Apple today introduced a pair of new smartwatches – the Apple Watch Series 6 and the Apple Watch SE – during its Time Flies event. The Apple Watch Series 6 is the company’s top-of-the-line offering that introduces a blood oxygen level measurement feature, alongside a host of other advancements and internal upgrades. The Apple Watch SE, on the other hand, is the more affordable offering that packs in all the necessary features into a more compact form factor. Aside from the debut of these new smartwatches, Apple also made another major announcement – a policy of shipping no power adapter in the retail package of these two smartwatches. And possibly, all future Apple smartwatches as well in an attempt to go green and reduce the environmental impact of e-waste.

“Apple is also helping the environment by removing the AC adapter that could become electronic waste from Apple Watch Series 6 packaging, and helping its Apple Watch manufacturing partners transition to renewable energy,” Apple says. As mentioned above, the retail package of both the Apple Watch Series 6 and the Apple Watch SE will ship without a power adapter.

But not for all Apple Watch variants

https://twitter.com/markgurman/status/1305973184194174978?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

However, it appears that this policy is not applicable on the more expensive models which include the titanium Apple Watch Edition and the Apple Watch Hermès. This anomaly was first spotted by Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman. At the time of writing this article, the Apple website still shows a 5W USB Power Adapter in the box contents of the Apple Watch Hermès.

Interestingly, it appears that Apple is getting rid of the in-box power adapter not just for the Apple Watch, but also for iPhones as well. Gurman mentioned in a separate tweet that Apple might stop shipping a power adapter in the retail package of its smartphones. This policy change might be implemented starting with the iPhone 12 series which is expected to debut in a few weeks from now.

https://twitter.com/markgurman/status/1305921053860876289?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

However, this isn’t the first time we’re hearing about such a move. Multiple reports emerging over the past few months have claimed that the iPhone 12 series will ship without a power adapter as well as wired headphones. But the reason might be different in this case. Apple is reportedly doing so to reduce the costs of manufacturing the iPhone 12, and not just solely due to environmental concerns.