As far as Apple is concerned, I believe that AirPods are a true tragedy[0].

If you try to recycle them, someone will have to separate the glued-in lithium-ion battery from the plastic.

If you try to throw them away, you might start a fire in a garbage compactor facility.

If they end up in a landfill, they'll be in earth's crust for thousands of years.

That's before getting into how fast they become obsolete on their own because the battery loses charge (~18 months) and how easy it is to lose them.

[0] Excellent article, in which CEO of iFixit was asked for a comment and simply called them "evil": https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/neaz3d/airpods-are-a-trag...

It's sad when technological advances go hand in hand with disadvantages for, basically, the planet. But it's especially so when it's (to some extent) avaoidable and definitely so when it gets executed by companies who have plenty of resources to not do it, yet don't care at all, and keep on producing things like this under the (mis)nomer of 'building a better future'. Despite knowing well enough what the effects are, and because they know it will be bought by the masses anyway.

Don't get me wrong: I'm well aware the problem is not exactly easy to solve, but if your answer is to just make it worse with every product release while you could at least attempt to make it better instead, then perhaps this CEO is indeed using the correct term for your (and others') behaviour.

It's also totally possible to build the Airpods in a way that is battery replaceable: https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Samsung+Galaxy+Buds+Teardown...

Every android phone in that page has a score lower or equal to all the iPhones. This has to be a joke, right? Example:

Galaxy S20 Ultra [3/10]: https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Samsung+Galaxy+S20+Ultra+Tea...

iPhone 11 Pro Max [6/10]: https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/iPhone+11+Pro+Max+Teardown/1...

But sure, lets keep bashing Apple because that gives us all the internet kudos, am I right?

I hate how "waterproof" has come to mean "you can't fix this phone anymore". Samsung up to at least the S7 used to be decent about changing the camera module, the screen, the battery, ... But now you can't do anything.

Although you are right and this is a problem, android does not in general claim to be climate-friendly, while Apple does.

Well according to the list you posted, they seem to be the most climate friendly mass smart phone producer on the planet. Perhaps they deserve the title.

This is a weird defense. They are certainly able to do better with their resources unlike e.g. Fairphone.

The scores should correlate but my main worry would be the battery replacements

From that description it does seem that Apple worries about it:

> Critical display and battery repairs remain a priority in the iPhone's design.

I've seen Android phones where the replacement is simple and others where you have to take the whole phone apart to take the battery out

This is Apple fault, because other manufacturers just started to imitate their build style, poorly.

That's a fine example of whataboutism. Look, others are doing the same bad thing, what's your problem?

It seems very reasonable to look at direct competitors when considering whether a company is making good engineering or marketing choices.

No, it’s more of the fact that almost everyone compared to Apple is doing worse but apple gets all the bashing.

What? Why bring Android into this completely out of nowhere.

I don't think you understand how much easier it is to repair an iPhone compared to any other phone on the market (apart of niche products like the Fairphone which does a great job!).

If you open an iPhone, you will see a very well ordered and packaged arrangement of components. Most Android phones are a hot mess compared with it.

If you need a component for an iPhone, you can get it easily.

What I'm saying is not that electronics should not become more climate-friendly.

What I'm saying is that the focus on Apple is wrong. The business is the problem and companies like Samsung, Motorola, etc. are putting much worse devices on the market.

BTW: iPhones regularly get software updates for around 5 years. How's that for extending the lifetime of devices? Android phones are lucky to get significant software updates for more than one year.

You might be able to get apple to repair it at an exorbitant cost relative to the price of the part. Apple dies not provide spare parts to third party repair shops. If you can't repair an item for a reasonable cost regardless of how easy it is it's still not repairable.

Third-party shops use refurbished parts from dead phones, supplied by companies which specialize in this. Still, I believe it should be illegal to sell a device a not sell the parts required for its repair.

I’ve had iPhones in our family since the 4 and have never had difficulty finding whatever parts I needed (several batteries and 1 screen). Most malls have a kiosk where iPhones are repairable if you don’t want to DIY.

While I wish by-Apple repairs were cheaper, I also wish car repairs were cheaper at the dealer.

> BTW: iPhones regularly get software updates for around 5 years. How's that for extending the lifetime of devices? Android phones are lucky to get significant software updates for more than one year.

After Android devices stop getting updates, you can continue with alternative OS or you can use F-Droid basically forever. All your apps will have updates.

When Apple devices stop being supported, they turn into bricks.

When apple device stops being supported, it’s just not getting any more updates. It’s not going to get bricked, you can keep using the phone until foreseeable future.

Also, the general consumer does not care if you can flash a rom from xda. They care about the official updates.

> When apple device stops being supported, it’s just not getting any more updates

If effectively means it is absolutely unsafe to use anymore. Security bugs are found in browsers all the time.

>Also, the general consumer does not care if you can flash a rom from xda. They care about the official updates.

At least there is an option. Also this is exactly why I mentioned F-Droid, which is just an app.

iPhones still get many years of security updates after they stop supporting the last iOS version.

> If effectively means it is absolutely unsafe to use anymore. Security bugs are found in browsers all the time.

Aren't the base operating system and the browsers (installed through an app store of some kind) separate? Even if the phone's operating system is not receiving any more updates, there will still be updates to the browser for a while. For instance, a quick search tells me Firefox is still being updated for Android 4.1, an operating system which is long out of support.

On iOS the browser (Safari) is tied to the operating system version. Alternative browsers still use the same rendering engine as Safari, which means they can't patch bugs in the engine, they need to wait for Apple to do it in a new operating system version.

I am talking about Apple devices here (edited for clarity).

>If you need a component for an iPhone, you can get it easily.

Really? From where? You call Apple asking for spare parts, they'll tell you to pound sand.

Yes, stacked double decker PCB is just the innovation we needed in repair business! ...

Apple is surprisingly repearable and is a major factor driving device prices in the poorer countries.

There are shops everywhere that would fix your iPhone at very reasonable prices.

People expect to use the device for 3-5 five years since they pay multiple salaries to buy it in first place and pay it through the years.

If that’s not environmentally friendly, I don’t know what it is.

Its te other way around. Apple products have the most third party repair support directly because they are so expensive. It makes more sense to repair $600 phone than $150 one.

It also makes sense to use 600$ device that continues to get support for 5 years. Therefore , less waste overall. Cheap phones don’t produce less waste.

Actually easily repairable phones like the Fairphone 3 or the Shift 6M. Or an older LG G3/G5.