Tag Archives: MacBook Pro

The reduction of Apple packaging

I’ve mentioned before that one of the ways Apple is lessening their impact on the environment is through smaller packages.

Smaller packages take fewer raw materials to construct. This means less energy needs to go into harvesting those materials and producing the packaging. It also means less material needs to be recycled and less material will undoubtedly end up in landfills.

Reduced packaging also means that more units can be transported or stored in the same amount of space. Fewer plane or train miles are required to transport the computers and other devices from the manufacturing plant to the point of sale. Retail stores can stock more Macs and iPhones in the same square-footage (or less) store which puts fewer demands on real estate acreage and requires less energy for lighting, cooling, or heating.

Author and developer Jeff LaMarche just got a 17″ MacBook Pro and offers some photographic evidence of the progression of smaller and smaller packages from Apple.

Dropped MacBook Pro

Daniel Collins was carrying his MacBook in a laptop bag through a parking lot one day when he unexpectedly tested just how well built it is. Daniel’s MacBook Pro fell out of his laptop bag from about three feet high and crashed onto the hard asphalt surface.

I’m very impressed that the new glass screen was in pristine condition after the drop. The limited damage to the rest of the computer is also very good to see, but is to be expected if you know about Apple’s new manufacturing process for their MacBooks.

Thanks to John Gruber at Daring Fireball for the link.

Green Notebooks from Apple

green-macbookApple has been getting pressure from various sources to reduce their environmental impact. As a result, it is something the company has been talking about more frequently lately. Years ago a noticeable improvement was in the size of their packaging. The iPod packaging went from a sizable cube to much slimmer, more form-fitting boxes. The same thing happened with Apple’s software boxes.

Well, they’ve stepped up their game with the latest line of MacBooks. They feel so good about their efforts that they’ve created a new advertisement about it and a web page documenting their improvements to go along with it.

They’ve worked to reduce harmful toxins that their older notebooks had. Moving to LED backlit displays not only helps improve the image quality on these new computers, but it also means that their new displays are now mercury and arsenic free.

The new manufacturing process they piloted with the MacBook Air and went full scale with the new MacBook and MacBook Pro allows them improve the recyclability of the computer. In addition to the aluminum monocoque, the new glass display is also highly recyclable.

The new LED backlit display and other changes earned the new Mac Book line ENERGY STAR certification. Their new MacBook can run on one quarter the power of a single lightbulb – with the right settings and conditions.

And, bringing this all the way around, Apple has reduced the MacBook packaging by 41%. Not only does this mean less material to either recycle or throw away, but it also means they can fit more computers in the planes and boats they use to transport them which results in fewer CO2 emissions per computer.