8 Positive and Influential Ways Apple Contributes to the World

While a company’s main goal is to make money, that doesn’t mean that corporations and firms can’t support positive change in their day-to-day activities.

Just take Apple. The iPhone maker is well-known for its decisive political stances. But Apple goes a lot further than that by supporting a wide range of causes. Here are just a few ways that Apple demonstrates its values. Continue reading to learn 8 Positive Ways Apple Contributes to the World.

Partnering with Great Causes

Apple regularly partners with causes that foster positive change across the globe. Last year, for example, the Cupertino tech giant partnered up with the Malala Fund to support girls’ education. That included scaling up the fund’s technology and providing financial support.

There’s also, of course, the company’s long-standing partnership with Product(RED). A portion of the proceeds from purchases of Apple’s Product(RED) devices, which feature the program’s signature red color, help fund initiatives that treat HIV and AIDs across the world. Over a twelve-year period, Apple has raised more than $200 million for (RED).

Investing in Sustainability

Another of Apple’s primary values is sustainability. To start, Apple has been voted one of the greenest tech companies for years. And Apple CEO Tim Cook famously called out President Donald Trump when he pulled the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Accord.

But a commitment to sustainability also shows up in virtually all aspects of the company. From the painstaking measures Apple takes to ensure its packaging is sustainable to the fact that its data centers run on completely renewable energy, it’s not hard to see that Apple is taking massive steps toward caring for the environment.

Taking Action in Times of Tragedy

Apple doesn’t just talk a big game when it comes to its values. In times of tragedy, the company has also taken action. One example is the Charlottesville tragedy. After that incident, Apple pledged $2 million to the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center to fight hate and racism.

The company also makes it easy for users to donate to charitable causes after natural disasters. Back in 2016, Apple started taking donations to the American Red Cross through the Apple Store in the wake of devastating flooding in Louisiana. The company has made similar moves after hurricanes and wildfires across the globe.

Being a Vanguard for Privacy

Apple takes the privacy of its user seriously. From going toe-to-toe with the FBI over backdoors to shutting down its human review process for Siri voice data, the company routinely “walks the walk” when it comes to data privacy and security. The result? Apple’s devices and ecosystem are among the most secure and privacy-respecting in the tech industry

The company is also one of the few tech giants that continually lobbies for privacy regulations. Apple CEO Tim Cook has repeatedly called for a substantial and far-reaching privacy law in the U.S. — something akin to the GDPR regulations in Europe. That’s stands in stark contrast to companies like Facebook.

Standing up for Human Rights

The Cupertino tech giant is no stranger to supporting equality and diversity. Just as an example, Apple CEO Tim Cook stood against the Trump Administration’s 2017 executive order that restricted immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries. He also spoke out against the Administration's inhumane border policies.

Apple is also well-known for its support of the LGBTQ community. In 2017, it fought for protections for transgender students. Back in 2015, Tim Cook vocalized his opposition to laws that allow discrimination on the basis of religious freedom. The company also routinely offers Pride edition products and donates a portion of those proceeds to advocacy groups.

Supporting Older Devices

A few years back, Apple caught some flack for slowing down the performance on older devices. But the media coverage and resulting backlash surrounding that scandal were largely unjustified. For one, Apple implemented performance throttling to reduce random shutdowns on devices with aging batteries.

If you look a bit deeper, you can see that Apple has no interest in planned obsolescence. For one, it runs numerous repair programs where it fixes devices with known issues for free. It also continually supports older devices with new software and encourages users to trade in their old device for recycling when it does come time to upgrade.

By Boosting the U.S. Economy

Apple has famously clashed with President Donald Trump over the U.S. economy. Trump has repeatedly called for Apple to manufacture its devices in the U.S. — a task that’s not nearly as realistic as it seems. But Apple has made massive contributions to the U.S. economy despite making its products in China.

Just as an example, there’s the App Store. That’s a whole new economic sector that didn’t exist before Apple kickstarted it. But Apple has also pledged $1 billion to boost U.S. manufacturing and plans on investing more than $350 billion in the U.S. economy as a whole over the next five years.

By Fostering the Next Generation

Apple, among other things, believes that coding is “an essential skill.” But Apple isn’t just content to tout the importance of coding; it also actively fosters coding education through various programs and platforms. Most of it focuses on Apple’s own Swift coding language, but those skills can translate to other languages, too.

One of those programs is the Everyone Can Code initiative, which is a comprehensive curriculum that Apple developed to bring coding to the classroom. The company also offers other educator and student resources in an effort to let “anyone learn, write and teach code.”