Apple Shares 2021 Environmental Progress Report

Apple has today published its 2021 Environmental Progress Report, setting out the company's ongoing efforts to reduce its impact on the environment and combat climate change.

environmental progress report 2021
Apple's goal of reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2030 is central to the report. For example, Apple highlights its increasing use of recycled materials in its products and packaging, emphasis on environmentally-conscious design, and use of renewable energy, to reduce carbon emissions.

Apple explained that increasing a device's power efficiency can significantly reduce the carbon emissions a device instigates over the course of its use. For example, it mentioned that the low power-per-watt requirements of the M1 chip have reduced the overall carbon footprint of the Mac mini by as much as 34 percent.

The company addressed some of the more controversial environmental decisions that it has taken over the past year, such as removing the power adapter and EarPods from the iPhone. Apple says that this will save 861,000 tons of copper, tin, and zinc ore from being unnecessarily mined from the earth. The move allowed for thinner ‌iPhone‌ boxes, which meant that 70 percent more iPhones can now fit in every shipping pallet, reducing overall the carbon footprint of device transportation.

The report also drew attention to Apple's recent announcement of its $200 million contribution to the "Restore Fund," which will make investments in forestry projects to remove carbon from the atmosphere.

See the full PDF version of Apple's 2021 Environmental Progress Report for more information.

Popular Stories

iPhone Top Left Hole Punch Face ID Feature Purple

iPhone 18 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 12 New Features

Thursday January 15, 2026 10:56 am PST by
While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are not expected to launch for another eight months, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we have recapped 12 features rumored for the iPhone 18 Pro models, as of January 2026: The same overall design is expected, with 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch display sizes, and a "plateau" housing three rear cameras Under-screen Face ID...
Apple MacBook Pro M4 hero

These 5 Apple Products Will Reportedly Be Upgraded With OLED Displays

Friday January 16, 2026 7:07 pm PST by
Apple plans to upgrade the iPad mini, MacBook Pro, iPad Air, iMac, and MacBook Air with OLED displays between 2026 and 2028, according to DigiTimes. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman previously reported that the iPad mini and MacBook Pro will receive an OLED display as early as this year, but he does not expect the MacBook Air to adopt the technology until 2028 at the earliest. A new iPad Air is...
Apple Wallet ID Illinois

Apple Plans to Expand iPhone Driver's Licenses to These 7 U.S. States

Friday January 16, 2026 12:12 pm PST by
In select U.S. states, residents can add their driver's license or state ID to the Apple Wallet app on the iPhone and Apple Watch, and then use it to display proof of identity or age at select airports and businesses, and in select apps. The feature is currently available in 13 U.S. states and Puerto Rico, and it is expected to launch in at least seven more in the future. To set up the...
iOS 27 Mock Quick

iOS 27 Will Add These 8 New Features to Your iPhone

Sunday January 18, 2026 3:51 pm PST by
iOS 27 is still many months away, but there are already plenty of rumors about new features that will be included in the software update. The first beta of iOS 27 will be released during WWDC 2026 in June, and the update should be released to all users with a compatible iPhone in September. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that iOS 27 will be similar to Mac OS X Snow Leopard, in the sense...
14 inch MacBook Pro Keyboard

MacBook Pro Buyers Now Facing Up to a Two-Month Wait Ahead of New Models

Sunday January 18, 2026 6:50 pm PST by
MacBook Pro availability is tightening on Apple's online store, with select configurations facing up to a two-month delivery timeframe in the United States. A few 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro configurations with an M4 Pro chip are not facing any shipping delay, but estimated delivery dates for many configurations with an M4 Max chip range from February 6 to February 24 or even later. At...

Top Rated Comments

cmaier Avatar
62 months ago

My trouble with this is Apple is just moving the the issue to another vendors. Especially when it comes to power adapters. It seems like they want to make themselves look great caring less about other vendors. What they should do is produce power adapters that are better, and more environmentally conscious than everyone else. Apparently they just want to check the box saying they met the carbon emissions goal.
How are they moving the issue to other vendors on power adapters? Apple still sells power adapters. It’s just now you only buy one when you need it, and don’t incur the environmental costs of manufacture and shipping when you don’t.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cmaier Avatar
62 months ago

iCloud, by default, backs-up everything to iCloud. Photos and videos backed-up to iCloud.

I don't backup photos to iCloud because every time a picture is edited it goes through the upload process again and if I delete a picture after I use it the whole iCloud backup process was for nothing.

This goes-on for millions of Apple users every day. How much unnecessary iCloud traffic goes-on every day for Apple users? This is a stain on Apple's "Environmental Progress Report".
Most people never delete photos. Most people WANT their edited photos to be mirrored on their other devices or on iCloud. Most people would have no idea how to turn this feature on. This is a silly thing to complain about.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cmaier Avatar
62 months ago

Your reply is silly. I guess you are ignorant about the concept of server farms using a lot of energy and unnecessary Internet traffic goes against "environmentalism".
No, my reply isn’t silly. First, apple’s server farms are carbon neutral. Second, it’s only a waste of resources when the work isn’t necessary. Here, the work is necessary. It’s what people want and are paying for.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
yellow8 Avatar
62 months ago
Let's go world! Let's move to something awesome: not ruining the planet!
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cmaier Avatar
62 months ago

Apple server farms may be "carbon neutral" because they get power from renewable suppliers but all the stuff between your device and their servers farms is likely not carbon neutral.

I noticed unneccessary Internet traffic with my devices. Every time I edited a picture it went through the iCloud backup process. I need the iCloud backup only at the end when I am finished with the picture. Simple things like this happen millions of times every day.
It was unnecessary to YOU. Now how much carbon will be emitted dealing with support phone calls, YouTube searches, and trips to the apple store to teach people how to enable iCloud syncing if Apple gives in to your idea and doesn’t turn it on by default?
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ELman Avatar
62 months ago
My trouble with this is Apple is just moving the the issue to another vendors. Especially when it comes to power adapters. It seems like they want to make themselves look great caring less about other vendors. What they should do is produce power adapters that are better, and more environmentally conscious than everyone else. Apparently they just want to check the box saying they met the carbon emissions goal.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)