Apple Brings 'All Eligible' Products Back Into EPEAT Circle

Here's something you don't see every single day: Apple apologizing. Back when the iPhone 4's "Antennagate" scandal took off, it really boiled down to users "holding it wrong." But these days we have a new Apple, and the company obviously willing to say when it's made a misstep. Bob Mansfield, the company's outgoing (retirement) Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering, has published a letter on the company's site regarding its recent decision to pull products from EPEAT's certification list. In part, the letter reads:

"We’ve recently heard from many loyal Apple customers who were disappointed to learn that we had removed our products from the EPEAT rating system. I recognize that this was a mistake. Starting today, all eligible Apple products are back on EPEAT. Apple makes the most environmentally responsible products in our industry. In fact, our engineering teams have worked incredibly hard over the years to make our products even more environmentally friendly, and much of our progress has come in areas not yet measured by EPEAT. Perhaps most importantly, we make the most energy-efficient computers in the world and our entire product line exceeds the stringent ENERGY STAR 5.2 government standard. No one else in our industry can make that claim."

It's an interesting read. For one, he's saying that it was a mistake. But why pull the products to begin with? He continues on to note that Apple has learned a lot from this experience, but what happened with EPEAT from the start that would encourage Apple to remove products from a hallowed logo? It's also telling that he points out much of EPEAT doesn't even take some of Apple's green efforts into account. Perhaps that's a backhanded slight, or perhaps he's just asking for EPEAT to update its process.


Either way, all eligible Apple products are now back in the EPEAT circle, six days after they were yanked. Talk about a hasty reevaluation.