I’m not blaming Apple for what they cannot control, but what they can control. I wouldn’t let them hide their many product-lifespan failings behind that one issue.

That’s comparing tech with other tech, rather than comparing it with environmental impact. I think we need to decenter tech and focus on the environment as a matter of urgency.

My iPhone is six years old. But these devices will spend centuries in land fill. Apple’s recycling program is criticised for destroying phones that could have been repaired.

There is a long list of things not being done to extend the life of these devices, and the way they are repurposed later in life. All to the benefit of selling more devices.

Their phone repairs are crazily locked-down and expensive. If the key to longevity is repair, Apple is doing it's damnedest to make it as difficult as possible.

When it comes to updates, it's shifted in that direction in the last while. But updates are just one aspect, and with just about every other aspect, they're awful. Look at the way they fuck over independent repair shops. Look at the way they lock down their systems. And look at the way they make their devices as difficult as possible to repair. Then, look at the way they are pioneers at these practices. It used to be standard that you could install what you want on devices you bought and paid for. Apple was the company who drove the idea into the mainstream that the manufacturer could artificially restrict what you can install on your device. Same applies to having control over the OS. Same applies to the headphone jack. Same applies to repairability. They've been consistently spearheading the most destructive trends in the areas of user rights and environmental impact.

They’re the least bad guys.

Apple is great on longevity, but that's not the issue here. Chip innovation has plateaued in recent years, so a 7-year-old iPhone is still plenty powerful. The hardware is solid, yet Apple locks the bootloader and never documents the chips, so running Linux on one means relying on exploits and reverse engineering.

In the 90s, the jump from 16 MHz to 233 MHz changed what a computer could do. A 1990 PC couldn't run a 1997 game like Quake at all, and a 233 MHz machine ran it smoothly with 3D graphics. Today, going from 2.65 GHz to 4.26 GHz doesn't unlock anything new. A 7-year-old phone runs the same apps and games as a brand-new one.

Once official support ends, you can't just install another OS and keep using it. Great hardware, but not exactly open.

Until they stop supporting the device for OS updates and apps stop functioning. I have a couple older iOS devices that we still use but they cannot update past iOS 9 and 12, and some apps have ceased functioning in one way or another. So they’re fine for a little web browsing and the like, but that’s about it.

The mini is the perfect size for me too. With a new battery and supported, secure software, it could easily have double the life span.

All people die eventually too, but it's not an argument to lower our standards of living.

If your argument is that we need to reduce consumption, I agree completely. But consumers alone cannot fix/improve this problem.