Let's Talk About (the lack of) Charging Blocks

 

I have to wake up at different times throughout the week to go to work, so I use my iPhone as an alarm since it allows for the creation of multiple alarms and schedules. I use a Belkin charging stand for my phone and Apple Watch at night, which works well, except if I have to remove my phone from the stand in the middle of the night it is difficult to get it back on the charger in the dark. Both of our vehicles have wireless charging pads, and I have gotten used to the convenience of just placing my phone on the pad to charge. I wanted to replace my Belkin charger because of this, and I received an Apple MagSafe charger for Christmas. It works well and offers all of the ease and convenience of wireless charging. There was one small problem: I couldn't use it when I first got it because I didn't have a charging block that would fit the cord.

I'm not one to complain, but I have a bit of an issue with this. I've read the reasons why Apple no longer packages a block with their devices, and I think it is mostly baloney. Sure, at this point, USB charging has been around for ages and I have multiple charging blocks. I don't, however, have a charging block for USB-C port (or if I do it's being used). All of the blocks I have are the old-style, larger USB ports. So I had to buy a charging block separately. It seems a bit silly to sell (and subsequently for me to purchase...) a device that doesn't come with all of the parts needed to use it. And it's not like these devices are cheap. Between the charger and block, the cost was around $60.