The waste is coming from disposable products, which is what Apple specializes in producing these days. Pre-2015, Apple had a reputation for creating long-lasting products that can be maintenance by the layperson easily. Even if their software was a bit long in the tooth and the pricing seemed a little insulting, Apple at least had the consumer-friendly card in their hands. This is no longer the case. I see people literally throwing out 16 inch MBPs when they break, simply because the price to repair them is far higher than the price of simply buying another laptop.

And sure, maybe Apple does make their devices easier to recycle, but there are still 2 R's that are more important: reusing and reducing. If you can reduce the amount of times someone needs to replace their product, you are having a much greater environmental impact than slightly more recyclable aluminum. That's why my Thinkpad x201 is still a more eco-friendly choice than the M1: it's carbon footprint is inherently lower.

---

Also, a quick bit on the economic strata comment: I come from a relatively lower-income family, but we still did cherish the few nice things we had. My dad passed me down his pair of AKG open-backs with a new DAC for my 13th birthday, and I never really thought of it as that weird. I think your optics are a little out of tune.