DailyTech - Apple Retreats, Admits That Pulling EPEAT Certification "Was a Mistake"

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Hardware Apple Retreats, Admits That Pulling EPEAT Certification "Was a Mistake"
Brandon Hill (Blog) - July 13, 2012 2:28 PM

30 comment(s) - last by zmatt.. on Jul 16 at 2:05 AM

Apple's Bob Mansfield takes the blame for EPEAT SNAFU

Earlier this week, Apple caught a lot of flak for removing the EPEAT Gold rating from 39 of its products including monitors, desktops, and laptops. While many of Apple's older products -- while often challenging to disassemble -- can be taken apart, repaired, and recycled, the same cannot be said for some of Apple's newest machines.

Apple's new MacBook Pro w/Retina Display has its batteries glued to the casing and the display assembly us completely fused together (and features no protective glass), which means that repairs to the display will be extremely costly according to iFixit.

Some have speculated that since Apple's future MacBook Pro and MacBook Air offerings will be going to this design/construction layout, its products would no longer qualify for EPEAT Gold certification. So by pulling its EPEAT Gold certification for its products early, Apple could sidestep the matter altogether with future products.

^{Apple's 15" MacBook Pro with Retina Display: Glued and Fused}

Apple is now backtracking on its stance since many municipalities, universities, and large corporations only purchase EPEAT certified hardware. Interestingly, Bob Mansfield, Apple's SVP of Hardware Engineering, fell on his sword to announce that a mistake was made in pulling EPEAT certification.

Mansfield stated in part:

We’ve recently heard from many loyal Apple customers who were disappointed to learn that we had removed our products from the EPEAT rating system. I recognize that this was a mistake. Starting today, all eligible Apple products are back on EPEAT.

It’s important to know that our commitment to protecting the environment has never changed, and today it is as strong as ever. Apple makes the most environmentally responsible products in our industry. In fact, our engineering teams have worked incredibly hard over the years to make our products even more environmentally friendly, and much of our progress has come in areas not yet measured by EPEAT…

Our relationship with EPEAT has become stronger as a result of this experience, and we look forward to working with EPEAT as their rating system and the underlying IEEE 1680.1 standard evolve. Our team at Apple is dedicated to designing products that everyone can be proud to own and use.

It should be noted that Mansfield announced his retirement from Apple in late June, so he has very little to lose by admitting fault on this issue. His role be gradually transferred to Dan Riccio, Apple’s vice president of iPad Hardware Engineering, over the course of the next several months.

Sources: Apple, iFixit

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HAHA

By themaster08 on 7/13/2012 2:57:29 PM , Rating: 5

quote:
Apple makes the most environmentally responsible products in our industry.

That must be why Apple consistently scores the lowest of most any tech company when it comes to environmental responsibility.

RE: HAHA

By Totally on 7/13/2012 3:04:18 PM , Rating: 3

Doesn't matter, they don't give 2 F's how well they rate. As far as they are concerned as long as they are in standard it's good enough. Only because their breadwagons threatened them they decided to get back of EPEAT.

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RE: HAHA

By kleinma on 7/13/2012 3:13:00 PM , Rating: 5

environmentally responsible for destroying the environment...

However they do plant a tree for every foxconn worker who jumps to their death.

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RE: HAHA

By Obujuwami on 7/13/2012 4:31:13 PM , Rating: 5

While completely wrong on many levels.....6 this!

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RE: HAHA

By Reclaimer77 on 7/13/12, Rating: -1

RE: HAHA

By dark matter on 7/14/2012 5:08:50 PM , Rating: 1

How is anyone destroying the environment.

I can see where you education let you down with that statement. That, is a shame, and I feel for you. But after that, you're only thick because you chose to be.

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RE: HAHA

By Reclaimer77 on 7/14/12, Rating: 0

RE: HAHA

By twhittet on 7/15/2012 1:30:54 PM , Rating: 3

quote:
So either shut the fuck up, or go live in a cave. Deal? You hypocrite ass.

Wow, someone woke up on the wrong side of the crib today. Naptime for Mr. Cranky Pants?

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RE: HAHA

By Gondor on 7/15/2012 4:12:49 PM , Rating: 1

iDiot ?

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RE: HAHA

By n0ebert on 7/14/2012 1:29:34 AM , Rating: 3

So THAT'S how they can call themselves green.

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RE: HAHA

By KPOM1 on 7/13/2012 3:22:06 PM , Rating: 1

Actually, GreenPeace has been ranking them fairly highly, though iCloud is a different story.

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RE: HAHA

By themaster08 on 7/13/2012 3:26:14 PM , Rating: 2

Perhaps so, however coming out with a comment like the one quoted is just an outright lie. When have any of their products ever come top of any environmental rating? This is Apple we're talking about though, so no surprises there.

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RE: HAHA

By ProZach on 7/13/2012 4:46:02 PM , Rating: 4

Exactly what I was thinking.

"[Products] are no longer EPEAT compliant."
"No, wait- they are."

Apple: mastering the art of frontery.

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RE: HAHA

By Ringold on 7/13/2012 4:57:53 PM , Rating: 2

quote:
When have any of their products ever come top of any environmental rating?

I'm surprised many people even care. Doesn't even begin to be a factor in my electronics purchases. I know that, no matter what, most electronics are going to end up in a garbage dump and that, unless some company reinvents chemistry, they're all made from nearly the same things, all of which are extracted permanently from the Earth. I don't even think the battle against lead in electronics has been sane for all the trouble its caused; who the hell opens up a cell phone and starts swallowing parts?

Got to suspect though that even people that pretend to care likely do not, as I can't recall EVER seeing a website like Anandtech mention anything about environmental friendliness of a given product, asides from the only metric relevant to most people: energy consumption. For most people, even that is simply a dollar-and-cents, or heat, issue.

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RE: HAHA

By zmatt on 7/16/2012 2:05:08 AM , Rating: 5

You know how to make environmentally friendly hardware? Make it last. The less often you have to throw out technology because it's either part of planned obsolescence or breaks the better on the environment it is. Of course fat chance you'd ever get a firm to agree to that, it doesn't make financial sense.

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RE: HAHA

By boobo on 7/13/2012 5:37:15 PM , Rating: 2

Both your and themaster08's comments fit with my opinion of both Apple's and Greenpeace's environmental responsibility.

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RE: HAHA

By dark matter on 7/14/2012 5:10:21 PM , Rating: 3

Greenpeace?

You don't trust that corporate mouthpiece do you?

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RE: HAHA

By TakinYourPoints on 7/15/2012 7:45:23 PM , Rating: 1

quote:
That must be why Apple consistently scores the lowest of most any tech company when it comes to environmental responsibility.

Every Apple notebook has 21 out of 23 points on EPEAT's rating scale. Dell, Sony, Asus and Samsung have none rated higher. HP has 1 out of 90 rated higher at 22 points. The only notable company with any amount of laptops that have more than 21pts is Lenovo.

http://ww2.epeat.net/PublicSearchResults.aspx?retu...

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Retina MacBook Pro is EPEAT Gold

By KPOM1 on 7/13/2012 3:33:26 PM , Rating: 2

Oddly, the Retina MacBook Pro is EPEAT Gold, so it couldn't have been at the core of the dispute.

http://images.apple.com/environment/reports/docs/1...

Reading between the lines, it seems like Apple wants changes in the standards to give more weight to the areas where it is strongest (e.g. energy consumption and use of hazardous materials). It sounds like both sides played hardball a bit, but that Apple may have gotten some of what it wants in exchange for agreeing to put its products back on the list so quickly.

RE: Retina MacBook Pro is EPEAT Gold

By Brandon Hill

(blog) on 7/13/2012 3:45:01 PM , Rating: 3

According to a moderator at AppleInsider, the rMBP didn't have EPEAT certification listed before today or before the initial story broke earlier this week.

And the PDF in that link shows a creation date of July 12 according to the same moderator.

Backroom dealing perhaps?

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RE: Retina MacBook Pro is EPEAT Gold

By ltcommanderdata on 7/13/2012 6:00:57 PM , Rating: 4

If I'm not mistaken EPEAT certification is based on publicly available IEEE standards. As such I doubt EPEAT or Apple would try to lie or cheat when it'd be so easy for people to figure it out. It's more likely Apple refused to give EPEAT early access/pre-launch samples due to concerns about leaks so the testing and certification process didn't begin until after the Retina MacBook Pro launched.

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RE: Retina MacBook Pro is EPEAT Gold

By Iaiken on 7/13/2012 5:06:19 PM , Rating: 1

Ahem...

There are two versions of the 15" MBP, one with "retina" display, one without. The one you linked is the one without the "retina" display.

Don't let that stop you from being a remtard though...

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RE: Retina MacBook Pro is EPEAT Gold

By Brandon Hill

(blog) on 7/13/2012 5:21:12 PM , Rating: 3

His post text is correct, he just posted the wrong link:

http://images.apple.com/environment/reports/docs/m...

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Changing

By Dorkyman on 7/13/2012 7:52:23 PM , Rating: 2

Anybody get the feeling that Apple is slimy and getting slimier as time goes by?

Stock's no longer going up; too bad for folks who bought at $640 in April. Nothing certain in this world except death and taxes.

RE: Changing

By osalcido on 7/14/2012 2:08:22 AM , Rating: 2

You realize how "slimy" a company is has little to do with its stock value, right? There were multiple external factors that cause the stock to slide. A poor jobs report in the US, multiple investor worries about events in Europe, the Chinese economic slowdown, etc. Now that a lot of those fears have calmed, the stock climbed from ~$540 to over $600 and is once again projected to reach between $750-$1000 a share.

This is for a company that has yet to offer dividents, though they even plan to do that before the year is up.

You are a shining example of how a little knowledge can be more dangerous than no knowledge at all.

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RE: Changing

By tayb on 7/14/2012 4:21:25 PM , Rating: 2

The stock is at $604 and Apple is printing money to the tune of nearly $40 billion in profit annually. Their margins are 27% and their annual sales top $140 billion. The people who bought at $604 have lost some theoretical wealth but Apple is being more generous to shareholders and the stock could easily go back up to that range anyway.

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Manipulate

By Smilin on 7/13/2012 5:34:47 PM , Rating: 3

quote:
we look forward to working with EPEAT as their rating system and the underlying IEEE 1680.1 standard evolve.

In other words we're going to pressure the everliving crap out of EPEAT and IEEE boards to change the rules or allow exceptions...just like we did with SIM cards.

It doesn't matter what certifications they have ...

By chick0n on 7/13/2012 8:16:23 PM , Rating: 2

They will still release another "outstanding revolutionary extraordinary" product every 6 months or a year. Even when the new feature is just "Oh my god it's incredible 8mp camera up from the 6 mp from last year"

and all these Apple zealots will camp outside of the closest Apple store a week or 2 before the launch date, then as soon as they get their "new" product, they throw their old one into the trash, cuz it's OUTDATED now.

Everybody got what they wanted

By TakinYourPoints on 7/14/2012 5:45:53 AM , Rating: 2

Everybody got what they wanted.

Apple have all their computers, including the Retina Macbook Pro on the EPEAT list. They also got EPEAT to admit their standards are outdated and to pledge to move faster in updating them and to better account for design innovation in the future.

EPEAT got Apple back to maintain validation of their existence and even got them to apologize so EPEAT would not lose any face.

EPEAT saved face and Apple got the changes they wanted.

And finally, bloggers got to pretend that something actually happened and wrote stories that made them look and feel important.

A true win-win-win.