Apple Stepping Up Environmental Friendliness with New Halogen-Free Cables

The London Evening Standard reports (via GigaOM) that Apple is requiring cable supplier Volex to spend up to $6 million retooling its production lines to eliminate halogens from the power and USB cables used in the company's products. The move will make the cables less toxic to the environment upon disposal.

Apple is the biggest customer of Volex, 23%-owned by billionaire financier Nat Rothschild, which makes the power cables and USB leads used in everything from laptops to iPhones and iPads.

But the US firm is on a drive to move its products towards halogen-free power cables, which are less harmful to the environment when disposed of.

The start-up costs in designing and making the new cables will cost it up to $6 million in the current financial year, Volex said today, although, stripping out these one-off costs, profits will be in line with market expectation.

Apple has in the past received criticism from environmental advocacy groups such as Greenpeace, but the company has been performing better in recent surveys as it has continued to shift to more environmentally-friendly alternatives and has become more open about its efforts on the environmental front.

apple environmental measuring performance
In 2009, the company launched an expanded environmental footprint section of its website to help provide information on its impact and progress in the area.

Popular Stories

iOS 18

iOS 18.4 Coming Next Week With These New Features for Your iPhone

Friday February 14, 2025 6:18 am PST by
The first iOS 18.4 beta for iPhones should be just around the corner, and the update is expected to include many new features and changes. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman expects the iOS 18.4 beta to be released by next week. Below, we outline what to expect from iOS 18.4 so far. Apple Intelligence for Siri Siri is expected to get several enhancements powered by Apple Intelligence on iOS...
iPhone 17 Roundup Feature 2

iPhone Design to Change 'Significantly' This Year

Monday February 17, 2025 7:09 am PST by
Apple is set to "significantly change" the iPhone's design language later this year, according to a Weibo leaker. In a new post, the user known "Digital Chat Station" said that the iPhone's design is "starting to change significantly" this year. The "iPhone 17 Air" reportedly features a "horizontal, bar-shaped" design on the rear, likely referring to an elongated camera bump. On the other...
Apple Maps 2024

Apple Maps Might Start Showing Ads

Sunday February 16, 2025 7:22 am PST by
Apple is "exploring" the idea of showing search ads in the Apple Maps app, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Back in 2022, Gurman said software engineering was "already underway" to display ads in the Apple Maps app, but Apple did not move forward with the idea at the time. Today, he said Apple is "giving this notion more thought" again. This time around, he said Apple has yet to...
apple launch feb 2025 alt

What to Expect From the 'Apple Launch' Next Week

Thursday February 13, 2025 11:48 am PST by
Apple has yet to announce any new devices this year, but that could change starting next week. Apple CEO Tim Cook today said to "get ready" for a "launch" on Wednesday, February 19. "Get ready to meet the newest member of the family," said Cook, in a social media post. The post includes an #AppleLaunch hashtag, along with a short video featuring an animated Apple logo inside of a circle....
m2 pro mac mini

Apple is Now Selling a Refurbished Mac Mini for Just $319 (!)

Saturday February 15, 2025 9:58 am PST by
A few days ago, we reported that Apple's refurbished Mac mini pricing had a problem, and it appears that Apple has taken note. Apple was offering a refurbished Mac mini with the M2 chip, 16GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage for $559, which was $50 more than a refurbished Mac mini with the M4 chip, 16GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage. All other key specifications were equal. That's no longer...
iPhone 17 Pro Render Front Page Tech

iPhone 17 Pro With All-New Camera Bar Design Allegedly Revealed

Thursday February 13, 2025 5:49 pm PST by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro will feature three rear cameras arranged in a familiar triangular layout, but the cameras will be housed in an all-new rectangular camera bar with rounded corners, according to YouTube channel Front Page Tech. iPhone 17 Pro camera design render created by Asher for Front Page Tech In a video uploaded today, Front Page Tech host Jon Prosser said the camera ...
Tim Cook Apple Park

10+ Announcements Apple Could Have Rolled Into a February Event

Saturday February 15, 2025 8:00 am PST by
Apple appears to have enough upcoming product announcements to justify a full event this month, yet all signs indicate these reveals will be handled through a series of press releases instead. There are a multitude of rumors from reliable sources about specific announcements in the coming weeks, so here's everything that Apple could have feasibly included in a hypothetical February event: ...
iPhone SE 4 Thumb 1

Apple's Next iPhone SE Launching on Wednesday - Here's What We Know

Friday February 14, 2025 4:04 pm PST by
Apple CEO Tim Cook teased an Apple announcement that's coming on Wednesday, February 19, and it's looking like that mystery announcement will be the next-generation iPhone SE. We've been hearing about the iPhone SE 4 for quite some time now, and we essentially know everything to expect. If you want a sneak peek at what's coming, read on. Naming Apple first introduced the iPhone SE in...

Top Rated Comments

G4er? Avatar
171 months ago
One of the biggest ways Apple could go green would be to have a mid range desktop where you don't have to throw away a perfectly good screen when you buy the next model.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gmcalpin Avatar
171 months ago
I can already hear people championing Apple as if they're the first company to adopt such a practice...
Congratulations. You have successfully complained about the voices in your head being douchebags on the internet.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kalsta Avatar
171 months ago
That's great Apple, but how about making an iOS device charger with cable that doesn't fall apart where it attaches to the 30-pin connector‎? Less chargers being replaced = less manufacturing, saving materials and energy. 'Reduce' is always better than recycle. Oh, and less of this too…

Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Small White Car Avatar
171 months ago
I'm not dismissing any issues you may have had with Apple's cables, but I find it perplexing that some people have these problems all the time and others have never, ever had them (like myself or any of my friends).

I dunno how you all get away with it. It's happened to the majority of the cables I own. Here's my desk at work, right now:



That cable sits on my desk its entire life. It doesn't travel or go in and out of bags. I never pull it out of the phone by tugging the cable. It just sits there. And yet, that happens.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kalsta Avatar
171 months ago
The new ones need replacing every few months (meaning I have to drive to the Apple store too), which is more eco-friendly than having one cable last for 5 years is it?

Right. Speaking of cars, they illustrate the point well… A significant amount of a car's lifetime carbon emissions comes from its manufacture. So generally, its better for the environment to keep an old car on the road longer, rather than produce a new, more efficient one. Longer lasting stuff = a reduction in energy and waste.

It's also interesting how Apple touts glass as such a highly recyclable material, and that it starting placing a sheet of it in front of every display not too long after all the hubbub about them not using environmentally friendly materials. But in reality, the glass (in all but the touchscreen devices) is entirely unnecessary. It simply adds more material to the device, which is against the 'reduce' principle. (Not to mention the reflections it adds to the display—worse than even a normal gloss display.) So you have to wonder how much of this is genuine concern for the environment, and how much is just marketing.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Small White Car Avatar
171 months ago
I have had many Apple cables through the years and never had a problem with any of them. Based on the cable damage shown in your picture, it appears you have forcefully unplugged them by pulling on the cable instead of the connector.

Yes, I, and dozens of other posters here at Mac rumors have been lying to you for years. We've been pulling on the cables and telling you we don't.

You got us.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)