The European Union has come up with a new standard for the retail CPU market. Thanks to its PPWR, we can say goodbye to the pretty boxes of Intel and AMD processors. The aim here is to reduce superfluous packaging, and this could include radboxes, which could also disappear.
The European Union’s PPWR forces Intel and AMD to reduce packaging!
This new standard, which came into force on February 11, requires manufacturers to reduce the amount of waste they produce by keeping the weight and bulk of their packaging to a minimum and cutting down on unnecessary packaging. Broadly speaking, this means that we won’t be seeing any more pretty limited-edition boxes at Intel. On the AMD side, the same applies: no more pretty Threadripper packaging. Instead, with your €600 processor, you’ll find a basic blue or black/orange box containing only the bare essentials.
This measure could also have an impact on radboxes, the famous coolers that come as standard with processors. Like smartphone chargers, these could be absent from the boxes in future. Instead, as with CPUs offering a higher TDP of 65W, the packaging could contain only the processor, and this cooler, however basic, could be sold separately.
In short, while manufacturers have a further 18 months to comply with these new requirements, AMD and Intel have already taken the necessary steps. Whether it’s Ryzen or Core U, the boxes have been reduced to the bare minimum. The latter have an attractive cardboard box and plastic protection.
In the OEM world, no problem. In fact, the CPUs arrive in packs of 1,000 units, so Ms Leyen is satisfied.
Clearly, the committee has no more urgent task than to tackle the packaging of our processors, which didn’t ask for anything.