Apple's new MacBook not designed for recycling

Apple's new MacBook not designed for recycling

By Henry Leineweber, Resource Recycling

Apple has been making headlines this week, launching several product refreshes at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference. However, most stories fail to mention the negative impact on refurbishment and recycling posed by these new devices.

The new MacBook Pro is prime example, unveiled with traditional Apple fanfare and promoted as thinner, lighter and with a higher-resolution screen. These new features come at the price of recyclability, however, according to a disassembly guide on the popular repair directory iFixit [1]. In the process of tearing apart the laptop, the iFixit team found non-upgradable RAM and hard drive units, proprietary pentalobe screws, the touted "Retina Display" fused to the laptop's casing, and battery cells that are glued to the housing. In fact, try as they did, the team was unable to remove the batteries at all, eventually giving up after several painful shocks.

The design choices found in this new model are similar to ones already documented in other Apple products, such as the iPad or MacBook Air. Additionally, they are beginning to be included in designs from competitors like Asus, Acer and Samsung as well.

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