Apple made an estimated £5 billion by not supplying chargers and earphones with its new iPhones.

The tech giant said the move, announced two years ago, was aimed at reducing waste and won praise from environmentalists when it claimed it would reduce annual carbon emissions by two million tons, the equivalent of taking 500,000 cars off the road.

But critics say customers have been hit in the pocket because the recall of adapters and earphones was not matched by a price cut.

Since 2020, Apple has charged £19 for a new plug or earbuds. Critics argue that if it passes the full savings, including an estimated 40 percent reduction in shipping costs because smaller packaging allows for 70 percent of devices on each pallet, iPhone prices would be lower.

Since 2020, Apple has been charging its customers £19 for a new plug or earbuds.

Experts believe Apple, whose new iPhones cost up to £1,549, could save around £27 per phone. The analysis takes into account that although adapters and earphones sell for £19, they are much cheaper to produce.

Ben Wood, senior analyst at CCS Insight told tech experts: “Apple is the market leader in the phone maker in helping the environment, with removing chargers and headphones one of the many things it’s doing. But of course there’s a cost saving for Apple in removing chargers. and headphones when selling iPhones.

Since the move was announced, Apple is believed to have sold 190 million iPhones worldwide. Gains from removing chargers and earphones, as well as lower shipping costs, could total £5 billion, with an estimated additional £225 million from the sale of accessories.

The UK stake is estimated at more than £280m.

“We know that customers have collected adapters and that producing millions of unnecessary adapters consumes resources and adds to our carbon footprint,” said Lisa Jackson, Apple’s chief environment officer, in 2020.

An Apple spokesperson said last night: “We have set a goal to be carbon neutral by 2030. One step along our path is to reduce the materials used in our products and packaging. This has reduced 2 million metric tons of carbon emissions, and others have followed suit.”