IPad Europe Now Sells Without Charger, Price Unchanged

Apple has been quietly shipping iPads in Europe without a power brick included in the box, a change that arrived alongside recent model launches. The device comes with only a cable. The price has not changed.

The removal traces back to the European Commission’s Common Charger Directive, which was designed to reduce electronic waste by standardizing USB-C ports across portable devices. The directive also includes a provision giving buyers the option to decline a wall plug if they already own one at home. Apple did not offer that choice at checkout. It simply dropped the charger entirely.

The policy extends beyond tablets. MacBooks sold in Europe now ship without a charger as well, and a 96-watt power brick for a laptop runs an extra 85 euros separately.

A regulation meant to help buyers is costing them money

The directive’s stated goal is reducing the volume of old chargers ending up in landfills, a reasonable enough ambition given how many accumulate over years of device upgrades. The gap between that intention and the outcome here is visible: someone buying a first iPad, or upgrading from a device old enough to predate USB-C, now pays extra for hardware that used to come in the box at no additional cost. Apple’s compliance looks less like an embrace of the regulation’s spirit and more like a demonstration of what the regulation makes possible.

The European Commission positioned the Common Charger Directive as a win for consumers and the environment. Apple’s interpretation, removing the charger rather than making it optional, shifts the financial burden onto buyers while keeping prices flat.

Everyday customers upgrading older hardware after several years are the ones absorbing that cost, caught between a regulator trying to reduce waste and a company that appears content to let the policy make its argument for it.