Greenpeace and IT Teardown website iFixit have slammed Apple, Microsoft and Samsung for making the least repairable IT products on the market.
The report, published by Greenpeace and IT Teardown website iFixit, accuses the IT giants of making their products difficult to take apart to replace components, creating environmental issues because their broken gear has to be discarded.
The products were rated out of 10 for repairability.
The two Apple iPhone handsets tested each scored seven out of 10, but two iPads scored two out of 10 and two MacBooks scored one out of 10. Microsoft’s Surface Book and Surface Pro 5 both scored one out of 10, while Samsung saw three smartphones and one tablet all score four out of 10 or lower.
The report said that Dell did better, with one laptop getting a perfect 10 out of 10 and one scoring seven out of 10. HP saw its tablets score 10 out of 10 and seven out of 10, while the one HP laptop tested scored 10 out of 10.
The environmentally focused Dutch smartphone manufacturer Fairphone was praised to the skies.
Gary Cook, IT analyst at Greenpeace USA, said that the poor repairability of these products is increasing the number of devices thrown onto the scrap heap.
“Of all the models assessed we found a few best-in-class products which demonstrate that designing for repairability is possible,” he said. “On the other hand, a number of products from Apple, Samsung and Microsoft are increasingly being designed in ways that make it difficult for users to fix, which shortens the lifespan of these devices and adds to growing stockpiles of e-waste.
“Improving the repairability of electronic products is technically achievable, and brands should be prioritising this in their product design. As a first step, it’s critical that all brands follow in the footsteps of Dell, Fairphone, and HP and make repair manuals and spare parts publicly available.”
Devices are generally becoming more difficult to repair as cases are glued and soldered together. Nearly 70 percent of all devices tested had batteries that were difficult or impossible to replace because of the adhesives used to keep them in place.
The fruity cargo cult insisted that its products were designed with durability in mind and that it takes environmentally friendly steps to recycle old products and when they die Apple recycles them safely and responsibly.
