Okay, Apple, you’ve definitely seen the unboxing videos. The tech fan opens the box of their shiny new iPhone. They pull it out, they peel off that film (in slow motion, if they know what’s good), and then they turn on the device. On to the review. But hold up, we’re not done unboxing, are we? There’s a charger, a cable, headphones, instruction booklets, sim card ejector tools, stickers, and more! Isn’t that all so exciting? All of it with its own individual packaging to unbox!
What? You don’t seem excited.
Maybe it’s because it makes the boxes thicker, adds to the plastic waste, and gives us a bunch of electronics we don’t need. Perhaps that’s why so many reviewers toss this stuff aside.
The Lightning headphones from my iPhone 11 are still in the original cardboard carrier they came with. The ones I had before that are shoved in a box somewhere. I never used them. I have a lightning adapter and better headphones, why would I need those? Not to mention my AirPods Pro. As for the USB plug? My house is littered with them. I find some all the time. Sometimes even step on them. I’ve got a plug within arm’s reach at all times, it would seem.
So, to recap: things I—and many other iPhone buyers—need in our iPhone box:
- iPhone
Things we don’t need:
- Instructions
- Stickers (sorry, I have SO many)
- Charger
- Headphones
- Plastic wrapping on everything (if a cardboard box can scratch the iPhone, you made a bad iPhone)
- Extra cardboard for packaging all of that
Are you seeing the problem, Apple? You could fit five iPhones in the container for just one iPhone
And now on to my suggestion.
A box that fits an iPhone and only an iPhone.
How it Would Work
So much clutter
At checkout for a variety of Apple products, you can choose to have your new device engraved. Add your name, company name, some identifier, whatever you want. In fact, for many Apple products you get a wide variety of choices. Pick the color, storage, perhaps memory or screen size, whether or not it has expensive wheels, and, yes, the engraving. I’m saying Apple adds one more option to that: reduced waste packaging.
Apple could even offer a small amount of money off the price of the iPhone if a user opts to leave out the headphones, charger, cable, instructions, and other paper products. Or, they could just promise a better planet for leaving these items out. Honestly? I’d pick it just to reduce waste.
But Why Small Boxes?
The iPhone can easily fit in the packaging for the case. So why not use that?
Let’s say you’re shipping 1,000,000 iPhones, and can fit 10,000 existing iPhone boxes onto one vehicle. That’s 100 vehicles. But let’s say you have a container that’s a fifth of the size of that, you can fit 50,000 of these minimalist packages on a single vehicle. Suddenly you only need 20 vehicles. Perhaps more, due to the increased density and weight, so let’s estimate 25. You’ve reduced emissions by 75%. That’s a very big deal.
Then let’s talk about what’s in the package. Plastic headphones, plastic film, plastic charger, rare metals, silicon, and additional cardboard. Cardboard that came from paper products, trees, which we could always use more of. The fact is, the iPhone packaging has a lot of waste in it if you don’t need that stuff.
We could really help out the environment with smaller packaging, by reducing pollution, waste, and materials used.
Bottom Line
This also helps Apple’s profit margins. It’ll be cheaper to ship these items in more dense packaging. They’ll need fewer materials, saving on perishable costs. Furthermore, if they don’t pull the price of these minimalist iPhones by much, they can increase profit margins on iPhone sales. If the charger and headphones cost Apple $5 to make, that’s an additional $5 for every iPhone sold (or less if they choose to pass some savings on to you).
Differentiation increases costs. When you have to prepare your items differently, you spend more sorting. Still, the money saved on shipping costs and parts could save money for Apple outside of product differentiation. More importantly, it could reduce waste and pollution. Saving the planet will always be more important than fiances, and that’s the real bottom line.
By the way, happy Earth Day.