How Green is the Apple iPad?

The Apple iPad has been hailed by many as a tablet device that will revolutionize the way we use computing technology. Sure, it looks sleek, stylish, and sexy – but is it green?

It’s a question that we here at Greenwerks pose, for if the Apple iPad is truly to become the next big thing in electronics, it may very well signal the next big step towards sustainable, environment-friendly design. At least we hope that it would, especially since 2 million units (a number that’s steadily growing) have already been sold by Apple. The arrival of the device can potentially have a significant impact on computing efficiency at home, at work, and on the go.

Let’s take a closer look and explore the question: how green is the Apple iPad?

Design and materials

The half-an-inch-thick iPad weighs 1.5 pounds and uses aluminum for its case – the same recyclable material Apple uses for several other signature computer products, like the Macbook Pro and Macbook Air. It also uses a 9.7-inch LED-backlit LCD display, with a glass free of harmful, hazardous stuff like mercury or arsenic. Moreover, the iPad contains none of those environmentally nasty acronyms like BFRs (brominated fire retardants) and PVCs (polyvinyl chlorides). Other green components include an energy-efficient ARM-based A4 processor and internal flash storage. So overall, one can say that the Apple iPad is environment-friendly, at least with how the device has been made and designed.

Battery

The iPad comes with a 10-hour lithium-ion polymer battery, pretty good for a device that’s designed to run intensive applications and rich multimedia content. According to Apple, it can also provide up to 140 hours of audio playback – or one month on standby mode. Here’s the downside: it’s a built-in battery, which basically means it is not designed to be user-replaceable.

Computing features

One of the most talked-about uses of the Apple iPad is as an electronic reader. Together with the Amazon Kindle and e-readers from other manufacturers, the device can significantly cut down on the need for forests’ worth of paper-printed books – and thus reduce CO2 emissions. Of course, energy savings can also be generated by other means: the light bulb you use at night for bedside reading, for example, will use more energy than it takes to use or charge the Apple iPad.

On the other hand, the iPad is a device that relies on cloud computing, which means that everything is online, not on the actual device, and the data that the user’s applications have to process and run are stored on computer servers elsewhere. That’s a heavy load that can significantly add up to the carbon footprint of the already heaving and resource-intensive information technology industry.

Use

Perhaps what will ultimately determine the Apple iPad’s place as a green device is how consumers actually use it. Will the iPad – its first and succeeding generations – serve as a viable energy-efficient replacement for the laptop, the netbook, the mobile phone, and the desktop? Will it inspire the publishing industry to take greener measures? Or will it merely be just another flashy but unnecessary add-on?

It’s up to the users. Apple has introduced the technology, but whether the iPad will end up in homes or in landfills is a question that might be answered not by what it’s made of, or by what it features, but by how it’s used by consumers.

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