iPhone 16 Pro 1st Unboxing Shows Apple’s Changes Before Release Date

When customers receive their iPhone 16 series models from this Friday, Sept. 20, they can excitedly, perhaps, open the boxes on their new purchases. But someone has beaten them to it and it’s not one of the reviewers whose opinions will doubtless be revealed in the coming days. An unboxing video shows changes to what’s coming: they are tiny and subtle.

In a 45-second video on X from leaker Majin Bu, much is the same as usual. For years, there’s been no charger or headphones in the box. That leaves little more than the iPhone and some little extras. And some of those have gone now, too.

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Once they’ve pulled off the paper tabs on the box, the iPhone 16 Pro is in the box as you’d expect, face down and showing that the buyer chose the black titanium color.

Underneath the phone there’s, well, there’s not much more in the box. The iPhone USB-C to USB-C cable is there and it’s a braided cable again. But the small card holder for the Apple sticker and basic notes has gone.

This is the first time the iPhone hasn’t had an Apple sticker in the box. The company had said in advance that this would be the case, but that they would be available to customers on demand.

Apple has decided, rightly, I believe, that the stickers weren’t universally used and in keeping with its climate-conscious credentials, it makes sense not to include them. After all, Apple is aiming for plastic-free packaging by next year, and those stickers were definitely plastic.

The same for those little notes: honestly, have you ever looked at them?

One other thing: although it’s a little hard to see, this must be a U.S. iPhone that’s being unwrapped. For most countries, Apple still includes a SIM card tray and, therefore, that funny little SIM card removal tool. You know the one, you used to get one in the box every time, used it once to put the SIM card into your new iPhone and promptly lost it, having to make do with an unfolded paper clip if you ever needed to change your SIM again.

That’s absent from this box, though I believe it will be in non-U.S. iPhones when they go on sale this time. Beyond that, well, there’s frankly not much more Apple can take out of the box now.

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