When you deliver your old iPhone to Apple, you most likely do not know anything about him again. But that does not mean that it disappears without more. In fact, a much more complex and surprising process begins than you imagine. Apple It is not limited to throwing it or discarding it, analyzes, disassembles, reuses it … or directly makes it another product.
Today we are going to see how this process works, and as they do, so that we understand why they pay us for services such as Trade in, because they do not give us money without more, but reuse that phone for other uses, thanks to a machine of your own that we will see now.
Apple recycling process
First, the device goes through a review. If it is still functional or repairable, it can end up being part of the official reconditioned program. In that case, Apple cleans it, replaces the battery, repairs the necessary components and puts it on sale again. This extends its useful life and avoids unnecessary waste, however, we would have to talk about rare cases where the device is practically new, since they do not sell old iPhones.
However, if the iPhone is damaged or is no longer worth repairing, a technology that seems to be taken from a movie, a robot called Daisy. This machine disassembles up to 200 iPhones per hour and extracts its components precisely, separating valuable pieces such as drums, tin, gold or lithium. Everything is classified to be able to recycle it correctly and reuse it in new products.
Much of the recovered materials return to the production chain. Recycled aluminum, for example, is used in the macbook or Apple Watch chassis. And the tin extracted from old motherboards can be part of the next iPhone. Even rare earths, difficult to achieve, are used for haptic engines and other internal components.
All this, in part, comes due to Apple's goal to achieve, by 2030, that all its are zero pollutantsso recycling everything possible, is the first step to get to it, in addition to the fact that, logically, it saves costs of having to manufacture a new new one.
In addition, Apple offers collection programs to facilitate this process. You can recycle your device at any Apple Store or request a free kit to send it from home (regardless of whether you do not have a store nearby). In some cases, as we said, you will receive a discount if you deliver an old device when buying a new one, with its Trade inboth for iPhone and other products.
So no, your old iPhone does not end up forgotten in a dark warehouse. It can become part of another product, revive as reconditioned or help reduce the ecological impact of the technological sector. Even, very lucky, your next Apple device may contain something of the old one, is it curious not? Leave us a comment if you knew it, and if you had ever thought about what happened to them when they are given to the company.
