It's often tempting to think that if Apple had its way, iPhone users would be replacing their phones every year. As it is, there are a lot of traded-in iPhones that need recycling – and that's where the company's new Daisy robot comes in.
Daisy is actually more like a whole system than an individual robot. It features technologies based on what Apple learned from Liam, which was the company's first disassembly robot, launched two years ago – Daisy even incorporates some of Liam's parts.
The robot is capable of disassembling nine versions of the iPhone at a rate of up to 200 phones per hour, removing and sorting their components for subsequent recycling or reuse. According to Apple, it's able to "recover valuable materials that traditional recyclers cannot."
At this point, it's not clear if there will be just one centrally-located Daisy, or multiple robots in various locations. We've reached out to the company for clarification, and are still waiting to hear back.
Source: Apple