Greenpeace pushes Apple to make products anyone can fix

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Greenpeace
Greenpeace wants Apple to make its products more repairable.
Photo: Greenpeace

Greenpeace has launched a new campaign, seeking signatures to push Apple and other device makers to make more repairable, longer-lasting products to cut down on electronic waste.

In partnership with our friends over at iFixit, the campaign casts a critical eye over 40 different devices made between 2015 and 2017, and then assesses them according to how repairable each one is.

The outcome? That Apple’s iPhone 7 is impressively (and perhaps surprisingly) repairable, while the recent MacBooks and iPads fare dismally — with, respectively, 1 out 10 and 2 out of 10 on repairability scores. Points are awarded according to battery and display replaceability, a lack of special tools needed for carrying out replacements, and the availability of spare parts.

To be fair to Apple, we’ve always found their products to be very long-lasting; just not always particularly repairable.

Other products which fare poorly in the ranking include Microsoft’s Surface Pro 5 and Surface Book, both of which score a measly 1/10 for repairability. On the other end of the spectrum are products made by Fairphone, Dell, and HP, which score full marks.

Turning things around

In recent years, Apple has turned around its once strained relationship with Greenpeace. From once being close to sworn enemies, Apple’s decision to switch from materials like plastic to aluminum for its Macs, and embracing smart, minimalistic packaging, it’s won all kinds of plaudits.

In an environmental report earlier this year, Greenpeace awarded Apple with an “A” ranking, while in other places it’s been open about the high regard with which it holds the Cupertino tech company.

Apple, too, has taken a number of initiatives designed to embrace recycling. We guess it could just do a bit more — and, if it really wants a gold star, ditch the whole “planned obsolescence” thing for good measure! (Not that we’re really expecting them to do that.)

Source: Rethink-it

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