Apple's green thumb

By Stephen Withers
Wednesday, 16 January 2008 00:45

Science - Energy

Having taken some stick for allegedly poor environmental practices (though that was as much about communication as actual performance), Apple has played up the green aspects of its latest model.

The company has drawn attention to the fact that the new MacBook Air lightweight notebook is fitted with a screen that uses LED backlighting. Traditional panels have fluorescent backlights, which contain small amounts of mercury. LED lamps also use less power, and Apple boasts that the MacBook Air uses less power than any other Mac.

Furthermore, the new notebook's screen is made of arsenic-free glass, the "majority" if its circuit boards are free of brominated flame retardants, and the internal cables use no PVC.

These features are largely invisible. More noticeable are the readily recycled aluminium enclosure, and the use of recycled packaging materials. The MacBook Air box is mostly 100 percent post-consumer recycled materials, and is about half the size of previous MacBook boxes.