When the Apple iPhone 12 was unveiled last week there was one piece of news that did not come as a surprise at all. That news? The fact that the iPhone 12 does not come with a charger in the box.
It wasn't a surprise as T3, being in the room where it happens when it comes round to phone leaks, had reported numerous times that Apple was planning to ditch the charger from the box, with the earliest of our reports coming in June 2020, a whole three months before the iPhone 12 package was confirmed.
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Well, now that the iPhone 12 package has been officially confirmed to not be coming with a charger or a set of headphones in the box, its major rival Samsung has been quick to draw first blood and publicly throw shade at Apple with a cheeky dig.
The shaming came courtesy of the official Samsung Caribbean Facebook page, which on the day that the iPhone 12 was officially unveiled (13 October) and where it was confirmed that it does not come with a charger or set of headphones in the box, posted this:
As can be seen from the official Samsung post, it shows an image of a Samsung phone charger on a white background, with the text "Included with your Galaxy" printed underneath.
Meanwhile, the post's accompanying text reads:
"Your #Galaxy does give you what you are looking for. From the most basic as a charger, to the best camera, battery, performance, memory and even 120Hz screen on a smartphone."
At the time of writing, this official post had received more than 121 thousand likes and 72 thousands shares.
The overall message is clear. Samsung phones do include "basic" accessories like a charger, while unnamed other brands who coincidentally are unveiling their latest phones on the same day that this post went up, do not.
Shade has most definitely been thrown.
Here at T3 while we're not losing our minds over the fact that the iPhone 12 doesn't come with a charger or set of headphones, we do think it is pretty sucky for Apple iPhone fans that they have to fork out an extra $38/£38 to add them back in.
Really, though, for us we're more concerned about attaining the best possible core smartphone experience with any handset, and that is delivered in general by many other more important factors. If the iPhone 12 kills it in terms of core performance and features, then we don't think it is such a big deal.
However, what is a big deal is the iPhone 12 range is still only offering a 60Hz refresh rate, while rivals from Samsung and many other makers are offering 120Hz and have been for months if not years now.
And from our perspective that is a problem. Not having a charger or set of headphones included is one thing, but being beaten by rivals in things like screen technology is another, and especially on supposedly pro-grade phones that cost a grand or more.
For the moment Samsung is laughing, although with its poor S20 sales in 2020, maybe that laughter won't last too long.
