Nikkei confirms that iPhone 12 will retail without bundled charger and earbuds

Here's what's in the iPhone 11 Pro's box

The rumor that Apple will be ditching the bundled charger and Lightning-based EarPods earphones in the iPhone 12 box was just corroborated by Japanese media outlet Nikkei.

No charger and earbuds for you!

The report cites a source with knowledge of Apple’s thinking as saying:

To lower the cost a bit is one reason, but not necessarily the most important one. The reason why Apple does not include those two accessories is also because a lot of existing iPhone users already have many of them over the past few years.

Coincidentally, Apple recently began surveying iPhone owners in Brazil about the charger in the box ahead of iPhone 12 launch. Specifically, the company is trying to figure out what happened to the old wall charger that iPhone owners had been using now that they got a new one.

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Ran Avni of YouTube channel ConceptsiPhone today shared an artist’s rendition allegedly depicting a box insert for the ‌iPhone 12‌ which hints at no included EarPods or a power adapter. As evidenced by the image below, the circular area could be for a Lightning cable while the square section may house paperwork and Apple stickers (some are even keeping their fingers crossed for a pair of AirPods, but that — if you ask us — is too much to expect from Apple).

Barclays analysts think Apple will stop bundling a charger in the iPhone 12 box, but they may be wrong about that — another rumor has it that the iPhone 12 might be bundled with a more powerful 20W charger (or maybe that’s just for the flagship 6.7-inch model?).

The notch is not going away

The story appears to confirm a few other previously known tidbits as well.

For instance, Nikkei claims that all new iPhones this year will switch to OLED display panels, basically ditching LCD technology in the new lineup. By comparison, Apple’s bestselling iPhone 11 uses more affordable LCDs, as does the refreshed iPhone SE which went on sale in April.

And no, that notch won’t be going away this year:

Apple will still not be able to use a full-screen OLED display because it still needs to integrate its facial recognition function, known as Face ID, at the top of the iPhone. ‘There will still be a notch on the top of the iPhone, because Apple was unable to integrate the Face ID module into the display,’ an executive-level source told Nikkei.

All models should also feature 5G cellular connectivity.

Your thoughts on the next iPhone

Despite all the leaks, there are some things that we still don’t know about the next iPhone.

What we do “know” corroborates the notion that Apple will switch to a boxier iPhone 4-like design that will do away with the rounded corners in favor of flat edges akin to the iPad Pro, like you’re seeing on the video below showing off some very sophisticated iPhone 12 dummies.

In case you’ve been sleeping under a rock lately, we’re expecting no less than four distinct new iPhone models this year with three different screen sizes: 5.4, 6.1 and 6.7 inches.

Are you looking forward to the next iPhone?

I skipped the iPhone 11 upgrade and am still rocking my iPhone XS Max. I’m now ready to upgrade because my wireless contract has expired (and I really want that LiDAR scanner).

How about you?

Let us know your feelings on the next iPhone in the comments down below!