A few years ago, Apple stopped including charging adapters in the box with its products. If you want to plug an iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch into the wall, you’ll need to buy a charger separately. According to Apple, removing chargers from the box helps the company “avoid more than 2 million metric tons of carbon emissions.”
Apple may be planning to discontinue one of those chargers though, as Japanese blog Mac Otakara noted this week that Apple has stopped selling the 5W USB power adapter in Japan. Upon reading this, MacRumors decided to check Apple’s online store in other countries. The site discovered that the adapter is also sold out in Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, China, and beyond. Is the 5W power adapter on the way out?
At the time of writing, the 5W USB power adapter is still available in the US, the UK, Canada, and Brazil. You can buy the adapter online or pick it up at your local Apple Store for $19. For years, this was the charger that Apple would ship with every iPhone on the market. In 2020, Apple stopped including power adapters in the box.
Apple also started selling a 20W USB-C power adapter in 2020. It’s capable of charging the iPhone 8 or later far more quickly than the 5W adapter. Most notably, Apple also priced the 20W power adapter at $19. No matter which iPhone you own, there is no point in buying a 5W adapter instead of a 20W adapter, yet Apple has continued to sell both.
Apple hasn’t made any formal announcements about the future of its power adapters. With the iPhone 14 launch right around the corner, perhaps we’ll hear more next month. In the meantime, if you’re in the market for a power adapter, get the 20W.
More iPhone coverage: For more iPhone news, visit our iPhone 14 guide.
