Research: Extending Corporate Life of Laptops by Just One Year Can Reduce Harmful Emissions by 25%

Extending the standard refresh cycle of laptops in a corporate environment can significantly reduce a workplace’s carbon footprint, according to new workplace sustainability research. However, challenges in ensuring the older laptops still meet Windows OS requirements, and other cost issues, could offset these environmental gains, experts said.

Indeed, organizations are currently facing an important choice as the end of Windows 10 support looms: how do they want to approach either migration to Windows 11, or staying with older Windows 10 devices, noted Everest Group Senior Analyst Prabhneet Kaur.

“While component upgrades, like increasing RAM, can help meet Windows requirements, or informal workarounds may bypass them, maintaining robust security and a quality user experience will be tricky,” she said.