> Given that there hasn't been an unusually large price increase, it's not that surprising to think that they're skimping on something like EPEAT certification.
A big part of that is economies of scale and clever business dealings. Things like pre-purchasing billions of dollars of LCD panels and flash memory made a big difference in Apple's success in the last ten years, and their massive cash reserves mean that they're willing to spend a billion dollars on new machinery if it will pay off in the long run.
Most laptop companies aren't willing to do that because they'll have a dozen disparate models, with different cases, hardware, chipsets, sizes, etc. Apple right now has five: 11" and 13" MBA, 13" MBP, 15" Retina and non-Retina MBP. They're all manufactured similarly, with similar sizes and shapes, and identical materials used. There's a lot of economy of scale there as well.
A big part of that is economies of scale and clever business dealings. Things like pre-purchasing billions of dollars of LCD panels and flash memory made a big difference in Apple's success in the last ten years, and their massive cash reserves mean that they're willing to spend a billion dollars on new machinery if it will pay off in the long run.
Most laptop companies aren't willing to do that because they'll have a dozen disparate models, with different cases, hardware, chipsets, sizes, etc. Apple right now has five: 11" and 13" MBA, 13" MBP, 15" Retina and non-Retina MBP. They're all manufactured similarly, with similar sizes and shapes, and identical materials used. There's a lot of economy of scale there as well.