/laptop-co2e

Carbon footprints for various developer-friendly laptops (notebook computers).

Laptop carbon footprints

This is a list of carbon footprints compiled from various sources for common laptops. I have compiled these from various sources in case you need a new laptop. If you would like to add more to this list, please issue a pull request.

kg CO2e (kg. CO2 equivalent) is the total expected lifetime (4-year) carbon footprint of the device.

kg CO2e w/o use is the total footprint of the device to make it and send it to you. If your electricity sources are carbon-neutral, this number is the one that matters.

Laptop footprints, in perspective

Aside from the outlier X270, the worst laptop on this list is the Thinkpad P52 at 693 kg CO2e over a four-year lifespan. A single cheeseburger has a carbon footprint of about 4.35 kg CO2e. Buying a P52 is the same cost as eating 159 cheeseburgers over the course of that four years - or eating a single cheeseburger every 1.3 weeks. There is a reason why environmentalists push vehicle emissions first and animal agriculture second - the cost of eating red meat is substantially worse than even other meat options. It is good to minimise carbon emissions wherever you can, but remember that driving less and avoiding beef consumption will drastically outweigh your laptop purchasing choices in terms of carbon footprint.

Note that organisations do play with these numbers a bit, because the science to calculate these is relatively inexact. Lenovo reports the 95th percentile worst-case as their footprints in the data sheet; some other organizations will quote the median +/- a specific value. Use this as a guide, and read the attached documents for more information.

tl;dr

Microsoft's Surface series usually beats Apple. If you can use Windows 10 Pro, the Surface series has the lowest overall manufacturing footprint in the CSR reports. Apple is a close second, with Lenovo coming in last place. Note that the Microsoft and Apple laptops are not repairable. Let's all be happy that the Thinkpad X270 is no longer in production - each one cost the world 0.8 MT CO2e.

Chromebooks may be an option for you when using Crostini, but make sure that the device you buy supports the Linux container functionality before purchasing. Support is getting better as of 2019 but some devices (e.g. Skylake-based devices) still do not have Crostini support at the time of this writing.

Apple

Macs have insanely low carbon footprints compared to respective Lenovo models. The most carbon-friendly MacBook at manufacture is the new MacBook Air, at 176kg CO2e with use and 165.44 without. However, the new Apple Silicon M1 MacBook Pro 13" has a better after-use calculation at 149.85 according to Apple's documentation.

Note the four-year lifespan of these. These Apple products are virtually nonrepairable, so the lifetime of them will likely be much less than a Thinkpad or Latitude. Keep that in mind - most of the footprint is up front with the laptop's manufacture. If you are keeping it for a long time, you're probably better off with the Thinkpad.

Model kg CO2e kg CO2e w/o use Source
Macbook 12" 233 205.04 Apple
Macbook Air 13" (Non-Retina) 339 294.93 Apple
Macbook Air 13" (Retina, Thunderbolt) 176 165.44 Apple
Macbook Air 13" (Retina, 2019) 176 166.04 Apple
Macbook Air 13" M1 (2020) 256GB SSD 161 136.85 Apple
Macbook Air 13" M1 (2020) 512GB SSD 181 153.85 Apple
Macbook Air 13" Intel (2020) 256GB SSD 170 144.5 Apple
Macbook Air 13" Intel (2020) 512GB SSD 198 168.3 Apple
Macbook Pro 13" (Skylake and newer) 222 184.26 Apple
Macbook Pro 15" (Skylake and newer) 334 263.86 Apple
Macbook Pro 13" (2019) 210 198.11 Apple
Macbook Pro 16" (2019) 394 331.09 Apple
Macbook Pro 13" M1 (2020) 256GB SSD 185 149.85* Apple
Macbook Pro 13" M1 (2020) 512GB SSD 207 167.67* Apple
Macbook Pro 14" M1 Pro (2021) 256GB SSD 271 211.38* Apple
Macbook Pro 14" M1 Pro (2021) 512GB SSD 307 239.46* Apple
Macbook Pro 14" Intel (2021) 256GB SSD 252 196.56* Apple
Macbook Pro 14" Intel (2021) 512GB SSD 300 234* Apple
Macbook Pro 16" M1 Pro (2021) 512GB SSD 349 254.77* Apple
Macbook Pro 16" M1 Pro (2021) 1TB SSD 382 278.86* Apple
Macbook Pro 16" M1 Max (2021) 1TB SSD 395 288.35* Apple

* Apple does not change the "use" proportion for any 2020 MacBook Pro, so the M1 uses the same amount of energy as the Intel variants.

Chromebooks

Chromebook product carbon footprints vary widely. In order to normalise the numbers, the 95th percentile number is quoted where appropriate in this table (as Lenovo and HP both report). Note that HP's data is generally pretty bad; the 95th percentile is far off from their expected range so they are likely over-reported in this table.

I cannot locate Acer's carbon footprint calculations; they talk about environmental responsibility in a PR-like page and the data for the old Chromebook C740 is included, so I have added it to this list.

Model kg CO2e kg CO2e w/o use Source
Acer Chromebook C740 123.70 81.679 Press Release
Google Pixelbook 200.6 126.5 Google PER
HP Chromebook 11 G7 Education Edition 275 ≈257† HP Report
HP Chromebook Enterprise 14A G5 295 ≈260† HP Report
HP Chromebook Enterprise x360 14E G1 505* ≈475† HP Report
HP Chromebook x360 11 G2 Education Edition 745* ≈715† HP Report
HP Chromebook x360 14 G1 305 ≈272.5† HP Report
Lenovo YOGA Chromebook C630 293 187.52 Lenovo PCF
Lenovo 100e Chromebook (2nd Gen) 303 236.34 Lenovo PCF
Lenovo 300e Chromebook (2nd Gen) 305 237.9 Lenovo PCF
Lenovo 500e Chromebook (2nd Gen) 303 236.34 Lenovo PCF
Lenovo 14e Chromebook 368 272.32 Lenovo PCF

* The data for this Chromebook has extreme outliers in estimation. Please see the report for more info.

† HP does not give percentages for use; this is done by trying to approximate the average from the plots displayed without adjacent data.

Dell

Dell does not produce as many carbon footprint sheets, but does for some specific models.

The Latitude 7280/7390 has the best footprint, at 187.81 without use and 222 with use included. This may be the best all-around deal, because the Latitude series is relatively repairable, reliable being business-class, and gets very close to Apple's numbers.

Model kg CO2e kg CO2e w/o use Source
XPS 13 9370 297 260.17 Dell CFA
XPS 15 9560 337 265.22 Dell CFA
XPS 15 9570 324 266 Dell CFA
Latitude 7280 222 187.81 Dell CFA
Latitude 7390 222 187.81 Dell CFA
Latitude 7490 241 210.63 Dell CFA
Precision 5530 340 285.59 Dell CFA
Precision 7720 416 319.9 Dell CFA

Lenovo Thinkpad

Without use included, the best Thinkpad in this list is the Thinkpad A285, with 225.28 kg CO2e. If you want Intel (or Thunderbolt 3), your choice is the Thinkpad X390, with 246.5 kg CO2e. However, the A285's architecture is old and it is power hungry.

With use included, the best Thinkpad in this list is the X395, with 286 kg CO2e (and the X280 following up with 334.)

Model kg CO2e kg CO2e w/o use Source
Thinkpad 25 390 280.8 Lenovo PCF
Thinkpad 11e 5th Gen 326 260.8 Lenovo PCF
Thinkpad A275 511 352.59 Lenovo PCF
Thinkpad A285 352 225.28 Lenovo PCF
Thinkpad A485 419 272.35 Lenovo PCF
Thinkpad E14 2nd Gen 349 N/A† Lenovo PCF
Thinkpad L14 593 N/A† Lenovo PCF
Thinkpad L380 406 328.86 Lenovo PCF
Thinkpad L480 455 318.5 Lenovo PCF
Thinkpad L490 499 394.21 Lenovo PCF
Thinkpad P1 477 400.68 Lenovo PCF
Thinkpad P52 693 540.54 Lenovo PCF
Thinkpad P72 610 469.7 Lenovo PCF
Thinkpad P73 611 403.25 Lenovo PCF
Thinkpad T14 AMD 361 N/A† Lenovo PCF
Thinkpad X1 Carbon 4th Gen 457 370.17 Lenovo PCF
Thinkpad X1 Carbon 5th Gen 369 306.27 Lenovo PCF
Thinkpad X1 Carbon 6th Gen 333 279.71 Lenovo PCF
Thinkpad X1 Carbon 7th Gen 461 401.07 Lenovo PCF
Thinkpad X1 Extreme 477 400.68 Lenovo PCF
Thinkpad X1 Extreme (P1) Gen 2 497 422.45 Lenovo PCF
Thinkpad X13 313 N/A† Lenovo PCF
Thinkpad X250 338 256.88 Lenovo PCF
Thinkpad X260 489 400.98 Lenovo PCF
Thinkpad X270 851.68 766.51 Lenovo PCF
Thinkpad X280 334 257.18 Lenovo PCF
Thinkpad X380 Yoga 339 267.81 Lenovo PCF
Thinkpad X390 290 246.5 Lenovo PCF
Thinkpad X395 286 N/A† Lenovo PCF

† "Use" is not displayed in the PCF piechart for this model, so it cannot be calculated.

Microsoft

My girlfriend recently asked me what the carbon footprint of the Surface devices is, and I did not know. Microsoft makes this easy and provides eco profiles for download. This is a list of all Surface hardware included in that download as of 18 November 2021.

It is important to note that the Surface Pro/Go numbers are just for the device. The keyboard is considered an accessory and there is an associated manufacturing footprint that is not accounted for there. Microsoft's eco profiles even list the exact specs of the machines they are using for calculations. Note that while the Surface Go is definitely the lowest in this list, it's not really a developer-friendly laptop.

The same nonrepairability warning that goes into the Apple products holds true for the Surface line, as well.

Model kg CO2e kg CO2e w/o use Source
Surface Go 93.8 66.97 Eco Profiles
Surface Go 2 107 80 Eco Profiles
Surface Go 3 106 86 Eco Profiles
Surface Pro X 130 86 Eco Profiles
Surface Pro 4 149 108.77 Eco Profiles
Surface Pro 5 121 87.241 Eco Profiles
Surface Pro 6 121 87.8 Eco Profiles
Surface Pro 7 164 133 Eco Profiles
Surface Pro 7+ 181 153 Eco Profiles
Surface Pro 8 141 118 Eco Profiles
Surface Book 225 173.25 Eco Profiles
Surface Book 2 (13.5 inch) 183 134.13 Eco Profiles
Surface Book 2 (15 inch) 232 179.57 Eco Profiles
Surface Book 3 (13.5 inch) 303 256 Eco Profiles
Surface Book 3 (15 inch) 421 368 Eco Profiles
Surface Laptop 152 119.16 Eco Profiles
Surface Laptop 2 152 119.16 Eco Profiles
Surface Laptop 3 (Alcantara, 13.5 inch) 127 100 Eco Profiles
Surface Laptop 3 (Metal, 13.5 inch) 138 112 Eco Profiles
Surface Laptop 3 (Alcantara, 15 inch) 178 140 Eco Profiles
Surface Laptop 3 (Metal, 15 inch) 181 143 Eco Profiles
Surface Laptop 4 (Alcantara, 13.5 inch) 145 123 Eco Profiles
Surface Laptop 4 (Metal, 13.5 inch) 165 143 Eco Profiles
Surface Laptop 4 (Metal, 15 inch) 199 177 Eco Profiles