[Themaintainers] electronics death dates and iFixit

[Aaron Gordon]

If I may add another dimension to this: 

Software support is an equal—I would even argue greater—partner in the e-waste calculation, especially for phones and laptops. (Shameless plug, I wrote about this earlier this year: https://www.vice.com/en/article/dypxpx/google-is-forcing-me-to-dump-a-perfectly-good-phone ) 

I recently switched to an iPhone after a decade of Android because Android phones stop getting software updates long before the battery or any other hardware component wears out or breaks. With my iPhone 12, I can get the battery replaced and get the screen fixed—the two most common hardware issues—for years. I plan to give this phone up if and only if Apple stops supporting it, which it will do after about eight years. (I am aware most people don’t do this because carriers subsidize the cost of new phones so heavily it is often cost-comparable to simply get a new phone than repair an old one, which is separate but related problem with e-waste and sustainability.)

Similarly, my 2014 MacBook Air is still going strong. The battery is holding up really well. But it stopped receiving software updates (except for critical security updates) two years ago.

I have four old Windows laptops from various companies as well, ranging from 5-10 years old. They are buggy and inconsistent in performance for everyday use because the general landscape of software and firmware support for PCs is a mess. In my experience most PC’s older than 3-5 years start having issues due to this and most people will simply get a new one at that point, justifiably so.

Upgrading and repairing hardware components is a huge plus and the landscape keeps improving there, but I don’t think it will matter much in the long run if the functionality of the software on these devices continues to be so short-lived.

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