Throwaway? The Apple laptops and IPads we have are extremely long lasting and robust (except for the laptop version which we all love to hate and for a reason).
The Ipad 2 especially was a masterpiece of durable design - that tablet lasted nearly a decade with two kids intermittently stroking it with their grubby hands, growing from toddlers to schoolchildren. Not throwaway!
In the scheme of things, please realize that 5 years is not "extremely long lasting", it is fleeting and the damage to the planet (and people) for those 5 years will take millenia to repair, if it even can.
The timespan is from purchase to date. The devices are all still in working condition. I can't predict how long they will last. You are of course right but I don't think giving up generic computing is the answer though.
Apple is the most environmentally responsible purveyor of mobile devices in the game.
Not because of all the fluff about mercury-free this and that: simply because they support their products for longer than anyone else. Much longer.
As a result, they hold their market value better, meaning they're more likely to be sold than chucked in a drawer or thrown away.
You can apply a similar argument to their laptops, although the community around old ThinkPads makes me wonder if Apple might be #2 in that sector.
Ah, but AirPods! You've got me, that's 14 grams of high technology which is only good for a couple years of enjoyment. Basically anything else Apple sells is designed for a decade or more of daily use.
There are millions of iPhones 4 still in use, mostly in developing nations. They still receive security updates. Show me another manufacturer which does this: you can't.
I think I've had the same AirPods since '16 or '17. They last more than a couple years if you treat them well (my cats chewed on them, though, which has made one of the earpieces more hit-and-miss but still functional, can't run with them because the sweat will get inside now). I'll likely replace them in '21, giving me 4-5 years of life out of them. That's probably a better life span (but not better cost wise) than most wired headphones I've had (suffered various fates from loss, theft, to cat vandalism).
>Apple is the most environmentally responsible purveyor of mobile devices in the game
I would say that Apple devices are long lasting despite Apples best efforts to the contrary. In my country, India, at least, Apple charges absurd amounts for out of warranty repairs. 10 out of 10 cases i know, it would maker more economical sense to buy new rather than repair at authorized service centers. Sometimes the Apple service centers give the same advice.
Luckily the 3rd party networks provide good and affordable support for Apple phones at least. But Apple is fighting tooth and nail to shut these guys out. Pushing up the cost of repair with every new generation.
On laptops its worse. Apple is really pushing hard to shorten their useful life. Worst part is that they're setting the path for the rest of the industry to follow. Non-removable batteries, soldered RAM, CPU, SSDs, removing backward compatible ports, Use of adhesives, glass in place of screws - making repairs expensive and error-prone. List goes on and on..
> the most environmentally responsible in the game
Yay! Says nothing, though. The entire industry is helping to rapidly destroy everything of true value on this planet, for throwaway toys. So apple is rape lite?
This is such a bad argument. We might as well call you a waste of space on earth, you’re constantly consuming energy and increasing entropy and reducing the dispersion of heat in the universe.
The Ipad 2 especially was a masterpiece of durable design - that tablet lasted nearly a decade with two kids intermittently stroking it with their grubby hands, growing from toddlers to schoolchildren. Not throwaway!