Claim Analysis

When scrolling on Instagram like i do every night, I saw an interesting post that was suggested by Instagram for me.

This post caught my eye as an Apple user. It’s been some time since Apple included a charger and, even longer, wired headphones so i immediately thought this would be a post i needed to check its validity to determine if its true.

To determine if this post is true, I’ll be using Rumor Guard’s factors.I think the Factors they use give a good sense of how to determine how true something is. They do a good job of explaining what each factor is and even link videos going into more detail.

Is it authentic? No, this isn’t a photo posted by Apple or an Apple affiliated account. The photo is clearly a edited phone showing a mix of images together with a caption claiming words spoken by John Ternus the new Apple CEO.

Has it been posted or confirmed by a credible source? No, looking into BusinessEdgeX you find its Instagram account is connected to a Linkedin where they state they “attract an engaged audience”. They also claim they can promote you if you DM them. The only other post is from Hoops carve which is a self claimed Parody & Satire account. We could stop here as it appears to be a repost of a parody’s account post.

Is there evidence that proves the claim? No, there was no evidence for this post to be true. The post doesn’t link to any evidence like a speech or press release.

Is the context accurate? No, Apple announced in 2020 the removal of headphones and chargers to reduce carbon emissions. This post is the opposite of what Apple has put out itself. the only thing true is that Apple has a new CEO.

Is it based on solid reasoning? No, headphones have become an extremely popular item to buy; even Apple has multiple headphone options. Chargers are not USB-C which is a universal charger so new Apple devices would be able to charge on users’ existing chargers. There would be no reason for Apple to give away free headphones and chargers anymore.

Conclusion: False post. There were many red flags, the first of which was whether it had been confirmed. It was in fact confirmed not by a credible source but by a parody account. In every factor, the post failed. There is no credible claim that the new CEO of Apple said anything about including headphones and/or chargers with purchases. The Rumor Guard Factors method for debunking misinformation was a very easy method to employ here that uses lateral reading to determine if a post is true. It’s important to check posts like these. At first I was surprised because they haven’t given free headphones in a long time, and I could use an extra pair, so I was intrigued by this post. But since I am an Apple user, my suspicion hit right away, thinking that it was false because why would a large company like Apple give away anything for free when profit is what really matters.