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The World’s Smartphones Are Filled With Gold. That’s a Problem.
Small amounts of gold used in electronics quickly add up to environmental and humanitarian disasters
Gold is a valuable metal in the tech industry and not just because of its shine. Although it isn’t the most conductive metal, its malleability and resistance to corrosion make it a key ingredient for product longevity. Apple and other smartphone manufacturers use gold for pins, relays, and connectors — components that send signals or need to remain flexible for the lifetime of the device. In iPhones — by far the most popular smartphone brand in the United States — cameras, wireless charging coils, and logic boards all use gold.
The amount of gold in any one iPhone is pretty small, but the numbers add up quickly. “In iPhone XS, for example, gold represents less than 0.01% of the overall product mass,” or up to 0.018 grams according to the Apple’s 2019 Environmental Responsibility Report. But Apple reportedly shipped nearly 200 million iPhones in 2019 alone.
“A large part of the material footprint in the phone is the gold,” said iFixit co-founder Kyle Wiens, referring to the outsized environmental impact of an iPhone’s gold compared with its weight. If it’s not recycled, the gold in your iPhone might be sourced from a mine…
