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EU mandates replaceable batteries by 2027 (2023)

environment.ec.europa.eu

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Re: EU mandates replaceable batteries by 2027 (2023)

#61

Post by hsbauauvhabzb »

yason wrote: post #52

Next EU could mandate an attitude adjustment to the industry wishing to sell their products in the European Common Market. Batteries are part of a device. There are other parts that can be replaced by the owner or third parties if there are sufficient parts supplies, either first-part or third-party, and these parts aren't explicitly killed by the device's DRM even if they're sourced outside of the manufacturer's own…

Is this level of device ownership actually desirable by EU powers? Replaceable batteries enable all consumers, device rooting only a very small subset.

I would fly to Europe to buy my next phone if it ever happens though.

Re: EU mandates replaceable batteries by 2027 (2023)

#62

Post by mg »

vinc wrote: post #47
mg wrote: post #10

I have been maintaining this chart of phones with replaceable batteries available in the USA for 10 years now: https://www.productchart.com/smartphones/removable_battery Man, is it empty these days. The chart used to be pretty full. Now it only has about 1% of all phones that are in the Product Chart database. As the other 99% have fixed batteries. I'm looking forward to see if the EU decision will push some companie…

I don't see any Fairphone on the page, they are not sold in the US?

I'm not sure. I have not seen them on any large retailer in the USA like Amazon, Walmart, Newegg, BestBuy etc.

Maybe if someone here is in the USA and has bought one, they can chime in and tell where they got it from?

Re: EU mandates replaceable batteries by 2027 (2023)

#63

Post by layer8 »

Note that devices falling under the Ecodesign Regulation are exempt from this Battery Regulation, in particular smartphones and tablets, if they fulfill certain durability and repairability requirements (which are roughly already met today, at least by Apple).

So we won’t be seeing more easily replaceable batteries in smartphones and tablets.

Re: EU mandates replaceable batteries by 2027 (2023)

#64

Post by PaulKeeble »

I replaced a battery in my (quite aged now at 6 years) old mobile last month. The original one puffed up and damaged the case holding the mobile together, incidentally it tested as 100% good in capacity! Took about an hour to replace the battery with an aftermarket replacement, quite fiddly work involving pludgers and tiny screws, cost more than double the price of the battery just for the specialist tools to get into it.

I miss the days of that first google phone where I could just pop the back and replace the battery, I used it quite a bit with a second battery. My modern phone lasts a bit longer so its less of a concern but batteries are a consumable we know they age out faster than the devices themselves and they ought to have been replacable.

Re: EU mandates replaceable batteries by 2027 (2023)

#65

Post by znpy »

This is so good.

I have a perfectly working iPhone se 3rd gen that’s becoming unusable because the battery is work out after four years of daily use.

I don’t want to change the whole phone, but I’m pretty much forced to and turn it into ewaste.

Re: EU mandates replaceable batteries by 2027 (2023)

#66

Post by einpoklum »

PaulKeeble wrote: post #64

I replaced a battery in my (quite aged now at 6 years) old mobile last month. The original one puffed up and damaged the case holding the mobile together, incidentally it tested as 100% good in capacity! Took about an hour to replace the battery with an aftermarket replacement, quite fiddly work involving pludgers and tiny screws, cost more than double the price of the battery just for the specialist tools to get int…

> I miss the days of that first google device where I could just pop the back and replace the battery,

1. That's not a "Google device", you mean a smartphone.

2. For a large fraction of the smartphones available today (probably also Google Pixel's), you can still pop the back and replace the battery. The popping may be a bit more complicated, but it's doable. Naturally there's a tradeoff between convenient ergonomics for battery replacement and smaller dimensions of the phone case.

Re: EU mandates replaceable batteries by 2027 (2023)

#67

Post by lapcat »

There's nothing I hate more about new Apple MacBook Pros than the batteries that I can't replace myself. It's such an ordeal go get an aging battery replaced, and I tend to go through them within a few years, due to high usage. Nowadays Apple appears to be demanding that you mail the laptop to them, instead of allowing same-day replacement, which I've done in the past.

I loved my 2006 17-inch MacBook Pro, when I could simply flip the laptop over, unlatch the latches, and replace the battery entirely within seconds. It's an total shame we lost that. You could even carry an extra battery with you in a bag when traveling, in case you didn't have access to a charger.

Re: EU mandates replaceable batteries by 2027 (2023)

#68

Post by dguest »

jl6 wrote: post #48
dguest wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

cutting out quite a bit from section 11: A portable battery shall be ... removable by the end-user ... with the use of commercially available tools, without requiring the use of specialised tools, unless provided free of charge with the product, proprietary tools, thermal energy, or solvents to disassemble the product. Any ... person that [markets] products incorporating portable batteries shall ensure that those pro…

Thanks. So this is not going to lead to user-replaceable batteries on iPhones.

That seems a bit less clear to me. It seems to hinge on whether the courts believe that an iPhone is specifically designed to operate primarily in a wet environment.

Re: EU mandates replaceable batteries by 2027 (2023)

#69

Post by gzread »

hsbauauvhabzb wrote: post #61
yason wrote: post #52

Next EU could mandate an attitude adjustment to the industry wishing to sell their products in the European Common Market. Batteries are part of a device. There are other parts that can be replaced by the owner or third parties if there are sufficient parts supplies, either first-part or third-party, and these parts aren't explicitly killed by the device's DRM even if they're sourced outside of the manufacturer's own…

Is this level of device ownership actually desirable by EU powers? Replaceable batteries enable all consumers, device rooting only a very small subset. I would fly to Europe to buy my next phone if it ever happens though.

Device rooting isn't only of interest to developers. It also allows anyone to bypass the arbitrary rules set by Apple/Google on what software you can run. That's of interest to the whole population, even those who only use the app stores because it increases competition with the app stores.

Re: EU mandates replaceable batteries by 2027 (2023)

#70

Post by gzread »

znpy wrote: post #65

This is so good. I have a perfectly working iPhone se 3rd gen that’s becoming unusable because the battery is work out after four years of daily use. I don’t want to change the whole phone, but I’m pretty much forced to and turn it into ewaste.

External battery and transparent duct tape?
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