Sneak Peak at Apple Campus 2 Offers New Look at Construction Progress

Apple’s new spaceship-shaped Apple Campus 2 is under construction, and the company gave KQED News a tour of the site, providing them with new details and a ground-based look at its progress.

As previously revealed, the building has an enviromentally-conscious design, with features like using recycled water to flush toilets and solar arrays to power its functions. Keeping with this theme, the building also uses recycled parts from older buildings.

Photo of Apple Campus 2 main office, via KQED News.

“What Apple inherited on the property was several older buildings, all of which were broken down and deconstructed,” says KQED Science reporter Amy Standen, who got a tour of the site. “Much of the material from those old buildings was recycled into new building material to make the new campus, according to Apple.”

Previously, most of the looks at the progress of Campus 2 have been taken from drones in the air. However, these new ground-based photos offer a new perspective on the building’s height and scale.  The above photo offers a look at the framework of the main building, allowing one to gauge how tall the building could be.

Progress on what KQED identifies on Apple’s new amphitheater, below, can also be seen, though it’s difficult to visually tell how large the amphitheater will be. Apple will likely use this space for its town hall meetings.

Photo of Apple’s new amphitheater, via KQED News.
The latest air-based update on the construction came from YouTube user myithz just over a week ago. However, it’s fairly difficult to locate some of the locations in KQED’s photos in the video, potentially signaling that a good amount of progress has been made since it was recorded.

Though construction has steadily continued through the last half of 2014 and into 2015, Apple’s Campus 2 obviously has a long way to go until completion. Other than the main circular structure, main theater, fitness center and parking garages, Apple submitted plans for new offices, testing facilities and more parking garages in October for the second phase of construction. The complete campus is expected to be finished by the end of 2015.

Additional photos and information can be seen on KQED News’ website.

Apple Outlines New Ban on Bonded Labor at Supplier Factories in 2015 Progress Report

Apple on Wednesday released its 2015 Supplier Responsibility Progress Report [PDF] and updated its Supplier Responsibility website, giving new details on its efforts to improve the lives of the workers that assemble its products.

For its ninth annual progress report, Apple conducted 633 audits covering more than 1.6 million workers in 19 countries, and called an additional 30,000 workers to survey them on working conditions.

One of Apple’s main achievements in 2014 was putting an end to bonded labor. In October, the company told all of its suppliers that as of 2015, no worker employed on an Apple line could be charged recruitment fees. Employees have, in the past, faced significant fees levied against them by third-party recruiters, who offer them a job at an Apple factory in exchange for money. In some cases, they lose their passports until they’re able to pay the fee.

Apple previously prohibited excessive recruitment fees (defined as anything higher than a month’s net wages) and required suppliers to reimburse any such fee, but the new ban goes further, preventing all bonded labor. Any supplier who uses bonded labor will need to repay all foreign contract workers in full going forward if they incur recruitment fees.

Apple also made progress eliminating conflict minerals (those that benefit armed groups associated with human rights violations) from its supply chain. As of 2014, 135 smelters have complied with the Conflict-Free Smelter Program, and another 64 are in the process of verification. Four smelters would not commit to the program, and will be removed from Apple’s supply chain.

Apple achieved 92 percent compliance with its 60-hour maximum workweek mandate. On average, employees worked under 49 hours per week, and 94 percent of all workweeks included at least one day of rest every seven days.

There were 16 cases of underage labor uncovered at six facilities in 2014, and in all cases, suppliers were required to pay for the worker’s safe return home, continue to pay wages, and pay for education at a school chosen by the worker.

A 16-year-old enrolled in Apple’s Underage Labor Remediation Program, at school in Henan province, China.
Apple often finds itself in the spotlight over the conditions at the factories where its product components are produced, but the Cupertino company has for many years held its suppliers to a strict code of conduct that prevents underage labor and provides safe, comfortable working conditions for workers. Apple’s Supplier Responsibility Team conducts supplier audits on a regular basis so that Apple can continue to work towards improving conditions at supplier factories.