Retina MacBook Pro nukes Apple's green credentials The tightly packed new Apple MacBook Pro prevents the laptop from meeting requirements laid down by eco-friendly technology catalogue EPEAT. The Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) announced on Monday that the shiny Retina-display lap warmer is "difficult to disassemble for upgrades, repairs, and recycling …
@Obviously!
I note that you accused the first poster as being "really gay for Apple" when all he did was demonstrate his ignorance of Product Lifecycle Management.
But please do expand on you think is a 'matter of fact'. That Apple are the only tech company who contract their manufacture and advertise the result? And please tell us what you think Apple's 4,700 US staff actually do.
Just because It's not the ONLY thing they do, doesn't make it something they don't do.
For instance, some men like to touch themselves, some have jobs, some do both.
But calling a Bank Manager a wanker doesn't mean all he does is touch himself.
So calling them a Foxconn rebrander or marketeer doesn't mean all they do is rebrand foxconn kit.
Nope, it still wouldn't work- because the products were never branded as Foxconn.
i.e: You can only revisit a place that you have been before, you can only reheat a meal that has been heated before, and you can only rebrand something that has been branded before. I'd expect a journalist, one who puts words together for a living, to know this.
The other Reg names, such as Chipzilla and the Chocolate Factory, work well because they can't be confused for statements of 'fact', don't misuse the English language, and they bring a humorous image to mind. 'Foxconn-rebrander' fails on those counts.
Indeed, they don't just rebrand Foxconn kit* since, in this case, we're talking about a laptop - which means it was probably made by Quantacom, in Taiwan, rather than Foxconn.
So, sometimes they rebrand Quantacom kit.
*Nor are they the only ones, since Amazon Kindles are also 'Foxconn kit', and Xbox 360s and Nintendo Wiis are 'Foxconn kit' - in the sense of actually having been made at Zhengzhou Technology Park, in Henan. Strictly speaking, large portions of my Samsung Galaxy S2 are 'Foxconn kit', but since it was assembled at a different plant, in a different country, that particular droid probably isn't the Foxconn you're looking for.
And if you're reading this on a high-end laptop there's about a one in three chance it's actually Quantacom kit.
>Which part of the hardware is developed by Apple - CPU/GPU/Memory/screen or the SSD?
Those are often Samsung's department- and those items are not all that comprise 'hardware'. Apple's job -in this case- is to procure and package them in a small form factor, which involves designing the battery, speakers, case, HIDs, interconnects and motherboard, whilst integrating them into their own OS. And yes, marketing the result, just as everybody else does.
They work with suppliers and on development, and also instigate mass-production of things that no-one else is yet using (FireWire, High-Res displays, Postscript Laser Printers, Thunderbolt nee LightPeak...)
Apple aren't perfect (and I use a PC and an Android phone) but out of fairness they should only be knocked for things they do. Accusing them of just whacking their sticker on generic Asian goods is just false and weakens any legitimate criticisms.
lulz
only relation apple has to standards is that they never ever under any circumstances observe a single one of them.
i have never known a piece of apple kit that didnt have a weird connector or inaccessible/non standard fastener, different kind of plug to every other bit of kit on the planet.
hence this story really - once again apple are trying to make their kit un-repairable/un-maintainable/un-resellable
and why not? theres no profit for cupertino in any of those activities.... it's just the market.
's just evil thats all
>only relation apple has to standards is that they never ever under any circumstances observe a single one of them.
Oh really? You didn't take a minute to check before posting?
"FireWire is Apple's name for the IEEE 1394 High Speed Serial Bus. It was initiated by Apple (in 1986[4]) and developed by the IEEE P1394 Working Group, largely driven by contributions from Apple, although major contributions were also made by engineers from Texas Instruments, Sony, Digital Equipment Corporation, IBM, and INMOS/SGS Thomson (now STMicroelectronics)."
Which is why I said that they work with suppliers and other partners. Intel adopted Apple's name 'Thunderbolt' instead of 'LightPeak' after Intel realised that they could get the required bandwidth with copper wire instead of optical fibre. High-end Sony use it, but under a different name because it is disguised as a USB rather than Display Port socket.
This post has been deleted by its author
Probably solvents or high temperatures... glue technology is fairly advanced (those unsung chemical engineers who make our lives easier) so I find it hard to believe there isn't a particular glue out there that would be straight forward to remove as well as being fit for purpose and easy to apply in the first place.
Given Apple will take old Macs off you (and that EU legislation makes manufacturers responsible for product disposal) it would seem strange if they deliberately made their job harder.
That's just a complete fabrication. A decent quality lithium battery may typically lose about 20% of it's capacity after about 1000 'full' cycles. So even if you charged / discharged it fully every day you would probably still have about 70-80% capacity after 3 years. if you are not doing full cycles the loss would be less.
> That's just a complete fabrication.
Depends largely on usage patterns and there is variability in battery life from one to the next.
It's one of the reasons that I ignore all the "well by 2006 battery still gives me great service" comments. Some batteries last really well, others don't and it's not always obvious why.
the answer is leave the battery glued to the back of the case,
and throw the case + battery away
but new battery + back of case (which is presumably moulded - and should not be to expensive 'cough')
in fact 'if' in the future they built the battery into the case (saving space/bits etc)
then it would all be chucked when it was broken, would that be green or not.
so the only difference here is a little glue..... (get some solvent..)
Breaking news: Apple unveils new product life cycle management strategy. Stung by criticism of non-standard hard drives, soldered in DRAM and un-replaceable batteries, Apple will, in future, in-source the whole recycling process for its products. Starting Q3, all Apple products will no longer be 'sold' but leased to customers. For similar or equivalent prices to today, customers will be able to enjoy their Apple iProduct for a generous two years before being required to return it to Apple, where it will be recycled in an environmentally sensitive manner. Asked whether customers might decide not to return their devices, an Apple spokesperson didn't say: "We expect customers to fall in love with their iProduct and understand that they may be reluctant to return the product at the end of the lease period. Apple staff will gently remind customers of how much money they spent and how good they felt when they first leased an iTem, and that they have the opportunity to feel that good all over again."
http://www.loopinsight.com/2012/07/10/apple-responds-to-epeat-concerns/
Come on Anna Leach/El Reg at least read the news before posting...
http://www.loopinsight.com/2012/07/10/apple-responds-to-epeat-concerns/
Appears that Apple thinks their products are well within "green" specifications, but also in fields that are not measured by EPEAT. Also, EPEAT does not certify a large chunk of Apple's stuff, such as iPods, iPhones and iPads.
In the same article, EPEAT admits that their standards are a little old and they are in the process of updating their certifications.
Still this is a curious move by Apple, as a lack of EPEAT certification means the US government won't shop there any more, as 95% of their purchases needs to be EPEAT certified.
I would rather my battery replaced by the manufacturer to their specification and they have the hassle of responsibly disposing of the old lithium battery. Think EPEAT need to update their specs as things like that seem more important than a user replaceable battery. Being green is about the thing being recyclable (which Apple commit to do) and being efficient / low power - surely?
Bit of a strange and uninformative response though, isn't it?
They still haven't actually explained why they withdrew from it.
The gist of the response is "Yes we have withdrawn from EPEAT. All our products are really green and EPEAT are rubbish".
Doesn't actually explain what Apple get from withdrawal from the certification since they rule out a large swathe of their market by doing so, other than the obvious point that they probably wouldn't get certification for their new Retina macbooks.
Isn't it MORE eco-friendly to have Apple replace the batteries? That guarantees they'll be recycled, while someone doing it at home would probably chuck out the old lithium monster with the household rubbish, maybe creating a fire hazard if the contacts short out or the battery is punctured.
As long as the replacement cost is reasonable, as it appears to be, I don't see the problem with it.
Can you define a reasonable cost?
Do they charge for their time too?
Do they supply the parts to do it yourself?
Also I use my laptop for work, I cant leave it with them or send it off to a service centre how do we work around that?
I also spend quite a bit of time away from mains power and normally carry a spare charged battery to swap out on the move... guess Ill need a second laptop now?
At least Apple commit to recycling and maintaining this stuff - I have bought other makes of laptops to find you cannot get genuine batteries after a few years and I'd rather not use a 3rd party pack that who knows whether they have used the same quality of cells, got protection circuits etc.
I've seen what can happen to lithium cells so reducing the risk seems a plus.
I performed was on a 5 year old Macbook with serviceable battery exchange...I ordered one from Amazon, it arrived the next day...And guess where the old one ended up bad boy I am...Yes in my bin...
A non-user serviceable item can be guaranteed to be recycled by the service provider, I would have thought that is much more eco friendly.
All this talk about the costs is just noise, if you don't like it vote with your feet and don't buy it...
Last time Apple replaced a battery for me the cost was only what it would have cost for any other manufacturer genuine battery and a friend just had the 1tb drive replaced on a 3+ year old Macbook and they only charged his about £120 which is basically the cost of the part - for that they did the replacement, re-installed the OS etc. Bargain actually.
Round my neck of the woods most supermarkets and garages have a specially marked bin where you can dump your batteries for them to be disposed of properly (presumably). And it isn't even a particularly "Green" part of the country. There really is no excuse to put them in your household waste.
Apple *currently* say they'll charge $200 USD (so probably 200 eur+) for a battery swap-out. If you've followed the tactics of the company, you'll know fine well that "upgrade/maintenance" costs go up prohibitively once said product falls off their radar.
Try buying a genuine version of the last OS which you can put on a PowerPC, e.g my late 2005 mac mini. Over 120 euro for Snow Leopard. The upgrade to Lion cost 29 euro, *if* your hardware supported it.
BTW - for all those muppets saying they're happy to send their laptop off to the vendor for a swap-out, think of those of us who actually run their business from their mac. Last time I had to replace the battery on my MBP, it took me all of 5 seconds once I'd gotten the new one in the post. The expense and down-time of travelling to an Apple reseller, then not having my main system for something as trivial as a battery swap means I'll no longer be buying Apple.
Quite frankly I rather go a couple days without my system (or walk it down to the apple store) than put some knock-off battery in there and possibly lose it because of that.
the amount of complaints I've seen online and in person with cheap alternatives makes me think it's not worth the gamble. Even if the actual bits inside are quality they're often the wrong size and don't stay in or don't fit.
I am now attempting to get a authentic 9 cell thinkpad battery. I admit I don't want to pay lenovo £164 so I looked elsewhere and every is fairly deceptive about what you actually get. If it's quality you don't need to do that. I did get one sold directly from amazon for much less. I'd hope amazon doesn't personally sell knock off shit with an image of the real thing. If they I'll kick up a fuss and expect a replacement of the real thing.
If my mac battery goes before I'm done with I'll certainly get apple to replace it. I rather pay a bit more and know it fits correctly and won't burst into flames 6 months later. With a good back up strategy and numerous laptops and a PC it means I can live without the mac for awhile.
The Register 
Biting the hand that feeds IT
Copyright. All rights reserved © 1998–2024
