William Gallagher
Following a change in French law, Apple will no longer be legally required to provide EarPods with its iPhone 13.
Apple originally stopped including free headphones, and chargers, with its iPhones in 2020. At the time, Apple said it was doing so to reduce electronic waste, but French authorities would not allow it. Consequently, Apple was still required to give local iPhone buyers a free pair of EarPods.
Now, according to local site Consomac, there has been a change in the regulations covering electronics sales. An in-store note seen by the publication at reseller Fnac says, in translation, that, "manufacturers of smartphones are no longer required to give headphones/hands-free kits in France."
The law went into place at the end of 2021, with the goal of reducing France's overall environmental footprint.
Reseller Fnac says that Xiaomi phones ceased bundling headphones from January 17, 2022. Fancy also says that "the same will apply to Apple from the week of January 24, 2022."
Apple has yet to comment on the change, or to alter its practices. However, official resellers have been informed and are now notifying customers.
Andrew Orr
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Wesley Hilliard
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Amber Neely
4 Comments
Politicians buy into the anti-consumer hype. How dare phone makers not include chargers and earphones. They are gouging their customers. And so on. Later they find out most of that extra stuff winds up in landfills because consumers use other products they prefer. Suddenly Apple’s argument that it reduces electronic waste makes sense. Go figure.
Well, there appear to be many here who think they need to be protected from big, bad Apple and want nanny-statism.