According to report from well known Apple analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo – the iPhone 12, which is due to be released this year may not have any wired EarPods headphones at all included in the box. It is understood that a lot of people don’t use the include headphones and the abundance of EarPods is generating a lot of unneeded waste.

Kuo has said Apple would instead promote the AirPods and might offer a discount alongside the new iPhone. Apple has always offered wired headphones with every iPod or iPhone it has ever sold, the first iPhone came with the first generation of 3.5mm wired headphones and then when Apple launched the EarPods in 2012, Apple included those with the iPhone 5 and then then when Apple removed the headphone jack from the iPhone 7 in 2016 EarPods with a Lightning connector were starting to be offered.

Apple is still shipping the 3.5mm version of the EarPods with the current generation of iPod touch, the 7th generation.

Ming-Chi Kuo is also suggesting that this year, Apple won’t be launching any new versions of the AirPods.