Federal agencies can no longer buy Apple products for their offices. According to a recent announcement, Apple will be pulling all of their products from the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT), the leading green consumer electronics standard. EPEAT is designed to mitigate the negative environmental and social impacts of electronics manufacturing by requiring that products meet eight environmental “performance categories,” including product lifetime, toxic materials, and recyclability of components and packaging materials.
Since 2007, all of Apple’s new products have been EPEAT Gold Certified, as they’ve widely advertised. EPEAT was developed by the Green Electronics Council, with a grant from the EPA, in 2006. By June 2007, 19 major electronics manufacturers had products registered with EPEAT, including Apple. Voluntary, government-adopted environmental standards such as EPEAT are one of the most effective ways to make the electronics industry greener. The federal government has significant buying power, and federal agencies can only purchase products that meet the EPEAT standard.
It’s no coincidence that the decision came just weeks after the release of the very-difficult-to-repair MacBook Pro with Retina Display. When we tore it down last month, we noticed that EPEAT certification was quietly left out of Apple’s marketing material. Even the environmental report for the new 15-inch non-Retina MacBook Pro, which is not much changed from last year’s model, no longer mentions EPEAT at all.
According to my EPEAT contacts, Apple’s mobile design direction is in conflict with the intended direction of the standard. Specifically, the standard lays out particular requirements for product “disassemble-ability,” a very important consideration for recycling: “External enclosures, chassis, and electronic subassemblies shall be removable with commonly available tools or by hand.” Electronics recyclers need to take out hazardous components such as batteries before sending computers through their shredders, because batteries can catch fire when punctured.
That’s why it’s such a problem when manufacturers glue batteries into place with industrial-strength adhesive. When we originally tore down the Retina MacBook Pro, we could not separate the battery from the upper case. The next day, after a lot of elbow grease, we were finally able to get them apart—but in the process punctured the battery, leaking hazardous goo all over.
The EPEAT standard is common sense, allowing for a wide degree of design freedom, even with the disassembly language. Although Apple has historically opposed product take back legislation, the recyclers they contract with still need to be able to disassemble their products. Recyclers are at the mercy of product manufacturers, and EPEAT is the federal government’s way of watching out for recyclers.
Apple’s decision to opt out of the most basic of eco-standards demonstrates that, despite the costs, design supersedes the environment.
Apple is slowly losing its vision.
This is difficult because the product is being produced in countries without realistic policies on the environment and it needs a little push from their end as well as the design channel.
Apple does need to recognise a great number of their customers have evolved values. Although many new customers have blue / orange – orange SDi value systems. The core of long term customers are actually green / turquoise SDi or greater and are at risk from this course and direction. It goes to the heart of Apple’s ‘Why?’[Simon Sinek]
The only saving point for Apple is no competitors have anything like their level of values.
However this said, is a pity Steve Jobs did not live a few years longer, it appears he has not completed the development of the Apple culture.
Introduction to Spiral Dynamics SDi
http://goo.gl/QdfIz
SImon Sinek – TED Why?
http://youtu.be/qp0HIF3SfI4
Apples decision to both leave EPEAT and make UNREPAIRABLE products is VERY disappointing to me!
I’ve been a LOYAL Apple customer and investor since the mid-80s, BUT with these decisions that Apple has made of late, I shall reconsider purchasing any FUTURE Apple products as well as divesting my families Apple stock holdings UNLESS they reconsider their changing their current stand(s) on these issues, and SOON!
Saying “Apple products” is wrong and misleading, since only laptops, desktops and monitors were ever covered under EPEAT.
iPads, iPhones, etc do not fall under EPEAT purchase rules or certification.
Please correct this.
Congrats Apple,
I appreciate your snubbing the activist EPA and their desire to put companies out of business with stupid over regulation. I applaud you and I hope everyone follows suit.. The EPA must be destroyed.
I don’t see this being related to the environment at all, Apple is still has very good environmental credentials, for example being rated 4th best in Greenpeace’s guide to Electronics.
Apple have their own recycling systems in place and I’m sure their recycling partners are capable of dismantling their systems.
The only issue I see with EPEAT is the one Kyle mentioned: current EPEAT rules require that laptops be easily serviced without special tools.
Now is it reasonable to demand this from modern laptops, especially when modern spare parts like main boards and large capacity batteries are so expensive to the point of making self-service unappealing? Isn’t making smaller laptops, that do need special tools to repair, an acceptable compromise? I think this is still very much an open topic for discussion.
Unfortunately I have to disagree with this post. Claiming that, by not making it easy for users to repair their laptop, Apple is raising an environmental problem is stretching the truth considerably.
The WSJ article by Joel Schectman reporting on this is actually a much better, informative, read than this article and cuts through a lot of the hyperbole reported here.
Gotta agree with John5 here. Just because Apple products don’t allow electronics to be broken apart, doesn’t mean they’re environmentally destructive.
The article makes the new Macbook Pro with Retina sound like as if it’s destroying the Earth we live in.
Just because Apple doesn’t allow you (meaning iFixit) to easily break down their products doesn’t mean you should write a blog negatively speaking about Apple’s concern about the environment. You said it yourself- you guys love to break down things, and as technology evolves, that becomes even more challenging, which you guys said it’s fun because it challenges you guys.
If Apple made everything user-serviceable, well, iFixit wouldn’t exist! Say goodbye to strikingly-thin, beautiful, powerful laptops and say hello to 2 inch thick aluminum ones!
We all drool over what Apple will do, we whine about what we want Apple to do, and once Apple comes up with one, you guys start complaining!
Having everything glued provides thinner, sturdier structure too! Using screws that loosen over time and having more parts = lesser durability.
And it was right for Apple to get out of that environmental group; their products are not as user-serviceable as the other companies, and it was the right thing to do for Apple to leave that group. If Apple stayed in the group saying that their products meet the standards, yet had products that are near impossible to break apart, well, isn’t that lying?
Just because Apple made it difficult to open it doesn’t mean you should trash-talk about it.
Besides, you guys love opening up gadgets! Just because it’s hard to replace doesn’t make it a bad, terrible, Earth-killing product!
Personally, I would never really try to service my MacBook myself. If you do take the plunge and crack the cover, doesn’t that violate the terms of your Applecare warranty?
People are going to take a MacBook to the Apple store to get fixed with or without an EPEAT certification. By this measure, is Apple really doing anything different than it has been?
Also, I know that Apple offers a gift card for recycling your old Macs/iPhones/etc. with them. I feel as though most people (as in the average person, not the federal government) will opt to recycle with Apple, if they choose to at all. The federal government, on the other hand, would probably not. Instead, they would use internal programs. If government agencies decided to recycle with Apple for it’s Apple products, they would achieve the same amount of conservation done under a EPEAT product.
Bottom line: Apple can’t be blamed for dropping the EPEAT certification.
How does Apple replace the batteries then? Just because iFixit cannot repair something, does not mean it’s irreparable. iFixit, guess you’ll be losing a lot of money if you can’t figure out how to repair new Apple products. You better go back to school and figure it out.
“The EPA must be destroyed.”
Get the fuck off my planet and go destroy your own.
So, Why bother with Apple products then? Just consider them 100% no recycable and toss them in the regualr trash can.
Very disappointing, Apple.
In reply to M: Even Apple says the battery cannot be replaced in the new retina MBPs. I just took the Retina Qualification Exam as required by Apple and my employer and the exam materials specifically say that if the battery, keyboard, touchpad, microphone, or fan ducts go out, the ENTIRE topcase assembly must be returned to Apple and a new topcase installed. All of those parts are NOT removable. Period.
It’s a shame Apple is taking this route.
I love when nitwits make idle threats saying that they will no longer purchase an Apple product because of editorial pieces like this. You’ll still buy it and you’ll still keep your stock, so shut it. The apple devices are still far ahead in terms of recyclability in comparison to other manufacturers of electronic devices. The difficulty is what makes them less than favorable in terms of disassembly, but doesn’t mean they are not environmentally friendly. Apple never really made systems that were self-serviceable anyways.
The Google/Samsung Nexus Galaxy 7 tablet does not have a replaceable battery, and many other devices don’t either. I’m trying to find the mandatory requirement of End of Life Cycle and disposal of other companies computers and devices which is MANDATORY, any info? Apple always takes your device back and gives you money. They have not lost their what was Energy Star ratings and more. I’d recommend reading the EPEAT requirements and the Apple site for product information. Meanwhile I have computers that I cannot get rid of, HP’s and others sitting in the garage, HP has a high rating? so are they going to dispose of my old computers safely? Our landfill won’t accept them and our trash collection won’t take computers any longer either. To those saying just toss them in the trash can that is illegal.
Considering these issues relative to poorer standards is further ‘dumbing-down’. I also think that several of these posts miss the implications of some of these changes by Apple.
As far as ‘self-serviceable’ (?): it is not only iFixit whose opportunities to repair are affected, it is the individual consumer’s opportunities to repair and save money, and even to be able to continue using a Mac because the cost of a new one is prohibitive for some of us.
Apple is getting worse since Jobs was dead
Apple failed before after Jobs left. It will fail again. Samsung’s new phone has a user removable back with replaceable battery and memory card. This is what people want. People will eventually catch on to Apple’s lack of serviceability when they can’t repair or resell their hefty price tag devices and it will be the 90’s all over again with the 1 percenters the only ones buying Apple and no one developing applications for them. Let’s face it they don’t even have the excuse that it has different parts inside anymore justifying the higher prices.
Love all the comments so far, just what I expected from Apple zealots.
Sent from Android.
Not what Steve intended at all
I know that he would make apple products sort of repearable but Tim cook just ruined that.
Bad bad bad
i use apple product from 1989 but now………
Is a goodbye i’m sorry
RIP Apple
Nine Reasons You Should Boycott Apple
http://helpmyseo.com/seo-blog/786-nine-reasons-you-should-boycott-apple.html
Saturday, 07 July 2012 22:28
Please comment after reading about the Apple recycling program. Uninformed opinions waste everyone’s time.
http://www.apple.com/recycling/
From the Apple website…
Recycle your computer or display free.
If all you want is to dispose of your unwanted equipment — regardless of brand — we can help you do that. Apple contracts with Sims Recycling Solutions to responsibly recycle computers and displays from any manufacturer. Just call 800-966-4135 to receive a free prepaid shipping label. Then pack up your equipment using your own box and send it off. For more information about Sims Recycling Solutions, visit oem.srsapp.com/ApplePoweredBysims/.
And then reddit happened.
What I don’t like is that Apple appears to be trying to limit their customers solutions to get their devices fixed.
I had a customer the other day come in with a broken Macbook Pro screen. He said he went to the Apple store, and they wanted to charge him to replace the whole display panel, when it was only the glass that was cracked. I replaced the glass for him for a fraction of what Apple wanted to charge him.
All electronic devices should be made to be repaired, or else the customer is at the mercy of the manufacturer for repairs. It should remain a open market to promote competition. Ensuring that consumers will get fair pricing.
My customer didn’t feel he was getting a fair deal from Apple, so he came to me. I’m not sure how much longer consumer will be able to do that with Apple products.
As far as the topic goes. I don’t think it’s that big of a deal. I would need a lot more info to make a judgement call. I don’t know much about the EPEAT.
Anyone miss Steve Jobs yet?
Great post. I’ve owned more Apple gear than any of the fanbois above cheering on Apple’s destruction of the planet.
Never again. Apple lured us in by taking apart their walled garden and participating in open standards.
As soon as the chance came up, walls back up and not just on the software side, on hardware again.
Apple has become a vile, vile company: a looking glass reflection of the Microsoft we all fled.
Unrepairable equipment is a bitter dessert in a time of raised environmental consciousness when humankind is on its way to permanently destroying the world as we know it through overpopulation and thoughtless rapacity.
Does not surprise me. I own a MBP w/Apple Care protection (extra $349). When it was brought to the Apple Store for repair they voided my protection, due to “traces of nicotine substance” inside of it. After reading your article, it also demonstrates that Apple Inc. gives new meaning to the word “hypocrisy”.
They obviously want you to buy a new macbook instead of replacing a component of the old one, duh.
I haven’t read all the comments, maybe something similiar has already been said but I’m going to say it anyway, I use to work for Apple, left a year ago. I know that when Apple sends its bad units to be recycled, they send them to a specific recycle centre, Apple has these centre’s setup with the tools to properly and safely dismantle its products (all its products) and recycle them safely as well. No product’s ever go to a centre that is not setup to Apple standards. They’ve been using the same recycle centre for the last 5 years that I worked for them. They have very high standards on recycling and they follow them.
Your computer was probably caked with nicotine and posed a health hazard. Stop chain smoking over it!
Also did it ever occur to anyone that the computers are less serviceable because it’s the only way to meet demands for smaller frame, less weight, incredible battery life.
You want your computer to be user serviceable? Prepare for a 3 inch thick machine that chugs and has 2 hours of battery life.
First world problems like woah.
To people saying many other devices don’t have user replaceable batteries – at least they can be removed with a couple screws. The MacBook Pro Retina essentially is impossible to recycle. If one part goes wrong, the whole unit must be replaced. Glued in. Meaning, you can’t simply get down to the aluminum, glass, and plastic easily. Fanboys, please don’t try to defend a multination corporation. They fucked up on a machine, and lost some credentials. End of story.
@Scott – You can replace just about any component in this MacBook Pro 13″ I’m using right now, and it’s less than an inch thick and gets a good 4 hours of battery life 2 years in to use (about the same as the Retina MBP new). In fact, in the Retina MBP, the glue they used to puncture the batteries if removed probably adds a mm. Yes, you can easily replace the “sealed” battery in the MBP pre-retina with just a couple screws.
Do you think this was an effort to get a product out that would have difficulty being duplicated?
It seems odd to toss the “Green” rating. Short term profit always is more appealing for corporations but when the products they’re peddling components skyrocketed and consumers will purchase the first HP with ASUS they find.
Bad tactic, Apple… Repair not Replace!
They are saying enough of things! pay them for your device, they will not replace it.
What beauracrats can’t figure out is that Apple products outlast other products but that’s not taken into account. I still have a white macbook from years ago that still works great for guests. Meanwhile, I know Pc users who get a new machine and while it can handed down 1 or twice, after that – it just goes into the landflll so my macbook has outlasted 10 PC’s – but bureacracts can’t count that or understand that. BTW, things that are glued down can be replaced also – just because it doesn’t have a screw. an econobox car needs recycled materials because the 5th owner is just going to park it by the rainroad track while a ferrari will have a 10th owner 50 years later. You can just do a checklist for everything.
Trackback: http://www.displayalliance.com/news-categories/2012/7/9/apple-ditches-epeat.html
Apple products last as long as regular non-Apple branded laptops. It all depends on their use. I service Apple machines. I wouldnt have a job if they didnt break down.
In fact, not only do they break down just as often, but macs are much harder to work on than most standard laptops. Our customers are of the mentality to just toss the old one and get a new one.
The ones that balk at the thought of that, or the cost of their repair, are shown out the door with a smile. We dont need your kind here.
Just because YOURS lasted a long time doesnt mean they ALL do. It just means youre gentle with your toys.
Problem with the laptop is they made it so no normal user can do anything to it. Most laptops know the parts that most likely to fail, either hard drive, ram and battery are easy to fix even by a person that has almost 0 knowledge on the matter. Apple also designed this laptop so you have to buy the 350$ extended warranty just in case. But with the battery the laptop is really only ment for 2 years then apple wants you to get a new one. Hell the iphone is ment for 1 year before they expect ya to get a new one. And for people saying they should use apple’s recycle partners, well maybe they got a contract with someone already and don’t want to spend the premium price apple’s recycle partner will charge since their stuff takes a lot of work. Apple has been on a down hill spiral since job’s left, its been massively accelerated since he died. Wonder how many years it will be til apple is back to where they were 15 years ago.
The Macbook Pro Retina is reparable only if user could afford parts, and is able to dismount the assembly which are broken.
Perhaps manufacturer could think how to recycle efficiently there products which are hard to repair and provide “how to” guides throughout the recyclers network.
i could imagine how to recycle Retina display assembly and top case with the iFixit MBP Retina teardown site. Could use proper heather to separate parts without break too much the lcd glass. After that, use proper glue remover like Goo Gone to remove glue tape from the LCD cover. Then try to do same thing on the lcd parts. Use cleaner like Bon ami to clean parts surface. Separe Lcd parts from each other. Once light diffuser plastic sheet removed from the lcd, put them in the recycle can. Remove the Apple logo from the lcd back cover, and put both parts in the recycle can too. The led array and electronic sub assembly must be conducted to a proper electronic recycler. The LCD main part is made of glass with transistor lithography printed on it. You could also wipe the back of the lcd glass panel with a scott towel. Then, wash it with soap and water to remove most of the stuff on it. You could recycle it like the the other electronic parts.
For the battery, I could figure it Apple had to manage how to remove safely it from the top case. With a heat gun which not heat the case at a temp higher than the battery could support.
Perhaps they use a special bio-organic glue remover.
So, it’s clear to me after reading this blog that Apple should post an article on is site about how they recycle new Macbook’s and iDevice. In this way they will secure people about this topic.
Also, many Mac’s in the past have parts glued with a glue tape. Just to think about plastic mica if the iBook’s or in the plastics Macbook. On early Macbook Pro and old Powerbook’s, the plastic frame which serve to clip the lcd bezel is also glued to the lcd cover. I could think recycler has already found a way to remove those glue from the aluminum back from these laptop.
I could push further more. Just to think those G5 iMac infamous power supply with all those glued parts inside. Some power model have even there main board glued on the inner PS case. Do you remember the PowerMac G5 with water cooling assembly? When the water cooling assay broke, it spill liquid inside the power supply and corrode all the case. It’s hard to figure how to recycle properly those PM case and without grinding all the corroded surface with a sanding paper.
I have at heard Apple recycling and self repairing and want to Apple to be more conscious to how there product without sending them absolutely to their associate. People could also recycle there one device, take them apart and put parts if possible to the normal recycle bin when possible by the law.
Take note, here in Canada, Staple (Bureau en Gros and Futureshop) have the responsibility to take electronic stuff to recycle it properly by the law. They send it to a proper recycler organization like the CFER of Bellechasse, Quebec.
Those company don’t publish there responsibility and I promote this one every time I could because people doesn’t know how to dispose there old electronic devices properly.
I rebuild PCs from totally trashed parts, the computer I’m using is made totally of other peoples trash… I can’t do what I do with MACs, they aren’t nearly as versatile, or serviceable.
The article fails to mention how Apple stacks up against it’s competitors. Are Samsung and HP any better? How about the Microsoft Surface? Although Google doesn’t make much actual hardware, it’s still a player, still a factor. If Apple were to stop making these products, what then? Would the story end there or would Microsoft simply sell more Surface tablets and bring them into the spotlight which Apple now holds. ? How green is Microsoft’s Surface tablet?
Apple has stores and resellers all over the world, therefore products can easily be returned to Apple for recycling and that’s worth something.
BOTTOM LINE: Stop looking to industry to regulate it’s self. Just look at the banking industry to see where that leads. It’s not up to individual companies such as Apple to regulate themselves, rather it’s the job government to regulate entire industries and set a framework for a sustainable future. Consumers must do their part by shopping green and electing effective leaders to their governments.
Danny – July 6, 2012 at 9:39 pm wrote: “If Apple made everything user-serviceable, well, iFixit wouldn’t exist! Say goodbye to strikingly-thin, beautiful, powerful laptops and say hello to 2 inch thick aluminum ones!”
.
How on earth one thing relates to the other?
And how proprietary pentalobe screws that prevent you from gaining access to anything inside are needed to produce strikingly-thin, beautiful, powerful laptops?
.
Please explain.
@ Scott – July 8, 2012 at 8:26 pm- There are many people who own computers who don’t smoke. Computers can be in an environment where others do smoke. The same issue happened with my computer. I agree that nicotine poses a health hazard, but I don’t agree that Apple fails to warn users up front, in the Terms of the Apple Care Protection. This issue could have easily been avoided if they had first disclosed it.
Try to think more: it’s free.
I will never knowingly buy or use a product made by slave labour. My kids bought me an Ipod years ago. Used it for a bit then found out how it was made. Never used it since.
now this story makes me even more determined. Just one
“Get the fuck off my planet and go destroy your own.” – Ikern
A) it’s not your planet, you elitist arse.
B) You and the EPA can go find another economy to destroy, destroying more families and kids without jobs or food so you can have your frickin ‘unglued batteries’ and the EPA can rule supreme over all commercial enterprise, you earth-extremist nazi.
C) Why don’t you and your over-educated, under-intelligent, comrades learn that the free enterprise system doesn’t need the EPA. You don’t like Apple policies, don’t buy their junk. You don’t like Walmart, don’t buy there. What you want, is to force everyone else that doesn’t agree with you to live by your standards, rather than the democracy of each free individual voting with their dollars. You want to throw folks in jail, kick them off your planet, rather than allow the masses you despise to actually have freedom of choice.
D) I’m not Apple fan, can’t stand their walled gardens, and laughing hysterically at the elitists that loved Apple’s catering and posturing to the creative class, and now upset because their own walled garden of EPA asskissing is in conflict with their plans for one-world culture that supports their myopic view. “Evolved?” Hah, yeah, and Mao was a philosopher.
Apple’s probably doing this as a kind of after market anti-competition strategy, but they are going to loose a lot of customers. I’m sure most other people who understand why they are doing this will start looking for a different brand. This is the worst decision I’ve ever heard of Apple making.
•I really was happy to read this (article2884) as according to the EPEAT & Exec. Ord. 13423:
✩
No Federal Agency is allowed to buy Compact Fluorescent Lights. I FEEL better already.
•Due to the computer circuit boards in their base; due to the toxins in their base and “bulb”; due to the lifecycle of their Carbon footprint, packaging, need to be shipped to a place of de-manufacture in order to then recycle, and of course their initial shipping weight from Asia (more carbon); and not least their “performance category” of making people feel stressed when lit by fluorescent flicker – they now (since 2007) cannot be purchased for Federal use.
• Yayyy!
• Please be sure to let your purchasing agents know, if they are in use in your building.
“Apple’s probably doing this as a kind of after market anti-competition strategy, but they are going to loose a lot of customers. I’m sure most other people who understand why they are doing this will start looking for a different brand. This is the worst decision I’ve ever heard of Apple making.” -John
1- Just to think where the recent Mac’s (2010+) is going with the new Firmware Password. When you put an internal password on a recent Mac, this one is now stored on a secure encrypted rom on the logic board. With this way, people who forgot firmware password must go to the Apple Store and pay 40$ to remove it. The Apple Technician must contact an Apple Technical Service Provider Support to have a password to do a password reset on the locked Mac. Even a local Apple registered repairer couldn’t do this firmware. Before, this new way of encrypting the password into a special password ROM, you only need to remove one dimm of RAM and do a PRAM reset twice to reset the firmware. Now, this method don’t works.
2- I recently got a iMac mid 2011 for 100$ with the front glass broken. The computer comes with no main hard drive. Apple managed to put regular hard drive with a proprietary firmware to be able to read the internal temperature sensor of the drive. I tried to put a ordinary hard drive in the computer and the hd and optical drive fans come up to 5000rpm. Apple hardware test don’t detect hd temperature sensor. So, must use a piece a software to bypass this issue. Why to pay 499$ for an Apple 500GO hd?
These two issues lead me to the evidence that Apple try to encapsulate people on their services, in a way to avoiding “quietly” to have to pay Apple registered repairer. Draining quietly second market to bring some new cash at home.
Just to point the last issue is very frustrating because in the era of SCSI Mac, all HD must be stamped from Apple. The machine don’t boot on a non Apple certified drive. It’s like 15years before our era.
So? I will repair my iMac even with the help of Apple which removed my firmware password and who had to call a new front glass, all for 170$. I will not pay either for the gimmick of OWC who resell the german cBreeze at high cost only by their services. OWC seem to profit of the Apple closeness to done the same thing with the cBreeze.
I love Apple because it challenge open minded tech people to found a way to bring back to work their second hand hardware.
This is a blow to the ESG investor; ESG funds now have to unwind a lot of stock
I think many of you are missing the point. I could care less if I need a proprietary tool to service a macbook or if the ram or battery are soldered to the mainboard.
the issue is that the federal government CAN’T buy any macbooks because of this. And that means lost revenue and productivity for the “Apple Users”. And I get to tell my Mac users in my office that they can’t use macs and must convert to a PC whether they like it or not.
As a shareholder I’m appalled at such a poor business decision. And BTW) I prefer PCs :)
It is a fact, the more you integrate the parts, the more you keep the customer out of the i-fix-it business. And this is not good – at least for the technically interested and active customer!
But it is good for Apple, of course! At least on the short time range.
My opinion: These new notebooks are too expensive to keep it that way. This price would actually reflect a superb serviceability and NOT this one-piece-only-manufacturer-serviceable thinking. I do not pay almost 3,000.- Dollars to have a this beautiful screenbox, this molded together shit, you cannot even exchange the harddrive yourself (but maybe later this year..)
I am with Apple since 1988, visited three keynotes in San Francisco, met high rank Apple managers, but this way Apple is going to perform, now keeps me thinking to leave. Which is not bad either, I think change is sometimes good. It drives the creative processees at other parts of our community.
Looking back to the old but reliable Powerbook from 1999: It still runs, it is serviceable, it is astonshingly nice. Yeah it is thicker, yes it is slower, but it runs and works. And who, the hell, can stop me to change the interior for other specs myself? Only me, my time and expectations. But I am free to decide myself on core parts what I will do, with the new Macbook Pro, the iPad this not possible any further – and remember, you paid even the very premium prices for it.
I feel like I’m in a parallel universe. Apple clearly states that its products are NOT self-serviceable. It has manufactured a product that – mirabile dictu! — is actually NOT self-serviceable. And all you can do is complain that Apple finally does exactly what it says it does. Something’s wrong with this picture.
As the prison captain in Cool Hand Luke said, “What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate.” You want to interpret Apple’s statement as “You CANNOT self-service this product,” i.e., “Betcha can’t do it!” Apple, on the other hand, appears to mean both “you CANNOT” (you can’t figure out how to do it) and “you MAY not” (it’s prohibited & if you try, we’ll void your warranty).
The fact that I can’t do my own tune-ups anymore sure doesn’t make my current car worse than my 1960 straight-six. I don’t know why the same shouldn’t be true of laptops.
Apple is EPEAT compliant again.
http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2012/07/apple-epeat/
We love our Kindle Fire, but as many people have said it has some drawbacks when compared to the iPad, especially on size and power. But I’m impressed with the new specs of the Kindle Fire 2 with the 10inch screen. Some of the new specs are at kindlemad.com and I think they will be opening up pre-orders soon.
Many of the people commenting on here sound rather defensive of Apple and the very idea that companies should be able to do whatever they please. I own an iPhone and use a Macbook, but I’ll be the first one to say that this article has a lot of merit. It seems like Apple products are, despite their aesthetic appearances, always cheaply made and the first ones to break. I’ve had to get my iPhone replaced and serviced on two separate occasions, and my Macbook is currently being repaired. For those who say that glued batteries and encasings that are impossible to take apart means your device will somehow be clunky and more fragile, you really need to check your facts. At some point, every Apple device needs to be repaired, so it actually benefits everyone for them to be repairable. And for those who say the EPA’s program was aiming to kill businesses, your knee-jerk response to serve your corporate masters is amusing. It’s a *voluntary* program… duh. You don’t *have* to sell products to the federal government. Just another stupid idiot showing how little you know. As someone who cares about the environment, I get sick just knowing how much our country wastes. We buy, throw out, buy, throw out, buy, throw out… Where do you think all these things are going? Long after you’re done with your stupid iPhone, it’s going to be in a landfill for centuries. It can’t be reused. And it can’t be disposed of in an environmentally-friendly way because Apple only cares about its bottom line. I’m completely with the writer, Kyle, on this.
their products are selling so well the gov sales obviously no longer mean that much to them.
@jbelkin “Meanwhile, I know Pc users who get a new machine and while it can handed down 1 or twice, after that – it just goes into the landflll ”
Or if you know the right people they end up as Linux-based firewalls, mail servers, NAS boxes, media streamers.. and so on. And yes,I’m really pleased with my 2005 Mac Mini PPC.
When Steve Jobs left us he took Apple with him.
Who said you can’t take it with you.
“Apple never really made systems that were self-serviceable anyways.”
Funny statement, I have been repairing and modifying Apple/Mac computers and other products, including iPods for 26 years. I still use daily a G3 Powerbook, the best and best looking Laptop ever made. It is still see in many new TV shows because if its great design. As soon as my new iMac is out of warranty, wi ll put a 2 TB HD in it too , to save having externals sitting around, making whining noises ;-) & I am not a tech, just a home user, with a few years of a small appletalk network in an office of 2-3.