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UK Environmental Committee Says Apple Contributing to 'Throwaway Culture' of 'Short-Lived Products'
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Just quickly went through the CVs of some of the committee members. They're lawyers and PPE graduates in the main. I found one scientist. So asking them to appreciate design and product strategies is beyond them.
I beg to differ, this section clearly shows the problem and solutions:
Electronic Waste and the Circular Economy - Environmental Audit Committee - House of Commons
br,
bona fides: senior member IEEE, 25 years of HW design experience.
This is satire right? LOL. 1800's? Blacksmiths? 6 inch tubes?
Two points I'd like to share:
1. Apple or Tech industry in general is not alone to blame, they produce, we buy and consume, so it's a circle. When people become really more conscious and outspoken about the environmental waste, the tech will be forced to follow. Obviously we as a whole are very split on almost every important matter, so they use our indecisiveness to their advantage to milk the situation as they like. If you want change, don't buy things that you know how affect the environment. If you need options (as many said about Apple not giving much repair options), demand them, ask for it, make what really matters on the table.
2. Regarding Apple specifically, they're so cheesy on PR and promoting the products, but what goes behind or afterwards is a whole another story. In every corner or step they want to be monopolist, which is far from alarming. Because of us being not very conscious buyers, they just make billions of it. And yes it's gone too far where they set all the rules without us saying anything, just following. I give them credit for being able to dictate the tech industry right now and be an example but for all wrong reasons.. overpriced products on affordable parts, manufactured in China, introducing new iPhone without charger and at the same time bringing two or three more products (like MagSafe) which contradict their environmental claims and goals and producing even more waste at the end.. charging crazy amount for repair and not supporting good line of parts, limited places for repair.. everything is so controlled and calculated just in the name of money. Our money, yours and mine, gained by struggles and many sacrifices. Apple inspire all other tech companies to adopt such business strategies and at the end we end up scratching our heads how this and that happened to us, to Earth, to anything.. It all started with us, our own personal choice in the beginning. Everything else is just result of this cycle. We're the buyers, we set the market, our demands, our needs. They only produce it. It starts with us.
1. Apple or Tech industry in general is not alone to blame, they produce, we buy and consume, so it's a circle. When people become really more conscious and outspoken about the environmental waste, the tech will be forced to follow. Obviously we as a whole are very split on almost every important matter, so they use our indecisiveness to their advantage to milk the situation as they like. If you want change, don't buy things that you know how affect the environment. If you need options (as many said about Apple not giving much repair options), demand them, ask for it, make what really matters on the table.
2. Regarding Apple specifically, they're so cheesy on PR and promoting the products, but what goes behind or afterwards is a whole another story. In every corner or step they want to be monopolist, which is far from alarming. Because of us being not very conscious buyers, they just make billions of it. And yes it's gone too far where they set all the rules without us saying anything, just following. I give them credit for being able to dictate the tech industry right now and be an example but for all wrong reasons.. overpriced products on affordable parts, manufactured in China, introducing new iPhone without charger and at the same time bringing two or three more products (like MagSafe) which contradict their environmental claims and goals and producing even more waste at the end.. charging crazy amount for repair and not supporting good line of parts, limited places for repair.. everything is so controlled and calculated just in the name of money. Our money, yours and mine, gained by struggles and many sacrifices. Apple inspire all other tech companies to adopt such business strategies and at the end we end up scratching our heads how this and that happened to us, to Earth, to anything.. It all started with us, our own personal choice in the beginning. Everything else is just result of this cycle. We're the buyers, we set the market, our demands, our needs. They only produce it. It starts with us.
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There may come a time when the innards of an iPhone will mostly be a battery and a monolithic piece of custom silicon. Smaller, lighter, faster, better, more reliable... but quite impossible to repair.
Absolutely. Like the SoC on the new Macs.
However, if countries were brave enough to pass 'right to repair' bills, instead of siding with tech companies such has Apple, this would encourage innovation to enable easy to repair devices.
My youngest mac is a 2015. I wish I could keep them longer. I'm going to need to replace my mini soon; it's a 2012.
Just another "pick on Apple" thing.
Just another "pick on Apple" thing.
“Apple glues and solders parts together on their laptops”
My biggest complaint regarding Apple products since Tim Cook became the CEO.
Not to mention tying parts like screen and battery to the motherboard. On older devices, they push that as much as they can with little evil things here and there, like blocking third party ambient light sensor and blocking the battery health status.
These little things are there just to undermine your will to repair your phone. If you really want to, pay a premium repairing with Apple.
My biggest complaint regarding Apple products since Tim Cook became the CEO.
Not to mention tying parts like screen and battery to the motherboard. On older devices, they push that as much as they can with little evil things here and there, like blocking third party ambient light sensor and blocking the battery health status.
These little things are there just to undermine your will to repair your phone. If you really want to, pay a premium repairing with Apple.
Some items like AirPods, HomePod, power adapters, cables, dongles, etc are not repaired but recycled. Remember that recycling is not fully green either. it takes energy to process and recycle components. I love my AirPods Pro even after having them replaced, but Apple cuts the stem off of them and sends them to a recycling facility where energy is spent to recycle them.
Look at how software updates rendered the iPhone 3G and iPhone 4 nearly unusable. That being said plenty of Apple products last a long time. I have a 5th gen iPod Video, iPod HiFi, Mac Pro 5,1 (3) 30” Apple Cinema Displays, 3rd gen iPod Nano. Unfortunately once Apple stops supporting devices that require internet connectivit, the hardware can be working fine, but it’s useless. My 2007 1st gen Apple TV can no longer access the iTunes Store since Apple changed security certificates. Same problem with my original iPhone. Can’t access YouTube or the weather app on those since Apple won’t release an update with proper supported security certificates. My 3rd gen Apple TV barely works anymore since Apple’s updates slowed it down. I’m sure in 10 years or so, the original HomePod won’t be able to access Apple Music, hopefully it can still be used as an AirPlay speaker since thats what I use mine for.
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lmao, I have a bridge to sell you if you believe that. They make them hard to repair because it fundamentally stimulates device turnover.
Certainly we can make things worse by shoddy construction. On the other hand, "things that last a lifetime" is a category that includes, what? Furniture, dishes, and houses? Clothing doesn't last a lifetime, and didn't back in her day either, which is why women needed to be able to sew and many had to make their own clothes. Even if a computer lasted a lifetime, it wouldn't have been useful for a lifetime. The best thing you can do for a technological device is to make it recyclable.
I sell these MTs bulk for around $170-200 ea depending on specs and condition. These machines are usually no more than 3-3 1/2 years old. A used Mac Mini from 2014 averages around the same price BUT comes with lower specs and and have little to no upgradability and a higher power consumption. These MTs use 65W while all Minis are either 85 or 150W.
You're actually using MORE power on a Mini than these fairly common PC counterparts from HP, Dell, and Lenovo.
Apple has made great strides in making much of the components in their products recyclable, and less toxic to the environment. Kudos for that. Having said that, they are increasingly turning their products into appliances - especially their "Pro" computers. I have an otherwise healthy 2016 15" MBP with a corrupt internal SSD. It's not worth it to me to pay for a replacement motherboard just to have a machine that I can operate without connecting an external boot drive just to use it. Saying nothing about how prone to wear the TB3 connectors are so that if I DO move it, the boot drive is extremely likely to become disconnected and hang the system. The trade offs are that with a fully integrated SOC like the M1, you get efficiency and speed gains. I've learnt the hard way to ALWAYS pay for AppleCare.
No magic bullet here, but at least Apple is trying to be more environmentally aware that it's competitors.
No magic bullet here, but at least Apple is trying to be more environmentally aware that it's competitors.
I remember opening the lid on my 1993 Performa 476 without tools, adding a 32 MB RAM module, since the other 4 MB module was soldered to the motherboard, and I replaced the 68LC040 with a 68040, all in less than 20 minutes.
PowerMac models were slightly more difficult and the various PowerBooks were okay, but the Wall Street model was rather a pain, and I just gave it away.
Reuse is more important than recycling. Recycling isn’t free, it still requires energy and resources to do. Making products last as long as possible helps the environment a lot more. And making them upgradable and easy to repair helps that cause
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A new OS does not suddenly make the old one obsolete.
I do not believe they are intetionally creating devices difficult to repair in order to sell more. They are giving priority to slimness, quality, lightness which in turn makes the product difficult to repair or upgrade.
actually apple products works longer than those hp or dell plastics company. I will never a buy a plastic from hp or dell or samsung.
actually apple products works longer than those hp or dell plastics company. I will never a buy a plastic from hp or dell or samsung.
Correct, but your 2014 MBP doesn't have half as many of the glued and soldered parts that the new ones have. And a pre-2012 model has even less glued/soldered parts. Each generation is worse and worse for repairability. And it's deliberate, because it is more profitable, because it makes repairs cost a lot more, so people throw away the old one instead of fixing it, and go and buy a new one. Which is unnecessarily damaging to the environment. That's the problem.