The iPhone 14 lineup, which this time includes the iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro, and iPhone 14 Pro Max, has been formally unveiled by Apple. The 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max received most of the upgrades, including the new design, the newest chipset, and camera improvements, while the non-Pro models stayed very close to the iPhone 13. Apple has also rolled out environmental reports for 2022.
Every time a new generation of iPhones is revealed, Apple releases a series of environmental reports we have studied. Continue reading to learn how the iPhone 14 series footprint compares to earlier iPhone iterations.
Carbon Footprints in the Manufacturing of iPhones
According to Apple’s rumor mill in the past, there was news circulating that the tech giant might increase its internal storage for the following iPhone lineup. But it remained the same as 1TB in iPhone Pro Max. The previous rendition of the iPhone 13 Pro Max had the biggest carbon footprint, with 117kg of CO2-e. The title has now been transferred to the iPhone 14 Pro Max 1TB with 124kg of CO2-e, as was expected.
Another attention-grabbing detail of the iPhone 14 is that less percentage of CO2 is generated during the production of the iPhone 14 lineup as compared to the iPhone 13 phones. Since the launch of the iPhone SE, more than 80% of carbon footprints have been released. However, the percentage dropped to 79% in iPhone 14, primarily due to the use of recycled metal in the building of iPhones.
Carbon Footprints in the Transportation of iPhones
With the decrease in one aspect, there is a slight increase in carbon emissions while transporting iPhones. Earlier, Apple reported 2% carbon emissions while transporting iPhone 12, which has now increased up to 3%.
Apple does not transport charging adapters in in-box accessories with its iPhones. Therefore, it can ship more devices in one go. We can surely associate the alarming rise of CO2 emissions with this fact.
Carbon Emissions Breakdown by the iPhones Use
Environmental assessments for the iPhone 14 show increased pollutants brought on by iPhone use. According to Apple, using an iPhone 14 will result in 18% more overall CO2 emissions than using an iPhone 13, which had a figure of 16%. The numbers should match since the iPhone 14 and 13 have the same A15 Bionic chipset. Similar increases in emissions, which average 16% (compared to 14% for iPhone 13 Pro models), are seen for iPhone 14 Pro models. This indicates that utilizing the iPhone 14 Pro Max 1TB results in 21.08kg of CO2-e, as opposed to 17.55kg for the iPhone 13 Pro Max 1TB. We can only assume that Pro blame for this surge, or Pro Motion Display can be the culprit.
Are iPhone 14 Models More Environmentally Friendly?
Apple reports fourteen iPhone 14 models for having the lowest and the highest carbon footprints. The detail is as follows:
- iPhone 14 128GB: 61 kg carbon emissions – Lowest
- iPhone 14 Pro Max 1TB: 124 kg carbon emissions – Highest
Taking into account the updated environmental reports by Apple, some iPhone 14 models are more eco-friendly than their predecessors.
Use of 100% Recycled Gold in iPhone Builds
Apple already reuses some metals to construct their iPhones:
- 100% recycled tungsten is used in Taptic Engines.
- 100% recycled tungsten is used in printed circuit boards.
- 100% recycled tin is used in the main logic board.
99% of the rare earth elements used in iPhones are also 100% recycled. Apple employed 100% recycled gold for the first time in plating the main logic boards of the iPhone 13 series last year. This year, Apple has increased the amount of recycled gold, which is now found in the wire of all cameras, in the plating of several circuit boards, not only the logic board, and in the antenna lines of the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus, which employ recycled water bottles.
Bottom Line
Apple is on its way to making sustainable, greener products and is smoothly achieving the milestones. The company aims to achieve carbon neutrality by the year 2030. It is certain to say that Apple will accomplish the goal. Fingers crossed!
