It’s very rare that Apple admits to having made a mistake. However this is what they did on Friday when they said that they were back in EPEAT, from which they had withdrawn earlier on it the week.
Apple admits fault, heads back into EPEAT with gold rating for MacBook Pro Retina
Many customers of Apple said that they were disappointed to find out that Apple would not be in the EPEAT rating system. The senior vice president of hardware engineering said in a letter that was posted on the website of the company that they recognize this was a mistake and starting from today all products of Apple that are eligible will be back on the EPEAT rating system.
He went on to say that their commitment to protecting the environment remains the same as ever and is also as strong as ever and Apple would continue to produce products in the industry that were environmentally responsible.
The withdrawal of products from EPEAT came as a huge surprise to a lot of people and this move meant that the products of Apple would not be used within some organizations. This includes in San Francisco where there is a mandate for computers that have EPEAT approval. Across the federal government in the US the standards for purchasing call for 95% of computers to be of the standards set out by EPEAT.
EPEAT CEO, Robert Frisbee sad that they were happy that all of the products of Apple that had been on the registry previously, were back. He went on to say that they looked forward to the creative ideas of Apple in development of standards.
The return saw the 15 inch MacBook Pro Retina display getting a gold rating, which happens to be the highest rating from EPEAT. A spokesman for Greenpeace said that this was a good example of Apple listening to their customers. The first MacBook Pro shipments had the batteries glued to the casing, which meant they were impossible to recycle.
EPEAT did not say anything about specifics of the design but did say that to pass the basic rating there are 23 requirements. Those who pass 50% of the requirements got silver rating and gold was only given to those who met 75% of the EPEAT optional criteria. As Apple have once again joined forces with EPEAT they will be able to take part in talks that are taking place looking into a revision of standards for computers along with monitors.
The director of outreach and communications on behalf of EPEAT said that they are to be updated and stakeholders obviously want to see forward looking design and innovation incorporated.
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