On 9 September 2025, Apple will hold its annual media event to launch its new products. Devices expected to be announced include the new series of iPhones, following last year’s launch of the iPhone 16. The showcase event comes not long after new research pointed to allegations of gender-based harms in the company’s supply chain.

Gayatri Khandhadai, Head of Technology and Human Rights, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, said: “As Apple unveils its latest products, it must also confront the hidden human cost of its operations. Behind their sleek new products are supply chains riddled with allegations of systemic human rights harms: from discriminatory hiring to technologies that restrict women’s freedoms. In 2024, Foxconn factories in India, a supplier for Apple’s iPhones, were investigated for hiring practices that allegedly discriminated against married women. Other allegations included women factory workers at Foxconn reporting experiencing food poisoning due to unsanitary living conditions, data annotators for AI systems being exploited, and women being exposed to hazardous chemicals that may be linked to cancer and miscarriages.

“Although Apple has made commitments to gender rights, these allegations of abuse point to a clear failure to translate their policies into practice. Without enforcing gender-competent standards on their suppliers, they are effectively outsourcing gender-based risks. This is crucial not just for Apple’s own products: Apple is embedded in a global network of shared suppliers with other tech companies – and adopting strong gender-competent supplier requirements could create a powerful ripple effect, triggering systemic change across the industry.

“At its annual product showcase on Tuesday, Apple will once again aim to demonstrate their innovation, creative design and bold thinking. But this means nothing if it does not come alongside safety and equality for all those linked to their operations.”

Find out more about the human rights impacts of Apple’s operations on our company page here.

Notes to editors:

• Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC) is a global organisation working at the intersection of business and human rights. With partners and allies worldwide, we seek to put human rights at the heart of business to deliver a just economy, climate justice, and end abuse.
• By design or by default: This research looked at 11 companies (Alibaba, Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Foxconn, Intel, Microsoft, Meta, Samsung, Uber, X) that are among the highest in revenue and number of employees, and/or number of active users, which have corresponding gender-related allegations in BHRRC’s database between 1 January 2014 and 31 December 2024.The companies’ gender-related commitments, policies and procedures were then analysed using WBA benchmarks.
• Apple company page: BHRRC stores news and allegations relating to the human rights impact of over 20,000 companies. When an allegation of misconduct has been raised against a company, and we have found no evidence of a public response to the concerns, we invite the company to respond and publish any response we receive from the company. All of this information can be found on the company's dedicated page.