I think we are all a little bit excited about the launch of the new iPhone 7, rumours suggest that they will be appearing on the shelves around the 23rd Sept…cue the queues around the block as people start waiting to get their hands on the new tech.
However, there is one aspect which so far has not been debated. Will the new Apple iPhone 7 box include the innovative folding 3 pin plug that first shipped with the Apple watch in United Kingdom, Ireland, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia? We’re hoping the answer is yes because with the pins folded inwards it is so much easier to pack into a briefcase or even slip it into your coat pocket.
Apple no doubt spent many hundreds of hours designing, developing and testing the new folding 3 pin power supply, even so you would be forgiven for thinking that it doesn’t seem that much of a big deal compared with Apple’s other feats of design and engineering. So was it really needed? Well if the iPhone 7 (and possibly future iPhones) do ship with this neat little plug, it will pay dividends to Apple in the longer term, here’s how;
The current fixed 3 pin plug has been in service a relatively long time, especially when considered in terms of the iPhone and iPad evolutionary scale, so imagine how many of those little fixed Apple pin plugs have been shipped over approximately seven generations of Apple iPhone and 12 generations of iPad.
Anyone who has seen comparable 2 pin (USA / EU) specification Apple retail boxes will contest, these iPhone and iPad boxes are quite a bit smaller, in fact possibly up to 30% smaller than the equivalent 3 pin plug Apple box, this is due to additional space required by the fixed 3 pin plug. So if the iPhone 7 and future Apple devices ship with the new 3 pin plug, those three little folding pins will save Apple many hundreds of cubic meters of space in its global supply chain and will help Apple considerably reduce its packaging volumes.