The pending release of Apple’s iOS 26 could see around 75 million iPhones rendered obsolete, generating more than 1.2 million kilograms of e-waste globally, according to new research.
The next major version of Cupertino’s mobile operating system is scheduled to be released this month following its announcement at WWDC in June.
That will affect the owners of aging iPhone XR, XS, and XS Max devices, which are to be excluded from the update, according to waste management operation Business Waste. While some owners will carry on using them, the kit will gradually become outdated and many users will choose to upgrade to a new model, potentially adding to the growing pile of e-waste.
Business Waste is rather more interested in the materials that could be recovered from scrapping those old phones, which it calculates to be worth upwards of £271 million ($363 million).
It reckons those 75 million devices represent over 1,208,800 kilograms of copper, 1,238,944 kilograms of palladium, and 2,569 kilograms of gold. The latter is the most valuable, potentially worth in excess of £200 million ($268 million).
The best option for any such old unsupported devices is to recycle them, the firm says, rather than letting them end up in landfills.
“E-waste is the world’s fastest-growing solid waste stream with more than 50 million tonnes generated globally each year,” Business Waste’s Graham Matthews said.
He pointed out that e-waste which ends up in landfills can damage the environment and even human populations as hazardous substances leak out and contaminate the surrounding area. “So, it’s especially important to ensure you recycle old devices responsibly.”
Despite this, a report from research biz CCS Insight claimed that fewer than a third of European consumers trade in or sell their old phones. This was holding back the supply of secondhand devices that might otherwise stimulate a market for more environmentally-friendly alternatives to buying new.
A United Nations report published last year warned about the growing threat of electronic waste, which it said is piling up five times faster than it is being recycled.
The report called for improvements in e-waste management and for governments to introduce policies to incentivize the reuse of devices or the recycling of their component materials by industry.
And it isn’t just smartphones that are causing the problem: the US-based Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) network warned earlier this year that the looming end-of-life date for Windows 10 (October 14) will leave up to 400 million PCs unable to upgrade to the next version because of arbitrary hardware requirements.
PIRG has also set up an online Electronic Waste Graveyard site that lists various devices which have gone to Silicon Heaven, calculates the total weight of all the dead gadgets, and allows users to sort the list by brand, category, and the reason for their discontinuation. ®