Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Apple Pulls Products from Environmental EPEAT Registry

HalfBlazed said:
What sucks is that now that Steve has passed on, every misstep that Apple makes is looked at so much more critically, at least by me. Every time I read a post like this I'm like "Hmmmmmmm would Steve have done this?" "Is Cook gonna f$%k up Apple."


Anyone else going through this?
Click to expand...

I agree. Steve jobs was arrogant enough to turn a blind eye to any criticism that came flying at his company, because he knew the number one priority was to make great products. Everything else was secondary. If he could save the environment in the progress, good for him, but I don't see how it should be a top priority. And seriously, screw organizations like green peace. I see them as just a bunch of thugs and bullies with too much time on their hands. Don't they have bat mobiles to crash or something?

While Tim is probably trying to get favorable press and genuinely making a positive difference in apple, he seems to come across as too spineless, seemingly all too eager to bend over backwards to cater to criticism. I am not saying that raising employee wages and work conditions is wrong, but doing those in response to complaints in the news makes it look like you do have something to hide.

Show some backbone, Tim! :mad:
 
gnasher729 said:
You do't need a store. Apple will send you a box for your Mac, postage paid, and you send it in. That's what they do today.
Click to expand...

Just so you know, this isn't an option in most countries that Apple sell their computers. Outside of the US the direct recycling options are very poor. You can check on Apple's web site yourself if you don't believe me.

There are some waste sites in Japan that have higher concentrations of gold and silver than commercial mines. The amount of useful material in modern electronics is insane. It is all recyclable - not as refurbished computers, but as raw components.

Gluing batteries and glass to aluminum enclosures is just dumb from that point of view. You might think 'so what', but one day it might be your kids that have the job to separate toxic crap from bits of metal because no one could be bothered being responsible today.

If Apple did instigate a return to base recycling policy, and had equipment to separate the components out into recyclable streams, that would be fine by me. But I really can't see that happening without a backlash.
 
All the drama seems to be around the battery of the new Retina MBP (since you can replace the SSD yourself), but what is the problem with the battery, really?

Apple's official statement is that the battery will last at least 1000 full cycles, this means in practical terms is 5 years.

After those 5 or more years Apple can replace the battery for $199. The replacement includes the top part of the case, a new keyboard and touchpad. Is that a bad idea? That wipes away those years of (ab)use and gives you the feel of a new machine - all for the price of a battery. You'll easily make the $199 in extra resale value alone.

Is $199 too expensive? A new battery for the 2011 MBP, with a capacity of 6900mah costs $119.95 from iFixit - part only, DIY. But the Retina MBP battery is much larger capacity at 8460mah (22% more). Assuming you could buy one on its own, it wouldn't cost less than $150.

Is paying $50 extra and getting it properly installed, with service warranty, that expensive? Is it worth going the DIY replacement route even if you could? Not to mention the new case, keyboard and touchpad you get too...

Since the case is easily recyclable aluminium and the touchpad is mostly glass the old glued bits don't even create that much waste.

Plus if you're a courageous hacker and still don't agree, you can also do it yourself by following the instructions at http://512pixels.net/retina-macbook-pro-servicing/

I'm sure in time someone more intelligent will figure out a way of separating the battery, maybe NOT just by going ape at it with a ruler like iFixit did.
 
Abazigal said:
I agree. Steve jobs was arrogant enough to turn a blind eye to any criticism that came flying at his company, because he knew the number one priority was to make great products. Everything else was secondary. If he could save the environment in the progress, good for him, but I don't see how it should be a top priority. And seriously, screw organizations like green peace. I see them as just a bunch of thugs and bullies with too much time on their hands. Don't they have bat mobiles to crash or something?
Click to expand...

Hang on - if you think that as a Buddhist, Steve didn't care about the environment, you're friggin dreaming bloke!

The last time there was a bit of a poke from Greenpeace about the environmental performance of Apple's products, Apple went out of their way to turn that around! They literally changed the design of almost every product line, took hold of their supplier lines to create some accountability, and worked with new materials to improve their standing.

They didn't do this because 'Steve was arrogant', they did this because someone at Apple thought it should be a priority, and one they had probably overlooked previously. I'll leave it to you to guess who that might have been.
 
mim said:
Just so you know, this isn't an option in most countries that Apple sell their computers. Outside of the US the direct recycling options are very poor. You can check on Apple's web site yourself if you don't believe
Click to expand...

I checked Apple's site and they have recycling arrangements in:

Canada
Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and India
Japan
Asia Pacific and Australia
Brazil and Costa Rica

I wouldn't say it's very poor. Across all of Europe it's very easy, just take it to a store or return it by free post.

Had a look at Asian countries out of curiosity and most offer free DHL to post any equipment back.

The odd one out seems to be Australia, which asks you to buy a new product before sending back a computer for recycling or as another option promotes a list of "Community Recycling Events.". I wonder why? It's seems very inconsistent with the rest.
 
imageWIS said:
Your first sentence contradicts your second sentence.
Click to expand...

No it doesn't. He's telling the other person to not keep buying laptops if they care then saying that he buys the new ones.

The recycling of the MacBook models does not concern me since I would never even try to recycle it anyway.

----------
mim said:
The last time there was a bit of a poke from Greenpeace about the environmental performance of Apple's products, Apple went out of their way to turn that around!
Click to expand...

The last time Greenpeace complained was when they were saying that cloud computing companies like Apple, Google, and Microsoft are hurting the environment by using electricity. I don't think Apple did anything about that.

There are much bigger polluters than these companies, but they just target the most famous one. And could they possibly choose a more meaningless name? "Greenpeace"? I think "peace" is the word people use a lot when they don't plan to do anything.
 
Power Macintosh said:
Al Gore will not be happy.
Click to expand...

His not the only one, I am not happy either remember children this is a long term issue or would you like to drink water full of mercury. Long term is what this was all about. :(

----------
gkpm said:
I checked Apple's site and they have recycling arrangements in:

Canada
Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and India
Japan
Asia Pacific and Australia
Brazil and Costa Rica

I wouldn't say it's very poor. Across all of Europe it's very easy, just take it to a store or return it by free post.

Had a look at Asian countries out of curiosity and most offer free DHL to post any equipment back.

The odd one out seems to be Australia, which asks you to buy a new product before sending back a computer for recycling or as another option promotes a list of "Community Recycling Events.". I wonder why? It's seems very inconsistent with the rest.
Click to expand...

So are you saying the issue is here only in the States? They figure they can get away with it since the government has become so impotent and will not force them to do anything they don't want too.
 
Has Apple actually gone mad now? So let me understand this, in order to make one product thinner, it has forgone it's ability to sell it's products to a massive, and to Apple emerging market? In fact, what about video editors, publication houses? Are they now not able to buy Apple computers?

I really think Apple has just made one of the worst business decisions it has for years. Idiots, utter idiots, never mind the fact they have a responsibility to help stop the planet getting ruined.

In fact I won't buy a Retina MB Pro because it's battery sure won't last 5 years, yet to replace it you either pay Apple a fortune, or rebuild the entire computer!! :eek::eek:

Apple seems to want us all to see their products as throw away items, in that case it should bloody well price them as such!
 
kiljoy616 said:
So are you saying the issue is here only in the States? They figure they can get away with it since the government has become so impotent and will not force them to do anything they don't want too.
Click to expand...

What issue? Anyone can recycle Apple hardware very easily in the US.

http://www.apple.com/recycling/

It's as easy as in Europe or other places (in-store or free post) plus you even get a gift card if the hardware has monetary value.

----------
faroZ06 said:
The last time Greenpeace complained was when they were saying that cloud computing companies like Apple, Google, and Microsoft are hurting the environment by using electricity. I don't think Apple did anything about that.
Click to expand...


They did, Apple announced that they were going all renewable and dropping coal power from early next year: http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2012/05/apple_coal/
 
faroZ06 said:
The last time Greenpeace complained was when they were saying that cloud computing companies like Apple, Google, and Microsoft are hurting the environment by using electricity. I don't think Apple did anything about that.
Click to expand...

You best stop using the internet then, it's one of THE most polluting machines globally! All that equipment around the world being powered 24/7 to allow us to read mac Rumors...
 
His not the only one, I am not happy either remember children this is a long term issue or would you like to drink water full of mercury. Long term is what this was all about.
Click to expand...

Oh please, there are bigger polluters to go after, like BP and Exxon. Apple products reportedly don't contain mercury anyways, so you can't pin this on Apple's head. :p

I think it also makes sense that since Apple's products are made of expensive, high-end materials like glass and aluminium, they won't be so foolish as to just let those materials rot away in some dump site. For all we know, they may have their own ways of taking apart their products, and reusing them for the production line. They just want the recycled materials to end up with them, not some random rag-and-bone man down the street. :p

True, ifixit had a fit trying to take apart the Rmbp, but maybe Apple can remove the battery readily just by applying a special solvent to dissolve the glue? who amongst you here plan to just dump your laptop into the trashbin when the time comes to replace it anyways? :confused:
 
Evil was the plan all along.

If Apple was smarter, they would have glued the battery to the bottom case, so that when the bottom case is removed, the battery comes with it. Seems like a simple solution to a major hiccup to continued environmental friendliness. I'm guessing that the display is more like an iPad or iPod Touch - glued around the rim, with the LCD then also glued to the glass for optical clarity. I'm hoping that the edge is the only glued part. Time will tell, once I see a dropped one.

This machine is undoubtedly made to be disposable. Considering I make a living repairing macs, and my brother's PhD is in environmental studies - I'm insulted and disappointed. Tim is taking Apple in a more profitable direction - which is damaging what I'd considered to be a great company.\

On the plus side, maybe we'll get an anti-glare iMac now!
 
racer1441 said:
Good for Apple. These groups are no different than the mob demanding protection money from shop owners so they remain safe from the mob.
Click to expand...

I agree. I'm tired of the g*d d*mn government placing all these restrictions on private industry and capitalism.
 
Can't say I'm surprised by Apple glueing their battery, they got bad PR after that iPhone went smoking on that airplane in Australia, but then turned out to be caused by a bad repair by some fly-by-night monkey repairman. The problem made headline news, but the accident report was months later and never got any attention.

Can you imagine what this mammoth battery would do if handled badly? This thing is like 6 iPhones!

It's probably best for the safety of all of us that such power is kept well fixed and away from weekend diyrs armed with only a philips driver.
 
ScottishCaptain said:
These machines are disposable, plain and simple- the same way the iPad 2 is. They were never designed to be serviced, they were designed to fail and be replaced. You absolutely 100% have to purchase Applecare with the rMBP because you'd have to be insane not to- if your battery goes, the chassis is toast. If a single bit in your 16GB of main memory (note that the rMBP RAM is not ECC) goes, the logic board is toast. If your iSight breaks, your entire monitor is toast.
Click to expand...

As an Apple service tech I'll list the "out of warranty" parts replacement cost of the MBPr(and Australia pays a lot more than Americas).
Prices in $AUD with Tax for full exchange of bad parts for Apple recycling

Macbook Pro Retna;
Logicboard 2.7Ghz 16GB $505
Top Case with Battery $400
Display Clamshell $700.

Tho the battery is almost twice the price of a common laptop, Repairing out of warranty is of still a reasonable cost.

iPad 2 exchange for battery refurb costs $120

----------
zettie said:
Can't say I'm surprised by Apple glueing their battery, they got bad PR after that iPhone went smoking on that airplane in Australia, but then turned out to be caused by a bad repair by some fly-by-night monkey repairman. The problem made headline news, but the accident report was months later and never got any attention.

Can you imagine what this mammoth battery would do if handled badly? This thing is like 6 iPhones!

It's probably best for the safety of all of us that such power is kept well fixed and away from weekend diyrs armed with only a philips driver.
Click to expand...

Apple has a service guard to cover the battery while you are working on a Macbook Pro Retna
 
why is everyone getting their knickers in such a twist over this? :\ as it's been mentioned before, just because their products are no longer certified by "EPEAT" (who i have never heard of before) doesn't mean they are not environmentally friendly or recyclable. truth of the matter is only apple really knows why they withdrew from the program. only apple knows how they are going to go about recycling in the future. plus, tbh, recycling a computer on the grand scale of things really doesn't make a whole lot of difference. what about all the other environmental atrocities you are contributing to on a daily basis? do you walk everywhere? are you vegan? do you only buy locally grown food? do you never shower? do people actually think before they pretend to be concerned about something? or are you just 'disappointed' for the sake of being disappointed?
 
Guys, we're all missing the big picture here: there is a man out there with the surname Frisbee.
 
gkpm said:
I checked Apple's site and they have recycling arrangements in:

Canada
Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and India
Japan
Asia Pacific and Australia
Brazil and Costa Rica

I wouldn't say it's very poor. Across all of Europe it's very easy, just take it to a store or return it by free post.

Had a look at Asian countries out of curiosity and most offer free DHL to post any equipment back.

The odd one out seems to be Australia, which asks you to buy a new product before sending back a computer for recycling or as another option promotes a list of "Community Recycling Events.". I wonder why? It's seems very inconsistent with the rest.
Click to expand...

Hmmm, I stand corrected! The last time I looked, the free DHL thing didn't exist for most places.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back