If you’re planning to buy the new AirPods Pro 3 earbuds from Apple, do keep in mind that they do not ship with a USB-C charging cable.
Apple is Not Shipping the AirPods Pro 3 with a USB-C Charging Cable – Use Your iPhone’s or Buy a New One
Apple has always shipped AirPods Pro with a charging cable. The original AirPods Pro shipped with a Lightning cable, and so did the second-generation model.
Once Apple made the transition to USB-C with AirPods Pro 2, the new cable with a USB-C connector was included in the box too.
With AirPods Pro 3, Apple is assuming that everyone has a USB-C cable already, so you don’t get a charging cable at all. You have to purchase it separately.
Here’s the literature on it straight from Apple’s website:
Then there’s this image from Apple’s Amazon listing for AirPods Pro 3 of stuff that’s included in the box:
Using this information, we can sort of get a hint at things to come from Apple in the near future. I am going to assume that the company will remove the charging cable from more products going forward.
But which products exactly? I’m guessing the iPhone is going to be next, not the iPad. Because for a lot of people, the iPad is a first Apple product, and the company would want to hook everyone with the necessary charging accessories.
With iPhone, most buyers are those who are upgrading from an older model, so it’s safe to assume that they already have a charging cable.
I do think that removing the charging cable from AirPods Pro 3 is a little excessive, and Apple really didn’t have to do that, unless the primary aim was to keep costs down.
But how much is Apple saving by removing the cable completely anyway?
