Photo reveals Apple's plastic wrap-free iPhone 13 packaging

As part of new environmental efforts announced on Tuesday, Apple said it will cut down on the material used in iPhone 13's packaging by removing the outer plastic wrap that typically enshrines the device in its box.

Apple's new packaging process was apparently revealed ahead of wide availability in an image posted to Twitter by leaker "DuanRui" on Thursday.

The photo shows an iPhone 13 package sealed with a sticker that integrates a pull tab to keep the box secure until ready to be opened. It appears that the protective label attaches to an inside section of the box top and the outer area of the box bottom.

This solution effectively keeps the box securely closed during transit and acts as a tamper-evident seal.

Apple has applied a similar tear-away system to its first-party accessories for years, with plastic stickers first appearing on small items like cables and later Apple Watch bands. Paper-based labels like the one used on iPhone 13's packaging are typically reserved for larger accessories with two-part rigid boxes.

According to Apple, the switch away from plastic wrap will avoid 600 metric tons of waste, presumably over the device's lifetime. The company has committed to removing plastic from its packaging by 2025.

Apple highlights other environmentally friendly aspects of iPhone 13 on its website, noting the handset uses 100% recycled rare earth elements in magnets, 100% recycled tin in the solder of its main logic board and battery management unit, 100% recycled gold in the plating of the main logic board and camera wire, and upcycled plastic water bottles for the dielectric material that composes iPhone's antenna lines.

Preorders for iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro went live early Friday ahead of wide release on Sept. 24.

21 Comments

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macxpress 16 Years · 5914 comments

About 3 years ago

Pretty soon it will ship without the phone to save on packaging and the environment...

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mobird 20 Years · 758 comments

Great! When can we expect another price reduction by Apple for this cost saving measure?
First we had the price reduction due to the elimination of the earphones and the 5w charger...
/s

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OutdoorAppDeveloper 15 Years · 1292 comments

I do like putting the beautiful Apple boxes on display in my office (joking called a mini Apple Store with a shelving unit devoted to them). I hope they don't get dinged up too bad during shipping. That is a truly tiny amount of plastic to save on an extremely expensive product. I am all for treating the environment well but when any good idea is taken too far it becomes fanaticism.

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gregoriusm 17 Years · 518 comments

OutdoorAppDeveloper said:

I do like putting the beautiful Apple boxes on display in my office (joking called a mini Apple Store with a shelving unit devoted to them). I hope they don't get dinged up too bad during shipping. That is a truly tiny amount of plastic to save on an extremely expensive product. I am all for treating the environment well but when any good idea is taken too far it becomes fanaticism.

I’m not so sure they are saving a truly tiny amount of plastic. From Apple: “This year we removed the plastic wrap from the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro case, saving 600 tons of plastic.” That’s a hell of a lot of plastic not going into the environment.

Japhey 6 Years · 1772 comments

OutdoorAppDeveloper said:

I do like putting the beautiful Apple boxes on display in my office (joking called a mini Apple Store with a shelving unit devoted to them). I hope they don't get dinged up too bad during shipping. That is a truly tiny amount of plastic to save on an extremely expensive product. I am all for treating the environment well but when any good idea is taken too far it becomes fanaticism.

But it’s not fanaticism to be ok with putting 600 tons of plastic into oceans and landfills just because YOU don’t want a little mark a BOX? Um…ok, I guess. Do you also pet and caress it like Gollum before putting your precious onto the shelf? Jesus.