iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro Taptic Engines are made from 100% recycled Rare Earth Elements

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What you need to know

  • Apple announced iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max on September 10th.
  • All iPhones are confirmed as using 100% recycled earth elements in their Taptic Engines.
  • The new iPhones go on sale on September 20th.

Apple has shared new environmental reports for its iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max while also confirming that the Taptic Engine used in all three phones is built from 100% recycled rare earth elements.

In an interview with Reuters – spotted by MacRumors – Apple Vice President of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives Lisa Jackson said that the move not only helps the planet but also helps Apple, too.

"This is one of those happy coincidences where what is good for the planet is really good for business at the same time," Jackson told Reuters. "One of the things we talk about a lot internally, just in general, is how much more resilient this makes our supply chain."

Apple uses its recycling robot, named Daisy, to disassemble old products and then recycle their parts as part of an ongoing effort to protect the planet.

The Taptic Engine is used to provide vibration feedback in iPhones and is particularly important now that 3D Touch has been replaced by Haptic Touch in the new lineup. The part is used throughout iOS and is one of the unsung heroes of Apple's iPhone design.

Oliver Haslam
Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.