Officials from the San Francisco Department of Environment told the that and "no longer qualify for purchase" and that they would be sending out letters in the next few weeks. The ban does not Apply to apple portable products such as the iPhone and .

Apple recently removed its laptops and netbooks from the EPEAT (electronic product environmental assessment tool) system. Apple spokesperson Kristin Huguet has spoken out in defence of its decision in a statement to The Loop:

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"Apple takes a comprehensive approach to measuring our environmental impact and all of our products meet the strictest energy efficiency standards backed by the US government, Energy Star 5.2," she said. "We also lead the industry by reporting each product's greenhouse gas emissions on our website, and Apple products are superior in other important environmental areas not measured by EPEAT, such as removal of toxic materials."

San Francisco's CIO, Jon Walton, told the Wall Street Journal he would be backing the policy and no longer allow the purchase of Apple computers. Although agencies can apply for waivers through a "long" and "onerous" process.