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A comment on Macbook charger teardown: surprising complexity inside Apple's power adapter. Parent comment

Re:Macbook charger teardown: surprising complexity inside Ap... by dereg on Wednesday November 25, 2015 @06:15PM (#10630417)
While it does suck that all of Apple's chargers fray so easily, however I don't see it as a reason to be cynical about their products. In this case, Apple seems to be prioritizing environmental friendliness over function here. The cables are so weak because they have specifically removed PVC from their charging cables.

http://www.apple.com/macbook-pro/environment/

> The greatest environmental challenge facing the computer industry today is the presence of arsenic, brominated flame retardants (BFRs), mercury, phthalates, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) in products. Apple engineers have worked hard to eliminate BFRs and PVC from MacBook Pro circuit boards, internal and external cables, connectors, insulators, adhesives, and more.

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Re:Macbook charger teardown: surprising complexity inside Ap... by kalleboo on Thursday November 26, 2015 @01:24AM (#10631578)
Filling up landfills with tens of thousands of broken chargers probably makes that decision a net negative to the environment...
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Re:Macbook charger teardown: surprising complexity inside Ap... by DanBC on Thursday November 26, 2015 @10:32AM (#10633335)
That cable has an external insulation, which is the weird rubbery stuff that frays. The internal wires are also insulated. What are they insulated with?

By mixing different types of insulation Apple have just made it harder for people to reclaim and recycle the PVC. Recycling the PVC is possible because people scavenge the copper wire.

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