That answer is indeed pretty vague. I looked a bit for information on the RoHS directive concerning lead, and it looks like there are plenty of exceptions. Acc

That answer is indeed pretty vague. I looked a bit for information on the RoHS directive concerning lead, and it looks like there are plenty of exceptions. According to [1], it looks like before RoHS, the main use of lead was in solder, in plastic cable coatings, and in red/yellow/orange paint. That's all prohibited now. However, materials containing lead can apparently still be used if they contain under 0.1% by mass. According to [2], the limit in alloys with steel, aluminium and copper are higher (0.35%, 0.4% and 4% respectively). There are some more exceptions, such as the use of lead in ceramic electronic components (like piezo crystals). So presumably Apple does use lead somewhere in their devices, but unfortunately they don't tell us where exactly. In some part that might be because they aren't sure themselves (checking if they really get only lead free components from their suppliers is probably not trivial), or because they don't want to tell us about the fact that they are using lead, even if it is only in small amounts. For example, do their unibody cases contain lead? If I understand correctly, that would be allowed, but unfortunately Apple's answer doesn't say anything specific... [1]: http://www.cpsc.gov//PageFiles/119190/McGrady.pdf http://www.cpsc.gov//PageFiles/119190/McGrady.pdf [2]: http://www.ecodesign.at/pilot/eeg/DEUTSCH/ROHS/DETAILS/AUSNAHMEN_PB.HTM http://www.ecodesign.at/pilot/eeg/DEUTSCH/ROHS/DETAILS/AUSNA...