Last Tuesday, Apple introduced the new Apple Watch Series 9, Ultra 2 and, of course, the iPhone 15/Plus and iPhone 15 Pro/Max models. But at the beginning of the presentation, he showed us a small video in which he talked in a humorous tone (more or less) about his efforts to become a zero-emission company. From here it was possible to highlight one of Apple’s great secrets in maximizing its benefits.

Packaging. Steven Sinofsky fully talked about the importance of packaging or wrapping In a thread on X. This engineer and manager was the person most responsible for the development of the Office suite and later the development of Windows 7 at Microsoft, and he made it clear that “most people don’t think much about packaging” and asked a more relevant question than that. like that. “How many of you knew you could get a PhD in packaging?”

There are too many crumbs in the packaging. Companies that need to package their products generally turn to third-party companies that theoretically specialize in this field. They provide standard sized boxes with molded plastic pockets for the product and then offer other boxes so that those boxes can be repackaged for sea or air shipping. It must be cheap, he says, “or so one might think.”

Make your own packages. sinofsky was crashing How much Apple has invested in inventing its own packaging. “Every fraction of volume weight size and every square size of material is an opportunity for optimization.” The goal: to optimize these packages for shipping.

hello little box. In 2020, Apple presented the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro with a striking and controversial innovation. They do not include the charger or the popular EarPods. Tim Cook said this would reduce carbon emissions during shipping by putting more boxes on ships’ pallets and containers. Making the boxes smaller was probably one of the reasons why no charger or headphones were included. Or maybe it was just a great result.

Big costs, big benefits. He admits that doing something like this is “extremely difficult and expensive,” but the result is that the packaging is often “a work of art and a fantastic unboxing experience.” Product ‘unboxing’ has become a classic on platforms like YouTube, and Apple has mastered it. “Not only does it use less material and almost no plastic; its packages are smaller and less vulnerable.”

More packages by boat (or plane). in 2023 explained Sinofsky, Apple sold 225 million iPhones. “The cost of the packaging step should be between $1 and $2. If they save $0.50 on that, that’s $100 million going into the coffers. That’s much better and more valuable for analysis. And it’s greener.” They all benefit after this initial effort. Here’s how Apple explained it in its 2020 environmental report: Removing accessories from the iPhone 12 and Apple Watch Series 6 “enabled smaller, lighter packaging. It also allowed us to fill each shipping pallet with 70% more product, which helped reduce shipping.” -associated emissions.”

Maybe you wouldn’t need to buy Apple’s pitch. message greenwash Apple – they all do this – is of course backed by strong and reasonable arguments: with these boxes they can ship more for the same thing… or not? The problem, as one Reddit user pointed out, is that many people buy chargers and headphones just so they can have things Apple previously included in the box. What does this mean? More small packages, paper and maybe plastic for these accessories. It’s true that many people reuse chargers and headphones they already own, but this user’s argument was also valid. There’s a little bit of everything here, and in the end, the winner is undoubtedly Apple.

And then there’s recycling.. Apple is also a leader in the use of recycled materials, which also contributes to reducing production costs. Not all of them Sinofsky emphasized that companies could do something like this: Apple’s volume and vertical integration enable it to be profitable, but the company has undoubtedly made a significant investment to achieve such a thing. Margins are everything, and Apple knows how to make the most of them. Of course, including the boxes of their products.

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