No charger in the box with the new M5 MacBook Pro and iPad Pro in the EU and UK

Customers in the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom (UK) won’t get a power adapter in the box when they purchase the latest MacBook Pro and the iPad Pro with the M5 chip! Here’s more about it.

Apple announced the refreshed versions of the 14-inch MacBook Pro, 11-inch & 13-inch iPad Pro, and Vision Pro – all with the latest M5 chip built on the third-generation 3-nanometer technology. It also released a few accessories, which we have talked about here.

One notable omission from the press release was the absence of a 70-watt MacBook charger and a 20-watt iPad charger in the box. However, the purchase page for the MacBook Pro (M5) and the What’s in the Box section for the iPad Pro clearly indicate the missing adapter.

Price cut in the EU but not in the UK

I reviewed this year’s and last year’s Apple Newsroom posts, as well as the purchase pages for Apple France (European Union) and Apple United Kingdom. Here’s what I observed.

MacBook

UK:

• MacBook Pro (M4): Starting price £1,599
• MacBook Pro (M5): Starting price £1,599
• Change/Savings: £0

France:

• MacBook Pro (M4): Starting price €1,899
• MacBook Pro (M5): Starting price €1,799
• Change/Savings: €100

Apple’s 70-watt power adapter that’s included in the box for the rest of the markets costs £59 in the United Kingdom and €65 in France.

Now, customers in France and other EU countries have a 100 Euro price cut, which more than compensates them for the missing in-box adapter. But UK customers of the new M5 MacBook Pro will have to shell out an extra 59 Pound sterling to charge their new laptop, unless they already have an Apple or third-party adapter with sufficient power output (60 watts or more).

Of course, sticker price and price changes in a specific country are not as simple as they sound; they vary by currency valuation, markets, and even the cashback Apple provides via local partner banks. But at first glance, it appears Apple is taking UK customers for a ride by not providing a charger in the box and offering no price cut either!

iPad

Now, let’s get to iPad Pro (M5).

UK:

• iPad Pro (M4): Starting price £999 (11-inch) and £1299 (13-inch)
• iPad Pro (M5): Starting price £999 (11-inch) and £1299 (13-inch)
• Change/Savings: £0

France:

• iPad Pro (M4): Starting price €1,219 (11-inch) and €1,569 (13-inch)
• iPad Pro (M5): Starting price €1,119 (11-inch) and €1,469 (13-inch)
• Change/Savings: €100

Apple’s 20-watt charger in the iPad box for the rest of the markets costs £19 in the United Kingdom and €25 in France.

Once again, customers in France and other EU countries get ample price cuts to justify buying a power adapter separately for their new iPad Pro. People in the United Kingdom have no such recourse.

No clear option to purchase the charger…

Here are a couple of weird things I noticed when trying to place M5 MacBook Pro and M5 iPad Pro orders on Apple UK and Apple France (EU) websites.

MacBook

When you visit apple.com/uk/shop/buy-mac/macbook-pro (UK) or apple.com/fr/shop/buy-mac/macbook-pro (France), you’ll notice three M5 MacBook Pro variants listed there:

• 512GB SSD Storage, 16GB RAM
• 1TB SSD Storage, 16GB RAM
• 1TB SSD Storage, 24GB RAM

After you click Select for any of these options and stay with just the default specs, the option to select a power adapter – even if you’re willing to pay extra – will be grayed out (screenshot below).

But as soon as you select any upgrade, such as Nano Texture display, more RAM, or more SSD storage, the option to purchase a power adapter for an extra fee will become available (screenshot below).

Now, imagine you want to buy an M5 MacBook Pro with 1TB storage and 16GB RAM, along with a 70-watt adapter. To do this, you can do one of the following:

• Place two orders or add both items separately to the cart. If Apple chooses to ship both products separately (which is very likely), it means more packaging, more environmental waste, and more carbon emissions!
• Don’t click the 1TB SSD Storage, 16GB RAM model on apple.com/uk/shop/buy-mac/macbook-pro (UK) or apple.com/fr/shop/buy-mac/macbook-pro (France). Instead, select the 512GB SSD Storage, 16GB RAM model, then select the 1TB upgrade for £200/€250 extra, and then you’ll get the option to add the adapter for an extra £59/€65! Are you confused yet?

iPad

M5 MacBook Pro has an illogical adapter selection option on the buy page, but M5 iPad Pro lacks even that. If you want an adapter for your new iPad, you’ll have to add it separately to your cart. Unlike Apple Pencil and Magic Keyboard, you can’t add the adapter directly from the iPad’s purchase page.

Has the EU made it mandatory not to provide a laptop charger in the box?

No! Unlike making USB-C compulsory, the European Union has not mandated that laptop manufacturers not include a power adapter in the box. However, it has an ‘unbundling‘ directive that allows customers to buy an electronic device and its charger separately. So, Apple could have easily included the charger for all users, with the option to reduce the charger’s cost from the laptop price if a customer chooses not to buy the adapter. Instead, Apple removed the charger for all EU and UK users and has them pay extra for it.

One reason for this, from Apple’s perspective, could have been the complexity of packaging and third-party sellers. Apple’s official website could have easily provided customers the option to opt out of the charger for reduced cost, but this option may not have been possible to implement on a large scale with other sellers, such as Amazon or third-party marketplaces. Therefore, Apple may have decided to nuke the adapter from the box for all European users. Please make what you will of it…

Now, as highlighted previously, EU users have a 100 Euro price cut to buy a charger, plus some savings on top. Sadly, the UK users have no such benefit.

Bad precedent for the world…

Apple already:

• Doesn’t include a charger with iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods in almost all markets.
• Does cost-cutting by no longer including a USB-C cable in the AirPod 4 and AirPods Pro 3 box.
• Doesn’t include an HDMI cable with Apple TV or other Mac desktops.

If Apple’s no-adapter-with-MacBook-and-iPad experiment is successful in Europe, it may implement this worldwide in the pretense of reducing environmental waste.

Unlike the iPhone, which can be charged even with cheap power adapters that output just 5 watts, using a low-wattage charger with a MacBook Pro shows “Battery Is Not Charging” in the menu bar. Furthermore, “A USB-C power adapter with minimum 60W is required to charge this device [MacBook Pro],” Apple says.

If Apple doesn’t include a charger in the box, it’s certain that most people will have to buy a 60-watt or higher Apple or third-party adapter separately. Remember that cheap adapters on Amazon and those provided with some Android devices don’t always deliver the advertised wattage. You can check how much power your MacBook is getting by going to macOS System Information > Power > AC Charger Information.

Separate orders – no matter which marketplace or store you buy from – surely lead to more packaging and more trips for the delivery company, both of which lead to additional pollution and carbon emissions. Those delivery planes, vehicles, and warehouses aren’t environmentally friendly, however much Apple wants you to believe!

What are your thoughts on Apple not including a power adapter with MacBook and iPad?

Source link: https://www.idownloadblog.com/2025/10/16/no-charger-macbook-pro-ipad-pro-eu-uk/