Apple’s new iPhone-destroying robot called Daisy can dismantle 200 phones an hour
But green groups say said Apple should focus on designing longer-lasting and upgradeable products instead
By Kif Leswing
Apple’s got a new robot.
You can’t buy this ‘bot, though — it’s only for Apple’s use. The robot, named Daisy, takes apart old iPhones so that the valuable materials in the devices, like gold, can be extracted.
It’s an improved version of “Liam,” the recycling robot that Apple revealed in 2016 to take apart iPhone 6 phones.
Daisy can disassemble 200 iPhones an hour, Apple said in a press release on Thursday extolling the virtues of its latest droid. And Daisy can take apart nine different versions of the iPhone, a step up from Liam’s limited capabilities that only allowed it to dismantle the iPhone 6.
Greenpeace, the environmental advocacy group, praised Apple for its efforts reducing its carbon footprint and recycling its old products. But the group criticised Apple for designing products that need to be replaced so often.
Instead of building “another recycling robot,” Apple should focus on “repairable and upgradeable product design,” Greenpeace said in a press release on Thursday. “This would keep its devices in use far longer, delaying the day when they’d need to be disassembled by Daisy.”
Last year, Apple published a paper with more details about “Liam,” its previous iPhone-destroying robot, but there isn’t as much detailed information yet about Daisy.
