Dell’s easy-to-repair Luna Concept laptop aims to reduce e-waste and carbon emissions: Digital photography review

Dell has announced a new design concept for a laptop. Dubbed ‘Concept Luna’, the proof-of-concept laptop is designed to last longer, be easier to repair, and have less impact on the climate. While there isn’t a single new ‘product’ yet, Dell’s design team has showcased some impressive designs and concepts, including a linen PCB and a motherboard mounted behind the display. Figure.

Dell wants to make it easier to repair and maintain its computers. There are many good reasons for this, including limiting waste and reducing its impact on the environment. It is also good for consumers who want to repair their computers. As electronic devices, especially laptops and smartphones, get prettier and more advanced, they often also become much harder to repair. User-replaceable components are often soldered into place or attached to expensive, non-repairable components. Dell hopes that users can disassemble and replace components in the Luna in about an hour and a half.

According to Dell design strategist Drew Tosh, Luna is a concept first, and with Luna, Dell hopes to address the issue of e-waste and climate change. In principle, that means if a laptop is easier to repair and upgrade, consumers will be less likely to buy a brand new machine. A new machine requires resources to create. And where does a replaced old computer go? Ideally, it is recycled. However, not all components are easy to recycle. Luna also solves that problem. When it inevitably gets replaced, hopefully later than with other laptops, it will be easier to break down and harvest components from. Dell wants users to order new parts, install them, and then send the old parts back.

Tosh told The Verge, ‘We really focus on reuse and recycling. And really, it’s like reuse, reuse, reuse and recycle only if we really have to. ‘

Dell has made several prototype versions of the Luna laptop. The one they just launched today is sleek and modern looking, which has proven to be a difficult balance to achieve for many manufacturers without sacrificing repairability. Of course, the road from a sleek concept to a sleek mass-produced product is a long and challenging one.

All in all, Dell has done a great job of making computers that are reasonably repairable. For example, different models include common screws, which is a very rare thing. Dell Publishing repair manual, too. That said, Dell wants to do better. Concept Luna uses ten times fewer screws than the Dell Latitude 7300 AE laptop and uses the keyboards for Luna’s display and keyboard assembly. Taylor Dixon, a tear-glue engineer at iFixit, says ‘If you can pull something off with your hands, that’s better than screws or adhesives.’

Dell told The Verge that Concept Luna’s board ‘didn’t have any more soldered or integrated components than a typical laptop we sell today’, but that’s not necessarily a great situation to begin. Integrated chips like Apple’s M1 series deliver great performance in a compact form factor and minimal power requirements, but users can’t upgrade the memory or the graphics. What you buy is what you get. Concept Luna’s lifespan may be negatively affected when integrated components are used.

Concept Luna focuses more on repairability and upgradeability. It also focuses on reducing climate impacts. For example, the aluminum used for the chassis is melted by hydroelectric power. Motherboards are smaller and therefore have a smaller carbon footprint. When reviewing the Latitude 7300 AE, 65% of laptop climate impact are in production stage. The reduction in climate impact here is substantial.

Don’t expect Dell’s Concept Luna to launch anytime soon, though. Dell hopes that the ideas in Concept Luna will make their way into consumer products in the coming years. By 2030, hopefully many of them will be fully realized.