Tracing the source of materials is very non-trivial. Even diamonds, where UUIDs are commonplace, still have to manage the influx of blood diamonds into the global supply chain.

Cobalt is not a rare earth. Changing sources happens gradually, mostly not overnight.

PR means Public Relations and I meant nothing more than the fact that it is an Apple official response. Certainly says something about our times when you directly expect PR to be lies.

They might just as well change their sources now, or after 2025. The trillions are already in their banks; the children that mined until now are dead or close to; we, the consuming public, have been compromised because we like shiny toys (I own quite a few Apple products, at least a dozen children, they are so frail, must have been murdered to manufacture them); all is great. All that's left is to think of a truly unimaginable science fiction story: a $2.7+ trillion company is found guilty for the death of one single child and the company is dissolved.