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February 2025 - Business Updates
- Greenwashing Lawsuit: Several Apple Watch customers have filed suit against Apple, alleging that the company's "carbon neutral" Apple Watch claims are misleading, the Nasdaq news service reported. The coverage did not mention if Apple has replied to the suit.
- Investments: Apple plans to spend and invest more than $500 billion in the U.S. over the next four years, and will the company expects to hire 20,000 new workers. The effort will include a new AI server manufacturing facility, set to open in 2026 in Houston, Texas. Apple also plans to add data center capacity in North Carolina, Iowa, Oregon, Arizona and Nevada. All Apple data centers leverage renewable energy, the company asserts. Apple and many other IT companies are developing on-shore manufacturing plans in a bid to avoid or minimize potential tariffs from the Trump administration.
- AI Data Centers: All Apple facilities run on 100% renewable electricity — including the data centers that power Apple Intelligence, the company said.
- New iPhone: The new iPhone 16e features over 30% recycled content overall, including 100% recycled cobalt and 95% recycled lithium in the battery, and an 85% recycled aluminum in the enclosure, the company said.
January 2025: Business Updates
- Lawsuit: Plaintiffs have sued Apple for allegedly selling smartwatch wristbands that contain high levels of "forever chemicals" known as PFAS -- which may be linked to harmful health effects in humans, The Register reported. The Register reached out to Apple for comment, but a response apparently was not received as of January 22, 2025.
- DEI Efforts: Apple's board of directors recommended investors vote against a shareholder proposal to abolish the company's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs, Reuters reported, based on a proxy filing from the company.
December 2024: Business Updates
- Partnership - AWS AI Chips: Apple is using AWS AI chips for services like search and will evaluate if the latest AWS AI chip can be used to pre-train its models like Apple Intelligence, CNBC reported.
October 2024: Business Updates
- Apple Watches: Customers can now "choose a carbon-neutral option of any Apple Watch," CEO Tim Cook said during Apple's Q4 2024 earnings call. The statement surfaced roughly one year after Apple introduced its first carbon-neutral watch in September 2023 -- though the claim involves Apple purchasing various carbon offsets.
- Mac Mini: The new Mac mini is Apple’s first carbon neutral Mac, though Apple leverages carbon credits to offset about 20% of emissions associated with the new computer.
September 2024: Business Updates
August 2024: Business Updates
- Launch Event: Apple will unveil the iPhone 16 and other new devices during a September 9 launch event at the company's headquarters. We'll be watching to see if or how Apple touts carbon neutral or sustainable products at the gathering. During the 2023 launch event, a carbon neutral Apple Watch surfaced. But some critics questioned the carbon neutral claims, since the associated formula included Apple purchasing carbon credits.
- AI PCs - Apple Market Share: Apple currently dominates 60% of the AI-capable PC market, according to Canalys. AI-capable PCs typically include a dedicated chipset to run AI workloads locally, the research firm says. Example AI-focused chipsets include AMD XDNA, Apple Neural Engine, Intel AI Boost and Qualcomm Hexagon, SeekingAlpa noted. The big questions: Do customers actually realize they're buying AI-capable PCs, and will they use the devices for AI-intensive applications?
July 2024: Business Updates
- Partnership - Generative AI: Apple will get an observer role on OpenAI’s board as part of a landmark agreement announced in June 2024, Bloomberg reported, further tightening ties between the once-unlikely partners.
- OpenAI Boardroom: Microsoft and Apple will drop their OpenAI boardroom observer seats amid antitrust scrutiny, the Financial Times reported.
- Japan: A renewable energy initiative, whose members include Apple, Meta and Nike, called on Japan to triple its capacity of clean electricity as the country reviews its national energy strategy, Bloomberg reported. The initiative known as RE100 suggested that the nation increase its installed capacity of renewable power to 363 gigawatts by 2035 from 121 gigawatts in 2022, the report noted.
June 2024: Business Updates
- Modular iPhone? Apple's patent efforts include a modular iPhone design. Example use cases include allowing users to swap out the standard back panel for one with a back-facing display, Glucose meter+ or more, according to Patently Apple. In theory, modular smartphones are more sustainable than traditional smartphones since users could potentially swap out or replace components instead of buying entirely new phones. Fairphone of Europe already offers such a design.
- Apple AI Strategy: Apple's AI technology, known as Apple Intelligence, will begin beta testing in the fall of 2024, the company said during its Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC). Alas, the official Apple Intelligence announcement did not mention sustainability or energy efficiency opportunities. To play catchup in the generative AI market, Apple plans to partner with OpenAI.
- Elon Musk Objects: The Apple Intelligence plan drew criticism from Elon Musk, who alleges the close Apple-OpenAI integrations could trigger security risks on Apple's hardware. Musk is therefore threatening to ban Apple products within his companies -- which include Tesla, X (formerly Twitter) and SpaceX, among others. Musk, an early OpenAI investor, alleges that the company lost its way by prioritizing revenues over social good. Amid that backdrop, Musk is building an OpenAI rival called xAI.
- iOS 18: The Home app will gain Energy category updates that make it "easier for eligible users to access, understand, and make more informed decisions about their home electricity use," the company said.
- Apple Vision Pro: The mixed reality headset "is designed with 100 percent recycled rare earth elements in all magnets, and 100 percent recycled tin soldering and gold plating in multiple printed circuit boards. Vision Pro meets Apple’s high standards for energy efficiency, and is free of mercury, brominated flame retardants, PVC, and beryllium. The packaging is 100 percent fiber-based, bringing Apple closer to its goal of eliminating plastics in all packaging by 2025. Today, Apple is carbon neutral for its global corporate operations, and by 2030, plans to be carbon neutral across the entire manufacturing supply chain and life cycle of every product," the company said.
More: Continue to the next page for additional Apple sustainability strategy updates.
