Apple Announces New Clean Energy Initiatives Across Europe and China

[Jumpthesnark]

Do tell, is the production of raw materials, manufacturing of solar panels, wind turbines, the transportation or anything in-between “clean and green”? Chances are highly unlikely, which makes these efforts just “green washing” like the EU mentions and marketing.

TBH no average customer is making the decision to buy Apple products based on any green report card, most care about the cost and to be fair if Apple stopped this green marketing the products would be more affordable that is hoping that Timmy doesn’t pad those margins with the savings.

Here is another good one for your, most cities have some form of recycling collection and program but most of it goes into the landfill and those refining facilities don’t exist and are cost prohibitive, in any case it’s a farce. Even those wooden one use utensils don’t biodegrade without a commercial biodegrader and most cities do t have it but it sure makes people poorer to spend more more on that ah it makes my moral compass feel justified.

Lots of opinion here, thanks for those, but unless you know whether Apple's production of the green energy is somehow imbalanced with the energy produced then we are left with "chances are highly unlikely" but no proof to base that statement on.

Same thing for "no average customer..." "most care about..." "facilities don't exist and are cost prohibitive" etc., this is a lot of opinion and wish fulfillment statements but little aside from that.

 

[Kottu]

If we truly want to reduce the carbon footprint of our devices, they need to be designed to last. A product with sufficient processing power should remain useful for many years—especially if users could upgrade the RAM and storage themselves. In that case, a MacBook could easily last a decade for most people.

Yet, even third-party developers eventually stop releasing updates for older operating systems, seemingly on purpose. I had to install Linux on my old Intel iMac just to be able to use a modern browser.

Only two years ago, Apple claimed that 8GB of RAM in the M3 Mac was equivalent to 16GB in a PC. But now, the minimum requirement for “Apple Intelligence” is 16GB. That means those who bought the base models of M-series laptops won’t even be able to use this new feature—if it’s ever released.

It makes you question the real meaning of “sustainability.” What’s the point of investing in green energy in countries where companies like Apple don’t manufacture anything, while their production still relies on dirty energy sources elsewhere? If we’re serious about reducing carbon footprints, products need to be easy to repair, upgrade, and maintain—giving them a much longer and truly sustainable life cycle.

 

[code-m]

If we truly want to reduce the carbon footprint of our devices, they need to be designed to last. A product with sufficient processing power should remain useful for many years—especially if users could upgrade the RAM and storage themselves. In that case, a MacBook could easily last a decade for most people.

Yet, even third-party developers eventually stop releasing updates for older operating systems, seemingly on purpose. I had to install Linux on my old Intel iMac just to be able to use a modern browser.

Only two years ago, Apple claimed that 8GB of RAM in the M3 Mac was equivalent to 16GB in a PC. But now, the minimum requirement for “Apple Intelligence” is 16GB. That means those who bought the base models of M-series laptops won’t even be able to use this new feature—if it’s ever released.

It makes you question the real meaning of “sustainability.” What’s the point of investing in green energy in countries where companies like Apple don’t manufacture anything, while their production still relies on dirty energy sources elsewhere? If we’re serious about reducing carbon footprints, products need to be easy to repair, upgrade, and maintain—giving them a much longer and truly sustainable life cycle.

Let’s not forget, one volcano belch and it removes any reduction most humans or companies have done for years. Time to cap those volcanoes too as it will reduce the carbon footprint 🤑

 

[ProbablyDylan]

If we’re serious about reducing carbon footprints, products need to be easy to repair, upgrade, and maintain—giving them a much longer and truly sustainable life cycle.

The only thing we're serious about is making money, unfortunately. A long-life cycle for products is antithetical to that, unfortunately. The business model demands that your customers come back often to spend money with you.

Let’s not forget, one volcano belch and it removes and reduction most humans or companies have done for years. Time to cap those volcanoes too as it will reduce the carbon footprint 🤑

I take it you believe it's better to do nothing, then? Just keep filling the atmosphere and oceans with crud because a volcano might do that anyways?

 

[SFjohn]

I generally try to charge my devices during the day when the suns out as we have solar panels and a solar battery but Apple doing more to reduce environmental impact is nothing but a good thing.

We get our energy from Clean Power SF, which is 100% from wind & solar in the tier we pay for. Apple doesn’t know this as our devices are still monitoring when we have supposedly cleaner energy… 😂

 

[iZac]

I guess I should have kept my power hungry Intel i9 MBP instead of switching to a much more efficient Apple Silicon version?

Or drive a 25 year old car that spews massive exhaust emissions while burning far more gas to get around vs a new fuel efficient (or in our case EV)?

I totally agree, although I admit I made an environmentally ambiguous choice recently:

I have a 2018 Mac mini which I was going to upgrade to an M4 but instead I bought an eGPU because I had a spare RX5700 and thought I'd just keep it going for couple more years. Trouble is, the 2018 mini and eGPU combined idle at ~30 watts so now I'm adding to my electricity bill instead of using the M4 mini which idles at just 4 Watts. At my current rates it'll cost me an additional £59 a year in electricity to run my old mini which is my media server.

The question I have to myself is, was it worth the £150 to upcycle my old GPU and keep the old mini running and take more from the electrical grid, or to use spend more and abandon my old kit for more efficient Apple Silicon?

 

[HiVolt]

Finally, something I can unconditionally laud Apple for.

As anything that's made in China, take any of those stats and promises with a big grain of salt.

 

[HiVolt]

iPhones are the longest lasting smartphones around with the longest software support.

Not anymore. The two biggest iPhone competitors, Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel phones both have 7 year software support timelines now, just like Apple.

 

[subjonas]

Apple is a for-profit company that also tries to be environmental, not an environmental company that also tries to make a profit. Many here seem to think Apple should be the latter. Be realistic, people.

 

[mrhick01]

So you think a company has zero responsibility towards the environment? Maybe you should live next to a factory that releases toxines in the air and waterways. Let’s see how long it would take for you to become a tree hugger.

This.

I know too many folk who have died/battling cancers living in "cancer alleys."

 

[coolfactor]

*yawn*

Give us product updates, Apple. Not this useless tree hugger BS.

Thousands of people are dying every year due to extreme weather events, but you're only thinking about one person. Bravo?

We, humans and businesses, have a responsibility to undo the damage that has been done and return to a state of balance.

 

[coolfactor]

Which means nothing here.

They can do better, last longer, be supported even more.



This is ABSOLUTE complete and total hogwash

Not true. Apple's minimization approach results in vastly less material being used. And if you watch the latest tear-down videos, you'll know that they're also making the devices more repairable.

If you want a "user-serviceable" device, look elsewhere. Options exist.

 

[jjrtiger]

Here’s an easy one: how about Apple releases a firmware update to the 2017 iMacs to allow them to be used as a secondary monitor?? Hmmm 🤔

 

[svish]

Good to know about these efforts in reaching the goal. Also expecting more products to be carbon neutral in the near future.

 

[hagar]

If you choose to live next to a factory, that's on you.

Many people don’t have the resources to move away, factories can appear after people already live somewhere and pollution spreads over entire regions.

Companies need to take responsibility.

 

[cocky jeremy]

Thousands of people are dying every year due to extreme weather events, but you're only thinking about one person. Bravo?

We, humans and businesses, have a responsibility to undo the damage that has been done and return to a state of balance.

No thanks. I guess extreme weather didn't exist before factories...

 

[cocky jeremy]

Many people don’t have the resources to move away, factories can appear after people already live somewhere and pollution spreads over entire regions.

Companies need to take responsibility.

Life isn't fair. Get over it.

 

[iMac The Knife]

Clean energy initiatives in China...good one! 🤣

 

[WRONG]

Great!

Now, what about investing in nuclear fission, since solar and wind farms are not enough?
And increase reparability and battery replacement (and MBP chargers for Europe while we're at it..), thank you

 

[deathnite]

Unexpected to see Apple invest in EU, especially since some of the countries mentioned don't even have an official Apple store or an Apple online store. They chose these countries because it's probably cheaper.