Apple iOS 26 set to dump 75M iPhones on the e-waste pile
- Reference: 1756820770
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2025/09/02/apple_ios_26_waste/
- Source link:
The next major version of Cupertino's mobile operating system is scheduled to be released this month following its [1]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 [2]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 While some owners will carry on using them, the kit will gradually become outdated and many users will choose to upgrade to a new model, potentially adding to the growing pile of e-waste.
[3]
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).
[4]
[5]
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.
[6]
"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.
[7]Annual electronic waste footprint per person is 11.2 kg
[8]The 'End of 10' is nigh, but don't bury your PC just yet
[9]PIRG's 'Electronic Waste Graveyard' lists 100+ gadgets dumped after support vanished
[10]Framework guns for cheap laptops with upgradeable alternative
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 [11]than a third of European consumers trade in or sell their old phones . This was [12]holding back the supply of secondhand devices that might otherwise stimulate a market for more [13]environmentally-friendly alternatives to buying new.
A United Nations report [14]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.
[15]
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 ( [16]October 14 ) will leave [17]up to 400 million PCs unable to upgrade to the next version because of arbitrary hardware requirements.
PIRG has also set up an online [18]Electronic Waste Graveyard site that lists various devices which have gone to [19]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. ®
Get our [20]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/09/apple_wwdc_2025_keynote/
[2] https://www.businesswaste.co.uk/
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aLcUlU2sOwwjdIpMmXayWQAAABA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aLcUlU2sOwwjdIpMmXayWQAAABA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aLcUlU2sOwwjdIpMmXayWQAAABA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aLcUlU2sOwwjdIpMmXayWQAAABA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2025/05/16/ted_talk_electronic_waste/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2025/05/15/end_of_10_campaign/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/11/electronic_waste_graveyard/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2025/02/26/framework_guns_for_cheap_laptops/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/18/used_phones_europe/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2024/01/23/second_hand_device_market/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2024/02/26/refurbished_phones_survey/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/21/ewaste_grows/
[15] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aLcUlU2sOwwjdIpMmXayWQAAABA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/04/windows_11_market_share/
[17] https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/11/electronic_waste_graveyard/
[18] https://pirg.org/edfund/resources/electronic-waste-graveyard/
[19] https://reddwarf.fandom.com/wiki/Silicon_Heaven
[20] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Why?
You might be better off getting it into the recycling system (we put consumer tech in a bag and leave it out for council kerbside collection). Whilst old AA batteries will leak and get manky, ruining your old kit, forgotten lithium cells can have a bit more of a sting in the tail.
Re: Why?
Unless of course your local recycling specifically disallows lithium batteries and gives you no other recourse. I don't even bother with recycling. That bin has been in the back of the shed for nearly a year. I have maybe a couple cardboard Amazon boxes but everything else is listed as "don't put in the recycle bin" so I don't bother.
Re: Why?
You can get twice as much selling on eBay versus trade in. If you have the stomach for dealing with the scammers and time-wasters that is. Yup, in the drawer it goes.
Re: Why?
I think all the UK mobile operators (plus Apple) will recycle old phones for you if you ask.
This is such nonsense. My iPhone XR will continue working for years running iOS 18.6.
Yeah but the apps might not. Some have a nasty habit of starting up and demanding an upgrade before going any further after a while. When you run the upgrade the installer can say unsupported iOS version so no more app.
Especially true with banking apps.
I use an iPhone XR, and had been thinking of getting a new phone as the battery is shagged and the back of it is cracked. I'd imagine I've a little bit of time left to do it but the new phones just aren't wallet friendly.
My mum gets my cast off iPhones, she usually gets about a year after they stop being upgraded to the latest iOS before security updates cease and apps start to complain.
solid waste stream
Describes so many electronic products.
Re: solid waste stream
"Solid waste stream". Isn't this the long awaited collaboration between Thames Water and Apple to produce the legendary iTurd?
sixteen grams of copper, and about the same of palladium
75 million tons of iphones -> 1,238,944kg of palladium; that's 16.5g per iphone, on average.
Currently, at $36/gram, that's around $576 per iphone just in palladium... I suspect someone has slipped a decimal place somewhere[1].
[1] Quite possibly me...
Re: sixteen grams of copper, and about the same of palladium
That's per ton of iphones, not per iphone
Re: sixteen grams of copper, and about the same of palladium
It might be, but TFA says "75 million devices represent over 1,208,800 kilograms of copper, etc.", not 75 million tonnes of devices
Re: sixteen grams of copper, and about the same of palladium
'tons' was my error. Throughout, the article states 75 million phones, and 1.2 million tons of waste. Which is where I get 16.5g/phone.
Silicon Heaven
With all the calculators and mechanoids who did great deeds.
I have an aged iPhone currently in use as an softphone=only device, no SIM, connected to local wireless only. It will continue to be of use as a softphone for the foreseeable future, as the old VOIP apps on it still work and will NOT be updated. I don't use it for anything other than phone-type stuff, so I don't care if other apps don't work. And it makes an excellent phone for handing out phone numbers to idiots who might abuse the system; if I start getting telemarketing calls on one of the VOIP app numbers (I have multiple VOIP apps installed) I change the number in the app. There are some people who insist on getting a phone number; they get one of the VOIP numbers. Some of those people recognise VOIP numbers and get bolshie; I walk away.
There are lots of VOIP phone apps out there, the Apple Store is your friend.
"XR, XS, and XS Max owners left with $268M worth of scrap"
If people have these models and want to still use them, they will carry on functioning as they always did - they won't suddenly explode into bits because a new OS comes out. The issues with old smartphones are what they always were; security, app versions and battery. A new battery for these models costs less than 50 quid in any high street mobile phone shop, and honestly if you're still rocking an XR then you probably couldn't give two shits about the "latest" version of anything anyway.
PSA: a new OS doesn't mean old phones stop working.
generating more than 1.2 million kilograms of e-waste
1,208,800 kilograms of copper, 1,238,944 kilograms of palladium...
Where's my calculator.
Why?
>> fewer than a third of European consumers trade in or sell their old phones
The trade in price is peanuts. So in the drawer it goes.