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

theolivepress.es

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

#151

I was looking forward to finally be able to easily switch out (i)Phone batteries again - after 20 years - but turns out the lobbyists managed to get a loophole in the law - exempting Apple & Co from making their phones more repairable / longer live-able. > If a battery can do 1000 cycles and remain above 80% capacity it is exempt

> If a battery can do 1000 cycles and remain above 80% capacity it is exempt

Is there a definition for a cycle? 80->85%? 33->72? 22-83? 87->96? Would each of these be a "cycle"?

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

#152

I was looking forward to finally be able to easily switch out (i)Phone batteries again - after 20 years - but turns out the lobbyists managed to get a loophole in the law - exempting Apple & Co from making their phones more repairable / longer live-able. > If a battery can do 1000 cycles and remain above 80% capacity it is exempt

My iPhone 14 is 1081 days old, charged every night, battery capacity is reported as 81%. So in Apple's own measurements this is possible. I guess there is some built in spare capacity, but that may still qualify for the exemption?

If you charge every night from say 50%, that's not a full cycle.

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

#153

Aren't today's phone batteries already replaceable with commercially available tools? I can walk into a non-apple store with my iPhone and walk out with a replaced battery 20 minutes later. This isn't even what drives obsolesce of phones, it's software updates. If you really want to be able to self-swap your own battery, you can just buy an Android that has a replaceable battery. Do we need to regulate something that…

People shouldn't have to go to a special store or buy special tools requiring special skills to change a battery.

How do you feel about the batteries in electric vehicles?

What about wearable devices like a smartwatch, headphones, smart glasses?

Should all these be consumer-replaceable without tools, regardless of the effect on the other things people value in these devices (waterproofing, size and weight, battery life, etc.)?

FYI I do not work for anything close to the consumer tech industry.

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

#155
post #98
post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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,…

>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. The updates for ios 12 are all security updates, not feature updates, so your comparison t…

A phone is not unusable because some banking apps don't work on it. It didn't even ship with said apps installed.

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

#156
post #144

> The move comes amid EU-wide efforts to cut the continent’s carbon footprint and tackle mounting waste [...] ... > [...] if specialised tools are required, they must be provided free of charge when the phone or tablet is purchased. So if a family buys several phones and tablets that all use the same specialized tool to change their batteries they end up with several identical specialized tools? From a reducing waste…

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

#157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People shouldn't have to go to a special store or buy special tools requiring special skills to change a battery.

I'd rather my phone be waterproof than have a battery I can replace myself

It's likely impossible to legislate but it would be nice to say "each generation has to have one user-replaceable battery". Everyone who doesn't care (the 99%) can buy the iPhone 19x, and the people who want replaceable batteries can get the iPhone B.

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

#158

I was looking forward to finally be able to easily switch out (i)Phone batteries again - after 20 years - but turns out the lobbyists managed to get a loophole in the law - exempting Apple & Co from making their phones more repairable / longer live-able. > If a battery can do 1000 cycles and remain above 80% capacity it is exempt

My iPhone 14 is 1081 days old, charged every night, battery capacity is reported as 81%. So in Apple's own measurements this is possible. I guess there is some built in spare capacity, but that may still qualify for the exemption?

The exemption is about ensuring customers get what they paid for. It shouldn’t care how the manufacturer achieves that; driving the batteries less hard is an obvious tactic, and actually also makes them safer to use.

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

#159
While this is a good step forward, it feels like complaining about the 0.025% of plastic from straws in the ocean while ignoring the 75% of plastic from fishing nets.

I own a 2020 Kona EV. The battery cannot be upgraded. Eventually, I'll have to replace the entire car to get a longer range. BEVs should be mandated to have upgradable batteries and modular interfaces so that the shell can continue to be reused, the batteries (and BMS) upgraded, and old batteries easily recycled.

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

#160

How about computers to have replaceable SSDs? There's no point you can exchange the battery when the hard-soldered SSD dies first. (I had more dead SSDs than batteries)

This should be mandatory, although I never had a computer where the SSD was not replaceable.

Some were a bit of a pain in the ass to replace though.

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