Where's the recycled old cell phone? 6000 iPhones are destroyed as garbage every month

Nowadays, the recycling of old mobile phones has gradually formed a complete industrial chain. In many places, we can see the recycling equipment of old mobile phones. E-commerce websites have also launched the activity of replacing the old with the new. The iPhone with higher price is the hot choice for recycling old mobile phones. Have you ever wondered where these recycled old mobile phones have gone?

Not long ago, ifixit, a well-known dismantling website, interviewed Peter Schindler, founder of the wireless alliance, an American electronics recycling and refurbishment company. The company's goal is clear: to bring the refurbishment of electronic equipment back to the market in order to reduce the pollution caused by the destruction of electronic products.

But it's a sad fact, said the founder. They destroy 4000-6000 intact iPhones every month. The reason is very simple: these devices have activation locks, which can only be disassembled or scrapped, and can't be directly renovated

As for the sources of these locked iPhones, the answer is not that many people want to steal or lose them, but that the user does not completely exit the Apple ID when resetting the phone, or forgets to turn off the "find my iPhone" function, and the recycler cannot contact the user, so it can only destroy them.

What many people don't know is that iPhones that haven't been completely reset can't be refurbished and returned to the market. The ultimate fate of these permanently locked iPhones is to be disassembled and thrown into landfills, which has a negative impact on the ecological environment.

From the user's point of view, this also shows that the activation lock of iPhone is reassuring in content anti-theft, but it also reminds users that before handing over the phone to the recycler, please make sure that the device account has been completely logged out. Otherwise, it would be a pity to destroy them directly.