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All phones sold in the EU to have replaceable batteries from 2027

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Re: All phones sold in the EU to have replaceable batteries from 2027

#81

Post by Alupis »

mentalgear wrote: post #67
tim333 wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was wondering about that. I lost my iPhone 13 mini the other day, did the find my phone beep thing and got a distant beep from my washing machine which was on wash cycle. Surprisingly the phone was fine and works fine after a brief rinse under the tap. It must be hard to combine that sort of water resistance with easy user changing.

Don't fall for the 'glue cuz of protection' myth - there are and had been water-resistant phones way before Apple started glueing to avoid customers doing their own repairs and them losing out on new sales.

Which phones? I ask as someone that's had to replace multiple phones after a trip through the washing machine.

Modern phone water resistance is incredible. I've even seen people literally swim with their phones and not even question if it was a bad idea.

Re: All phones sold in the EU to have replaceable batteries from 2027

#83

Post by IMTDb »

PaulKeeble wrote: post #2

Batteries have been used as part of planned obsolescence for too long and a whole small business industry of replacing phone batteries has appeared because of it. Next the EU are going to have to address security patches because its another aspect being used to sell new phones.

I have found out that the main phone providers (Apple, Google, Samsung) have extremely long support period. I really don't get the "planned obsolescence" thing.

As an example, in Jan 2026, Apple published iOS 12.5.8 which provides updates for iPhone 5s which released in Sept 2013. That's 12.5 years ago. The equivalent would be to connect to the internet using ADSL in Jan 2000 with your IBM PS/2 rocking in intel 8086, 512 kb of RAM and expecting an update for your DOS operating system.

Re: All phones sold in the EU to have replaceable batteries from 2027

#84

Post by Someone1234 »

Noumenon72 wrote: post #66
Someone1234 wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With respect, maybe read the article? You're against it, because you didn't read what is being mandated and instead just invented worst-case scenarios instead. You're against your own Strawman. The proposal is: batteries must be removable using commercially available tools, if the manufacturer requires specialist tools then they must provide them for free. Essentially they're banning specialized tools, and mandating…

> You're against your own Strawman. > The proposal is: batteries must be removable using commercially available tools That's exactly what he's against, plus the premise "Making batteries removable prevents them from being waterproof, dustproof, and collision resistant". Which may be true or false, but not a straw man.

It absolutely is a Strawman. There's no basis in fact for why using commercial tools instead of specialist tools would result in worse "waterproof, dustproof, or collision resistance." It is completely fictional claim invented whole cloth.

Again, multiple phones have already become compliant with this law and didn't lose or compromise any of those things.

So you OR they, will need to explain the basis for the claim, otherwise it is just a Strawman you're poking baselessly.

Re: All phones sold in the EU to have replaceable batteries from 2027

#85

Post by raw_anon_1111 »

Bad_CRC wrote: post #71
twilo wrote: post #4

If a battery can do 1000 cycles and remain above 80% capacity it is exempt from this, which is exactly what Apple implemented a few years ago. Low cost phones will be most affected.

And what about if 4 years they says that they have dettected a problem in your battery? A new battery should fix that but now you cannot do it properly because it could do 1000 cycles. This same thing happened to Pixels 6a after 500 cycles.

Then don’t buy a phone from a company with a piss poor record of customer service.

Just looking in maps, there are three Apple Stores within a 45 minute drive from where I live in central Florida.

The situation is worse in my hometown in South GA admittedly, you have to drive 70 miles for same day service for an authorized repair place - mostly Best Buy.

Re: All phones sold in the EU to have replaceable batteries from 2027

#87

Post by datsci_est_2015 »

Clamchop wrote: post #24
999900000999 wrote: post #9

>The regulation states that batteries must be removable using ‘commercially available’ tools This is doing a lot of work here. There's enough wiggle room for this to be absolutely meaningless. Anything short of I can slide off the back cover and maybe unscrew two or three screws to replace the battery means that a lot of people are going to end up not being able to replace the batteries.

The rest of that same sentence, " – and that if specialised tools are required, they must be provided free of charge when the phone or tablet is purchased," seems to mitigate that concern, no? I suppose it hinges on what the test for a "specialized tool" is.

EU regulatory bodies haven’t been as blindly sycophantic towards megacorporations in terms of allowing them to skirt by rules set forth by their legislatures, so I would be more optimistic than if this were a development in US law.

Re: All phones sold in the EU to have replaceable batteries from 2027

#88

Post by tristanj »

infecto wrote: post #45

I am simply not a fan of this type of legislation. It reminds me of CA bullet button. I also don’t quite understand the purpose. Official retail cost from Apple in the US ~$120. Third-party you can usually get it around $60. Sure the battery does not have quick accessibility but I can replace it pretty cheaply.

Agreed. This rule will likely be irrelevant in 5-10 years when battery technology improves, and it has such a huge carve out (batteries that maintain 80% capacity after 1000 cycles are exempt) every phone manufacture can get around it. Phone makers can meet this regulation by artificially limiting battery capacity through software to protect battery health. Or they could put in a 10,000 mAh battery and only allow the user to use 8,000 of it, and use the rest as buffer.

A better example is the EU cookie consent law. The intent was to make websites stop using cookies, but what resulted was websites didn't change anything except put up annoying consent banners, and made the internet experience worse.

Re: All phones sold in the EU to have replaceable batteries from 2027

#89

Post by tencentshill »

Alupis wrote: post #81
mentalgear wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't fall for the 'glue cuz of protection' myth - there are and had been water-resistant phones way before Apple started glueing to avoid customers doing their own repairs and them losing out on new sales.

Which phones? I ask as someone that's had to replace multiple phones after a trip through the washing machine. Modern phone water resistance is incredible. I've even seen people literally swim with their phones and not even question if it was a bad idea.

Samsung Galaxy S5 was the last one that attempted it. IP67 with a removable back cover and swappable battery.

Re: All phones sold in the EU to have replaceable batteries from 2027

#90

Post by nomel »

gbeardish wrote: post #82

They should extend the principle to laptops, obviously.

I think most (all?) would already comply. What laptop do you see as not having a user replacable battery? Even MacBook can be swapped out pretty easily [1].

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgTon2jqI-A

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