Just a few days ago, Apple declared that it will remove its chargers and earphones, so as to allow “70% more boxes to be shipped on a pallet” which will “cut over 2 million metric tons of carbon emissions annually” since it requires smaller packaging sizes, to become a carbon-neutral business by 2030. At first glance, it certainly sounds great — a famous business trying its best in reducing its carbon emissions and environmental pollution impacts, making the business in general more sustainable and greener.
When taking a closer look, however, it is not as green as we thought. With the removal of chargers and earphones, buyers should technically get a discount for it. However, this is not the case for iPhone 12. Apple is in fact using the name of sustainability, to cut its costs while profiting more from the sales of iPhone 12. Besides that, the new iPhone cable is apparently not even compatible with the older version chargers. It takes relatively longer time to charge the iPhone 12 with the older chargers. With this, it actually encourages consumers like us to buy the newer chargers.
Perhaps, the best way for Apple to be more environmentally-friendly is to make iPhone more long lasting and easier to repair. That being said, that’s quite impossible considering that Apple is ultimately a profit-making business.
References
Booth, C. (2020, 11 November). Your new iPhone 12 should be $38 cheaper. The Next Web Plug. Retrieved from https://thenextweb.com/plugged/2020/10/15/new-iphone-12-cheaper-charger-earbuds-earpods-analysis/
Engels, A. (2020). Smartphones without chargers: Greenwashing attempt from Apple and Samsung. NextPit. Retrieved from https://www.nextpit.com/smartphones-without-chargers-apple-samsung-greenwashing-attempt
Ng, L. (2020, 17 October). Apple’s Latest Greenwashing Stunt. Medium. Retrieved from https://medium.com/swlh/apples-latest-greenwashing-stunt-35328094011a
Mishra, V. (2020, 22 October). Apple: Thinking Inside the Box. Counter Point Research. Retrieved from https://www.counterpointresearch.com/apple-thinking-different-inside-box/#:~:text=Removing%20chargers%20and%20earphones%20would,year%E2%80%9D%2C%20according%20to%20Apple.