Reballed memory currently accounts for a small share of smartphone components, but adoption could nearly double by 2027 as manufacturers look for alternatives to increasingly expensive DRAM.
From an environmental standpoint, I don’t think this has much benefit. Using old tech as-is is great, but the energy used to dismantle and re-engineer old parts at that level probably exceeds the energy needed to build new.
It’s only beneficial in that you don’t need to break ground on a new factory to do it.
It’s not just about the raw energy consumption. Reusing old parts means less raw materials need to be manufactured or mined, which is especially good for toxic materials that are hazardous to the environment or workers.
In this case, all that raw material that would have gone into the chips for these devices is still going to be mined and processed. It will just wind up in a datacenter rather than the general consumer devices.
From an environmental standpoint, I don’t think this has much benefit. Using old tech as-is is great, but the energy used to dismantle and re-engineer old parts at that level probably exceeds the energy needed to build new.
It’s only beneficial in that you don’t need to break ground on a new factory to do it.
It’s a heat chamber or heat gun and some fresh solder. Certainly not anywhere close to a new RAM module
I’ve watched our techs move parts between boards
It’s not just about the raw energy consumption. Reusing old parts means less raw materials need to be manufactured or mined, which is especially good for toxic materials that are hazardous to the environment or workers.
Yes, but the actual material in a RAM chip is tiny.
Yes, but the scale of smart phone proliferation is massive.
In this case, all that raw material that would have gone into the chips for these devices is still going to be mined and processed. It will just wind up in a datacenter rather than the general consumer devices.