Apple has released a 15-second ad to convince the owners of handsets from other brands to switch to iPhone.
The company claims that its flagship phone is “assembled in facilities that send Zero Waste to landfills,” making us believe that the iPhone is environmentally-friendlier than other mobile devices on the market.
But there’s a catch. The ad fails to mention what happens after the phone leaves the assembly line. The iPhone is notorious for being a device that is hard to repair, gets easily outdated through senseless software updates, and even difficult to recycle.
“Life’s easier when you switch to iPhone. Switch today,” the commercial claims, which is just wrong, or at least misleading. Apple’s phone is far from being waste-free in the daily life.
In fact, iPhones usually turn into waste faster than devices from other smartphone makers for several reasons.
First, Apple itself makes it difficult for the pieces of hardware to be repaired or recycled.
A key ingredient in the phone’s battery, cobalt, is very hard to recover from modern devices, despite the looming shortage Apple has been preparing for. However, instead of making phones more durable, companies like Apple go in the opposite direction.
The iPhone is Incredibly Difficult to Repair
For instance, in order to look at the innards of an iPhone you’ll need special instruments like proprietary screws. This makes it incredibly difficult for repair shops and iPhone owners to repair the devices.
Second, Apple has paid lobbyists to oppose laws that would give access to everyone to the special tools and instructions needed to repair the handsets. The laws would have made sure that the devices last longer and that the impact on the environment is kept to a minimum.
And last but not least, let’s not forget that the most profitable company in the world wants you to upgrade your iPhone as much as possible. Those profits would stop flowing if people didn’t buy a new phone every single year. So far, 1 billion iPhones have been sold worldwide, with more than 200 million sold last year alone.
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