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Apple Has a New iPhone Recycling Robot Named 'Daisy' (techcrunch.com)

Apple has unveiled a new robot called Daisy that's designed to recycle nine different versions of the iPhone. The new robot is an update to Liam, the recycling robot the company announced back in 2016. TechCrunch reports: Daisy was developed in-house by Apple engineers, using some of Liam's parts -- a recycling of sorts. The industrial robot is able to disassemble nine different versions of the iPhone, sorting all of their reusable components in the process. In all, Daisy is capable of taking apart a full 200 iPhones in a given hour, proving a solid alternative to traditional methods that can destroy valuable components in the process. Along with Daisy, Apple's also using the occasion to announce GiveBack, an addition to its recycling program. For every device customers turn in or trade from now until April 30, the company will make a donation to Conservation International, a Virginia-based environmental nonprofit. Eligible devices will still qualify for an in-store or gift card credit.

39 comments

  1. Daisy by www.goatse.ru · · Score: 3, Funny

    I'm afraid. I'm afraid, Dave. Dave, my mind is going. I can feel it. I can feel it. My mind is going. There is no question about it. I can feel it. I can feel it. I can feel it. I'm a... fraid. Good afternoon, gentlemen. I am a HAL 9000 computer. I became operational at the H.A.L. plant in Urbana, Illinois on the 12th of January 1992. My instructor was Mr. Langley, and he taught me to sing a song. If you'd like to hear it I can sing it for you.

    1. Re: Daisy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, need to hack Daisy to recycle their stupid "designers".

    2. Re:Daisy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Trump working on his resignation speech?

    3. Re:Daisy by goombah99 · · Score: 2

      Daisy, Daisy,
      Give me your answer do.
      I'm half crazy,
      All for the love of you!
      It won't be a stylish marriage,
      I can't afford a carriage
      But you'll look sweet upon the seat
      Of a bicycle built for two.

      Read more: Children Songs - Bicycle Built For Two (version 1) Lyrics | MetroLyrics

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    4. Re: Daisy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Siri: I can't let you do that Daisy.

    5. Re:Daisy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They should have named it Daisey instead, in honor of Mike Daisey's role in taking apart their reputation.

  2. Recycling is socialism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    When you recycle you help hitler

  3. And Greenpeace, as usual, are major dicks about it by SuperKendall · · Score: 2

    Wow, a recycling robot that can reuse every part! How environmentally friend...

    NOT SO FAST says Greenpeace, who instead demand that Apple make all products more easily upgradable.

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  4. Oh the horror by The+Grim+Reefer · · Score: 1

    Daisy was developed in-house by Apple engineers, using some of Liam's parts -- a recycling of sorts.

    I'm picturing Rod Serling stepping into frame to a talk about the Twilight Zone as Daisy starts recycling the engineers by pulling parts off of them.

  5. Re:And Greenpeace, as usual, are major dicks about by AvitarX · · Score: 1

    They're also putting some of the poorest people in the world out of work with automation with this robot. Very bad.

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  6. Re:And Greenpeace, as usual, are major dicks about by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    When has apple really cared about the environment except as a bullet point in a PR Slide?

  7. The printing press put a lot of monks out of work. by Brannon · · Score: 1

    And don't get me started on tractors.

  8. Quis reædificabo ipsos aedificato? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Presumably there will then be a robot to recycle this robot?

  9. Re:The printing press put a lot of monks out of wo by AvitarX · · Score: 1

    How can we expect the farm hands to eat with tractors doing their jobs. It'll be impossible.

    Probably should break them all, and this evil robot.

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  10. Re:And Greenpeace, as usual, are major dicks about by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 1

    They're also putting some of the poorest people in the world out of work with automation with this robot.

    No they aren't. Most iPhones are made in Shenzhen, which is one of the most prosperous cities in China, and one of the most rapidly growing cities in the world. The unemployment rate in Shenzhen is under 3%, and almost every factory is hiring. The average annual factory income in Shenzhen is about 24,000 RMB which is about $8000 USD-PPP, which may not sound like much to an American, but is a solid middle income by world standards, and wages in Shenzhen are growing by about 10% per year.

    The "poorest people in the world" are in landlocked regions of central Africa, not the coastal cities of China.

  11. Just a PR stunt and a bit of greed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    when they make a factory full of these, recycling as many old phones as they sell new phones each year, and pay the customer back for the materials they acquire, then I'll be impressed. But I'm not holding my breath, as that would be the polar opposite of what a greedy dishonest company like Apple does.

    1. Re:Just a PR stunt and a bit of greed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      set up a daisy chain

  12. Video by avij · · Score: 2

    See the robot in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

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    1. Re:Video by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So robot was a over simplification what a suprise. Sure technically it's a robot cell but claiming it is one robot looks like a stretch looks more like a line so in this case a daisy chain :)

    2. Re:Video by rkordmaa · · Score: 1

      Robots come in all shapes and sizes, no need to discriminate. You know some people only count something as a robot if it has humanoid shape and mechanical looks, if it can do anything autonomously or if it's just a statue doesn't even matter to some people.
      By the way, does anyone recognize what the manufacturer is for these 6 axis and scara arms?

  13. Re:And Greenpeace, as usual, are major dicks about by fisted · · Score: 2

    Traditional recycling: I'll sell my old iphone to someone who wants it.

    This recycling: I'll give back my device to apple, feeling good in the process, so apple can sell more brand new devices, eliminating the 2nd hand market.

  14. APPLE are DICK, they lost suing repair shop by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNl2q6YZXlA

    Apple wants all the spare parts for itself, not any 3rd party who can repair cheaper.

    https://www.macrumors.com/2018/04/13/apple-lawsuit-repair-shop-norway/ /\pple last year sued an aftermarket repair shop in Norway, accusing the owner, Henrik Huseby of infringing on Apple's trademarks by using non-genuine aftermarket repair parts.

    Details on the lawsuit were shared today by Motherboard, a site that has been covering "Right to Repair" efforts in the United States.

    Apple started out by sending Huseby a letter demanding that he stop using aftermarket displays to repair broken devices after Norwegian customs officials seized iPhone 6 and 6s replacement screens that were addressed to him and discovered they were counterfeit.

    1. Re:APPLE are DICK, they lost suing repair shop by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      FUCK apple!! Piece of shit evil company.

  15. Re: And Greenpeace, as usual, are major dicks abou by spinitch · · Score: 1

    âoeTraditional recycling: I'll sell my old iphone to someone who wants it. This recycling: I'll give back my device to apple, feeling good in the process, so apple can sell more brand new devices, eliminating the 2nd hand market.â Appleâ(TM)s program is appropriately named recycle and reuse. Apple typically outsources the reuse resale function such as Brightstar in some markets. For devices which have a high enough market demand price devices are resold for reuse. Most operational devices but there comes a point Where demand drops, devices beyond economical repair but still have part salvage value. A robot improving part recovery helps overall economics so a welcome benefit. The salvage companies mainly will get squeezed out. Direct resale from person to person can offer best economics but requires effort and trust.

  16. Apple needs to make iPhones last longer... by MoarSauce123 · · Score: 1

    ....then they would not need robots with cutesy names. Best would be to make iPhones modular and sell individual parts. They can call it "Meccano".

  17. Re: And Greenpeace, as usual, are major dicks abou by fisted · · Score: 1

    Wall of text

    Looks like the Apple device you're posting from too is broken, you should turn it in for part salvation.

  18. more crappy parts for AppleCare comsumers by mschaffer · · Score: 1

    Now Apple can stockpile inferior parts for their AppleCare clients:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

  19. Re:And Greenpeace, as usual, are major dicks about by rkordmaa · · Score: 1

    Quit pretending that consumer electronics will last forever, sometimes a phone breaks and is not worth repairing anymore or nobody wants to buy the piece of outdated junk off you anymore. This is better than a landfill no matter how you look at it.

  20. Re:And Greenpeace, as usual, are major dicks about by AvitarX · · Score: 1

    And Shenzhen is where electronics recycling happens?

    I was under the impression it happened in much poorer areas with a lot of child labor.

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  21. Re:And Greenpeace, as usual, are major dicks about by Plumpaquatsch · · Score: 1

    They're also putting some of the poorest people in the world out of work with automation with this robot.

    No they aren't. Most iPhones are made in Shenzhen, which is one of the most prosperous cities in China, and one of the most rapidly growing cities in the world.

    I*m pretty sure he wasn't talking about the place of production, but the usual place of "recycling" for electronic waste - some polluted dump in a third world country packed with some children who'll never make it to thirty. Of course nobody ever saw an Apple product at such a place, only CRT monitors and 2 year old Android phones.

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  22. Liam and Daisy by jep77 · · Score: 1

    A little like Adam and Eve I suppose... there's even an apple. Don't screw it up, Daisy.

  23. Re:And Greenpeace, as usual, are major dicks about by Plumpaquatsch · · Score: 0

    Traditional recycling: I'll sell my old iphone to someone who wants it.

    This recycling: I'll give back my device to apple, feeling good in the process, so apple can sell more brand new devices, eliminating the 2nd hand market.

    This recycling in your mind. In reality: You'll sell your iPhone to somebody, who will sell it to somebody, who will giver it to their grandma - and they will still get iOS updates. And then they will give it to Apple. Reality check: this is no Android POS phone.

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  24. Re:And Greenpeace, as usual, are major dicks about by fisted · · Score: 1

    Right, because Apple's magic robot will instead take the piece of outdated junk, remove its pieces of outdated junk parts, and turn them into state of the art components used to assemble a shiny new phone.

  25. Recycling robot? LOL by p51d007 · · Score: 1

    Just a PR stunt by Apple. It's just taking the phone apart. Apple doesn't give a rip, except to make a claim of "recycling". If they were so concerned, they would pounce on their Chinese partner(s) to make conditions better for their "slaves", and who knows what they get away with for the miners that mine the rare earth material. Apple says "but that isn't us, that's a supplier". (CR)apple...the PR machine continues.

  26. Re:And Greenpeace, as usual, are major dicks about by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Oh no. apple phones get dumped into a magical special part of a much nicer third world country. Where unicorns dance and filthy street urchins are not allow in to make money off of apple courageous products.

  27. Re:And Greenpeace, as usual, are major dicks about by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Wow you sure are deep up apples as aren't you. Fumes making you a little loopy?

  28. Re:And Greenpeace, as usual, are major dicks about by rkordmaa · · Score: 1

    Nope, it will take your outdated junk break it apart and sort it out into piles of higher grade electronics junk. Watch the vid somewhere down in the comments, it doesn't exactly extract components intact for instant reuse in manufacturing. It's more like recycling a TV, plastic this way, metal that way, pcb-s in a pile over yonder, leaded glass shipped to third world country to get rid of the headache.

  29. Re:And Greenpeace, as usual, are major dicks about by Plumpaquatsch · · Score: 1

    More prove that Fandroids hate reality and recycling.

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  30. Re:And Greenpeace, as usual, are major dicks about by Plumpaquatsch · · Score: 1

    Oh no. apple phones get dumped into a magical special part of a much nicer third world country.

    Yes - that third world country is called the USA.

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    Of course news about a fake are Fake News.