in France

Credit: TheiCollection

As part of its environmental efforts, Apple stopped shipping EarPods and power adapters with new phone orders worldwide. The only exception is France, where local regulations appear to require the bundling of EarPods with cellular devices.

New iPhone boxes without accessories are thinner than past packaging, however. But instead of shipping larger boxes in a single country, Apple appears to be including actual iPhone boxes within a larger box that includes the EarPods, according to YouTube channel TheiCollection.

It's a fairly elegant solution, since iPhone devices are produced and packaged en masse, which would make it difficult and inefficient to ship different boxes within an individual country. The specific law in France that requires bundled headphones relates to a regulation aimed at limiting exposure to radio-electrical emissions.

Along with the new iPhone 12 models, Apple also stopped shipping audio and charging accessories with any iPhone that it currently sells itself — including the iPhone SE, iPhone 11, and iPhone XR.

Apple's iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro are currently shipping in France and other countries across the globe. The iPhone 12 Pro Max and iPhone 12 mini models, however, will become available for preorder on Nov. 6.