Chance Miller
On the heels of Apple's environmental-focused iPhone 15 event, Apple CEO Tim
Cook has sat down with Brut Magazine to talk more about the company's
ambitions.
The Apple CEO touched on why Apple feels the need to release a new iPhone
every year, what the iPhone might look like in 20-30 years, and what he does
in his personal life to be environmentally conscious.
In the interview, which was posted as a 5-minute video on the Brut website,
Tim Cook opened by explaining why Apple makes a new iPhone every year. After
all, wouldn't the most environmentally-friendly approach be to reduce the
rate of iPhone upgrades? Here's Cook's response:
Question: Do you think we really need a new iPhone every year?
Cook: I think having an iPhone every year for those people that want it is a
great thing. And what we do is we allow people to trade in their phone. And
so we then resell that phone if it's still working. And if it's not working,
we've got ways of disassembling it and taking the materials to make a new
iPhone out of.
When it comes to what an iPhone might look like in 20-30 years, Cook was
unsurprisingly cagey, instead focusing on the fact that an iPhone on that
timeline would be carbon neutral:
Question: What would an iPhone look like in 20 or 30 years? Do you think
innovation and technology can save the planet?
Cook: I think it'll be carbon neutral. I think obviously it will be way
ahead of where it currently is, but I wouldn't want to give you all of our
secrets in that regard. I'll just say from an environmental point of view,
it'll be carbon neutral.
Following Apple's iPhone 15 event last month, there were some questions
about whether Apple's environmental announcements were greenwashing. In this
week's interview, Cook pushes back on that.
Question: When we post videos about Apple products on Brute, the comments
from our community often touch on greenwashing, the use of rare metals and
calls for more restraint, consuming less. What is your response to them?
Cook: Well, greenwashing is reprehensible. And so what if you think about
what we're doing, we're doing the work and then saying what we're doing and
you're standing in part of the work today. So there's a real proof point.
The fact that there's 30% recycled material on the watch, that's a proof
point.
The fact that we took air transportation down dramatically to sea
transportation on the transportation footprint. This is an action. The fact
that we're shrinking packaging so more of these things will fit on one
pallet. This is a key action. We're eliminating plastics. All of these
things are actions that we've taken and they all add up to now a
carbon-neutral watch. and by 2030, carbon neutral products across the board.
Cook also revealed some of the things he does on a personal level to lower
his carbon footprint:
Question: And on a personal level, what are your ecological efforts?
Cook: I do drive an electric car. I try to avoid plastics and plastic
bottles. I recycle. I compost. All of these things I try to do, everything I
do, I try my best to do something that has a lower carbon footprint.
I'd love to know what electric car Tim Cook is whipping around Cupertino and
Palo Alto. As far as I know, he's never revealed his preferences and has
never been photographed with an EV. In fact, I think the only time Cook has
been pictured driving his personal car was in 2014, when it was a BMW
5-series of some sort.
He seems to have a preference for sedans, but he was seen taking a Rivian
for a test drive last year at the Sun Valley conference.
You can watch the full interview on the Brut website at:
https://www.brut.media/us/science-and-technology/tim-cook-speaks-to-brut-bc5
fd23c-d951-4a9c-850f-55951d24f303.
9to5Mac.
