The iPhone 12 is one of Apple's biggest upgrades in years, but it also eliminated two accessories that customers have had out of the box for over a decade: the EarPods headphones and a dedicated charging block

Apple briefly explained the reasoning behind the move at its iPhone 12 event earlier this week, but Kaiann Drance, the company's vice president of iPhone marketing, added more background to Apple's decision

Speaking to ABC News contributor Becky Worley on Good Morning America, he said that the decision to discontinue EarPods and charging blocks came from a combination of sustainability concerns and the fact that many iPhone users already own these accessories Drance explained that the decision to discontinue the EarPods and charging blocks came from a combination of sustainability concerns and the fact that many iPhone users already own these accessories

"People already have all of them, often sleeping in their homes," said Drance when asked about the move 'Maybe they have more than one In terms of larger environmental goals, it's like it wasn't the right thing to do"

Apple spent considerable time at its Hi, Speed event this week discussing this environmental goal The company ultimately aims to make its products and packaging from 100% recycled materials

By removing the EarPods and charging blocks, the iPhone boxes will be smaller, which Apple says will allow 70% more units to be placed on a single shipping pallet, reducing emissions associated with shipping All of these measures are geared toward Apple's ultimate goal of making its products completely carbon neutral by 2030

While this is a worthy goal, there is a caveat to Apple's recent changes to the accessories that come with the iPhone iPhone 12 ships with a new high-speed USB-C to Lightning cable, which requires a dedicated USB-C charging block to use

If you do not already have one of these from the iPhone 11 Pro or iPhone 11 Pro Max, you will need to purchase a 20W USB-C power adapter for an additional $19 The iPhone charging adapter you have is likely an older USB-A model

If you decide to go the wireless charging route and opt for a MagSafe adapter, it will cost you $39

While it ditches some long-standing pack-ins, the iPhone 12 is shaping up to be Apple's most feature-rich phone to date It is the first iPhone to support 5G connectivity, has a blazingly fast A14 Bionic processor, and includes some serious camera upgrades, especially in the iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max models

We look forward to putting Apple's new phones through their paces, charging times included