Apple CEO Tim Cook cited sustainability when asked why people should buy new iPhones each year.
Cook claimed Oct. 6 that releasing a new model annually is “a great thing,” insisting that reinvention keeps the company more sustainable, according to DailyMail.
“What we do is we allow people to trade in their phone,” Cook told Brut in an interview. “We then resell that phone if it’s still working, and if it’s not working, we’ve got ways of dissembling it and taking the materials to make a new iPhone out of.”
Cook hinted that the iPhone could be “carbon neutral” in 20 to 30 years. He told Brut that Apple is working hard to “lower [its] footprint dramatically” when it comes to carbon emissions. The CEO claimed his company uses “high-quality offsets” after “attempting to eliminate as much [emissions] as possible.”
At Apple, we believe that climate change is one of the world’s most urgent priorities and we are deeply committed to doing our part. Today we had a special guest—a real force of nature—stop by to check on our progress. pic.twitter.com/neLSEqPmGu
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) September 12, 2023
“With our initiatives like the environment, we want to be very open because we want to be copied. We want people to be able to look at this field that were in today and say ‘I can do that too,’” Cook said. (RELATED: Apple Just Gave Us The Cringiest Climate Campaign I’ve Ever Seen. And It’s A Huge Lie)
Eight different iPhones have been released within the past five years, according to DailyMail. The XS and XS max were released in Sept. 2018, and the XR was also launched that same year. The 11 series came out in 2019, followed by the SE 2 and 12 series in 2020. The 13 series was released in 2020, and the SE 3 and 14 series came out in 2022. Most recently, the 15 series went up for sale in 2023.