How Raising Awareness Can Become Counterproductive
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What is the Carbon Footprint of the iPhone?
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On September 16, the iPhone 14, the newest model of the iconic Apple range – will be released. An umpteenth version of a smartphone that is now part of our daily lives… To the point of forgetting that this small device in our pockets and bags also emits CO2.
What exactly is the iPhone’s carbon footprint? With the release of the new Apple’s smartphone, we decided to focus on its environmental impact.
What is the carbon footprint of an iPhone?
According to the Product Environmental Report published by Apple in September 2021, an iPhone emits a total of 64kg CO2e.
It is important to note that this figure was specifically calculated for a model of iPhone 13, with a storage capacity of 128 GB.
This total amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions was also estimated using the Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) method. Concretely, this means that the total amount of emissions announced in this report normally includes all the emissions generated by an iPhone, throughout its life cycle (from the extraction of raw materials to destruction).
To compare, the carbon footprint of an iPhone 12 with the same storage capacity (128 GB) was 72kg CO2e.
👉 To learn more about the Life Cycle Analysis of a product, do not hesitate to read our article.
Where do iPhone’s CO2 emissions come from?
According to the report published by Apple:
- 81% of emissions would be related to production (extraction, production and transport of raw materials, but also manufacture, transport and assembly, plus packaging);
- 16% of emissions would be usage-related (energy use is simulated in a variety of ways, for example, by modeling daily battery charging or the use of video or music applications);
- 2% of emissions would be related to the transportation of the final product (air and marine, from the manufacturing site to regional distribution platforms);
- Less than 1% of emissions would be related to the “end-of-life” of the product (transportation from collection points to recycling sites, and the energy needed to separate and shred elements).
💬 These calculations are made knowing that the estimated the duration of use for an iPhone is around 3 to 4 years (in accordance with the user data collected by the brand on similar products). In addition, the transport of products from distribution points to final customers was modeled using average distances. Finally, local differences in the mix feeding of power grids must be considered.
👉 For more details on the iPhone 13 “Product Environmental Report”, you can find it on Apple’s website by clicking here.
Why is the carbon footprint announced in the iPhone 13 “Product Environmental Report” underestimated?
Considering the 64kg of CO2e announced by Apple, only 10kg would come from smartphone’s usage – more specifically, from charging the terminal.
An obvious question arises: what about the use of mobile data?
The Greenly experts investigated: given the data on the emissions induced by the 4G network in France, while considering an average mobile data consumption of 45 GB each month, 50kg of CO2 would need to be added to the figures published in the Apple’s study. 👀
Contrary to the estimates provided by the brand, the carbon emissions related to the use phase of an iPhone would amount to 60kg of CO2e.
Besides, the colossal carbon footprint of data centers (physical infrastructures allowing to store and share data) should also be considered in this calculation, as they are terribly energy-intensive – because of their electricity consumption or need for air conditioning, for example.
Hosted internally, Apple’s iCloud service claims to be 67% carbon neutral. However, it should be noted that this estimate only takes into account scopes 1 and 2. While scope 3 is an essential variable in the calculation of the carbon footprint of any entity.
What is the carbon footprint of data stream?
What about all the mobile data that we stream 24/7? Greenly's data science team computed the real weight of that data consumption
- Over the course of the iPhone lifespan (3-4 years according to Apple), network use accounts for 2.16TB of mobile data.
- Applying standard network emission factors, the electricity consumption of 4G or 5G networks is equal to 512 kWh of electricity.
- In the US, 1 kWh of electricity represents 427g of CO2e on average. in France, 1 kWh represents 60g of CO2 per kWH because the energy is less carbon intensive.
- So 512 kWH represents 220 kg of CO2e in the US, and roughly 50 kg of CO2 in France.
- To this total, we would need to add 32.4 KG of CO2e related to the amortization of the mobile network for this amount of data.
What about the iPhone 14?
This week, Apple launched its new iPhone 14.
💡 With 90M units hitting the market this year - at an average footprint of 61kg of CO2e per iPhone, the projected total footprint of the launch is 5,5 MT of CO2.
Here is the carbon weight of each step of the phone's existence:
- Components Sourcing & Manufacturing: 79%
- Shipping: 2%
- Usage: 18%
- End of Life: <1%
According to the new Apple’s Product Environmental Report, using the iPhone makes up 18% of the total footprint over the product's life cycle (3-4 years).
🧐 But is Apple's carbon footprint estimation correct?
The answer is 'no'. Greenly experts estimate that Apple is missing 80% of the iPhone's total climate impact.
👉 Indeed, regarding the figures that should be considered on data stream, the real total footprint of the iPhone 14 should be 313kg over 4 years.
However, it is important to underline that iPhone's carbon footprint is still decreasing.
Apple is doing a much better job than most smartphone companies in disclosing its footprint. But if the most admired company in the world wants to set the exemple, it needs to go all the way and report its full indirect emissions (not just upstream, but also downstream emissions).
3 tips to reduce the carbon footprint of your iPhone
1. Using your iPhone responsibly
One figure? On average, each French person stores between 10,000 and 50,000 emails. However, this data is not stored in a vacuum: it is stored in data centers, which generate 0.3% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
The right thing to do? Regularly sort your mailbox, keeping only the messages that are truly worth archiving.
If you want to significtly reduce the footprint created by your iPhone, try watching videos in moderate quality (480p) while using Wi-Fi, instead of streaming HD (1080p) on your 4G data.
2. Get your iPhone fixed instead of discarded
Unfortunately, we tend to believe that a smartphone should be changed at the slightest harm.
But it is not true.
Battery problem? Cracked screen? Change of camera? So many problems that can be handled thanks to repair shops. Do not hesitate to seek the advice of a professional!
Also, if you think you have the tools for this type of repair, you can also try to do it yourself. Many guides and tutorials are available. 💡
3. Buy a refurbished iPhone
If you want to contribute to reducing the environmental impact of our digital society, favoring the purchase of a refurbished phone is the best thing to do.
In addition to fighting global warming, you will save a significant amount of money – a refurbished smartphone costs on average 30 to 50% less than a new model.
Be careful not to confuse a refurbished phone with a used phone. ⚠️ Unlike the latter, the refurbished phone is used, but it has been checked, repaired if necessary, and has had its memory erased. For this reason, it is 5 to 20% more expensive than a used phone, as it did not undergo a complete revision.
bypublished the September 29, 2022
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