Discontinued sales of iSight, eMac, AirPort Base Station, etc. in the EU

[bbloke]

The EU will be bringing legislation into force which bans the use of certain substances in electronic goods. The result is that Apple will be, as of today (June 23rd 2006), discontinuing the sale of a range of products, although third party resellers can continue to sell these goods until stocks run out.

MacUser UK has the story, as does MacWorld UK.

The website says that the iSight, AirPort Base Station With Modem, AirPort Base Station Power Over Ethernet and Antenna, iPod shuffle External Battery Pack and the eMac will be discontinued. All are said to contain banned substances such as lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium and brominated flame retardants.

Further information can apparently be found Apple's Environment and Materials pages.

 

[Veljo]

Wow, that's strange. They're in sealed cases, surely they can't be classified as dangerous (unless someone takes it apart).

 

[Mikuro]

Wow, that's strange. They're in sealed cases, surely they can't be classified as dangerous (unless someone takes it apart).

I think these regulations have disposal and recycling in mind.

 

[CreativeEye]

will apple change the products to comply?

i've just had a quick look at the online uk store and those products have indeed been taken off.

surely apple can't be happy that anyone with a mac that doesnt have an isight built in (and thats proportionally more than those that do right now) can no longer buy an isight (as well as the other products) anymore?!...

 

[Ferdinand]

OMG!!!!!

Thats so crazy of the EU!!! I mean, who would buy an eMac and take it apart to get the lead or whatever out?
Ferdinand

 

[sinclair_tm]

but all computers, no, electronics have some trace of that kind of stuff. does that mean your clock radio is next?

 

[ApeintheShell]

Man it sucks to live in Europe(which is not really a country) and the UK. Everything good gets taken away for the sake of recycling or some strange agenda by the EU.
Hey, Apple is now offering iPods with free armbands and docks. Sweet.

 

[bbloke]

Man it sucks to live in Europe(which is not really a country) and the UK.

Everything good gets taken away for the sake of recycling or some strange agenda by the EU.

Erm, hardly...

And I think it is a good thing that European nations take environmental issues seriously.

 

[sgould]

The UK is part of Europe

Europe is split into two parts known as "Britain" and "The Continent"!!

 

[mw84]

GREAT Britain, that is. How will this effect the built in iSights in newer models?

 

[Qion]

I just don't understand how this can fly with the entire economic base. Electronics in general all contain traces or noticable amounts of one or more of these substances. Won't this severely damper a whole lot of the high-tech market?

 

[Ferdinand]

Yeah, as Qion said, all electronics contain a bit of that stuff, so why take away some electronics, and not others, even though all contain it? I think the EU is taking this too seriously and should work on other - more important - things that are on right now.

 

[bbloke]

Well, the relevant page on Apple's site says:

The fifth generation iPod, iPod nano and iPod shuffle are 100% compliant with the upcoming restrictions of hazardous substances (RoHS) in California and Europe, which are recognized as the new global standard for environmental regulation. iPod’s RoHS compliance comes months ahead of the July 1 deadline set by the European Union. Most of the materials covered by the RoHS directive, including mercury, cadmium, chromium VI and brominated flame retardants, were voluntarily eliminated from all Apple products years ago.

Also, if other Macs are still on sale, just not the eMac (which is not the most modern model now), then that would imply to me that it is perfectly possible to meet the regulations with the same electronic equipment.

It's been a bit annoying, mainly because I was not aware that this was coming, but I can understand the desire to move away from the use of certain materials or chemical compounds. I think there is no real risk to users, as the units are sealed, but the EU is likely to be thinking about hazards during manufacturing and disposal/recycling.

Whether or not Apple produces replacements for the iSight and AirPort Base Station that will be phased out remains to be seen... If you want one of these, I guess you either buy one from a third party in the near future or else you take a chance and wait to see if a new generation of these are produced.

 

[porteous]

This is not the first completely daft legislation that the EU in Brussels has produced, as most of us Europeans already know....

What is interesting is that it only seems to be the northern European nations who take these ridiculous regulations seriously. Those in southern Europe seem to get away with totally ignoring them, and with total impunity.