• fer0n@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      I‘m guessing it’s mostly recycled polyester? They only state it reduces carbon emissions:

      Made from durable microtwill, the material has a soft, suedelike feel. The FineWoven material was also designed with the earth in mind — it’s made from 68 percent post-consumer recycled content and significantly reduces carbon emissions compared to leather.

      I’m guessing the main plastic issue isn’t coming from relatively small items that you keep using for years and rather from the infinite amount of packaging that we throw away daily. Not sure what the “ideal” material would be, but whatever it is, if it’s 70% recycled that’s probably a good start.

  • fer0n@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    I’m sure people will disagree, but it has increasingly felt odd to me that Apple was still selling leather accessories with their environmental attitude. I think the new ones look great and I’m happy they’re doing this. There’s still more than enough leather accessories from third parties.

    Also, the iPhone leather cases I had wore off quite quickly and looked terrible after a while, so not a big loss there if you ask me.

    • conciselyverbose@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      For a premium brand selling itself on premium quality, their leather stuff sucked pretty hard.

      Some sort of woven material is exactly what I suggested when the rumors were first brought up. There are absolutely things in the canvas neighborhood that have a lot of the traits decent leather does that apply to phone cases. I think it has a lot of potential.

    • JasSmith@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      Leather is far more environmentally friendly. Slightly more CO2, but zero plastic, micro-plastic, and PFAS pollution. Properly cared for and produced, it also lasts a lifetime. Apple’s leather products of late were awful quality.

      • fer0n@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        Nice try, but it most certainly isn’t. Especially compared to recycled materials such as their new one:

        The FineWoven material was also designed with the earth in mind — it’s made from 68 percent post-consumer recycled content and significantly reduces carbon emissions compared to leather.

        source

        • Deceptichum@kbin.social
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          1 year ago

          I’ve had a leather belt for over 20 years and wear it every day.

          Beats the crap out of any other material in the longevity department as far as I’m concerned.

          • DBT@artemis.camp
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            1 year ago

            I’ve had a leather iPhone case for almost a year and I use it everyday.

            It definitely does not beat the crap out of any other material. It looks like shit. Not even a good patina - it just looks like ass.

  • thehatfox@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Was there much leather left in many of the accessories anyway? The iPhone 13 and 14 leather cases I’ve had or seen have worn out really quickly, they don’t seem to last anywhere near as long as the leather cases I had in years past.

    I even used to be able to sell my old leather cases in the 4/5/6 days because people wanted the built up leather patina.

    • Poggervania@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      It comes down to the kind of leather used. Most manufacturers will say they use “genuine leather”, which is technically leather because it’s the scraps from other leather products glued or bonded together. You also have pleather, AKA fake or synth leather, which iirc if it’s 100% pleather it’s actually good, but anything less than 100% and it becomes absolute shit.

      The older leather stuff and modern premium leather will usually be full-grain leather, which is the actual good leather we know and love.

  • frododouchebaggins@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    There will be an infinite number of 3rd parties making leather bands and I will get one of those. Apple’s facade of “caring about the environment” is hilarious though. That mother earth video is cringe as fuck. How does Apple feel about all their customers who buy a new phone EVERY YEAR? Is that good for the environment? It’s certainly good for Apple’s stock price.

    EDIT: THEY PLANTED SOME TREES IN SOUTH AMERICA. It offsets pollution and makes up for exploiting workers in asia. Everything is great!

    • xts@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      At least they are doing something. Why not complain about companies who don’t give a shit and continue to poison the environment?

      I am also sure whichever phone you’re using was built by some laborer who is underpaid and has poor working conditions overseas. This isn’t an apple issue, it’s an issue of the companies who own the factories who build the phones (Foxconn)