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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

#931

Post by Tade0 »

konschubert wrote: post #120

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…

This is part of a broader push to reign in on batteries not being recycled at the end of their lives.

An easily swappable battery can be processed separately and hopefully become a source of materials that would otherwise need to be mined somewhere far away.

Ultimately the goal is to have a closed-loop economy:

https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/waste-and-recycling/...

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

#932

Post by cryptonym »

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #924
cyberrock wrote: post #793

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The final law just makes replacing batteries more accessible (i.e. no glue or special screws), but it doesn't mandate battery packs. Also some devices like hearing aids are exempt. I question whether battery packs would be a good thing to bring back now. USB power banks have 100% interchangeability among many device classes, which is something that not even dry cell batteries achieved. I can choose to leave the house…

This is about extending the lifetime of a phone - it won't work properly, even with a powerbank, if the battery is EOL. The objective is to reduce e-waste, where phones whose only issue is the battery ends up in the trash / recycling, instead of continuing to be useful.

It also makes recycling much easier.

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

#933

Post by ramenat2am »

I wish they actually standardised the USB-C with actual data transfer and charging protocols inside, not just the physical shape of the port. It's a total mess these days. Why PD and QC are even different protocols? Why there are USB 2.0, USB 3.0 and then there are 3.2 gen 1 and 3.2 gen 2? And what about Thunderbolt?

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

#934

Post by vincnetas »

loeber wrote: post #816
vincnetas wrote: post #478

Earlier quoted context omitted.

... other EU consumer-protection regulation ... like unified charging cable, free EU roaming or intercountry bank payments that are instant and almost free, air travel protections?

Unified charging cable: what if the standard had been set much earlier? For example, in 2008? We'd all be on Micro-USB, far inferior to USB-C. Right now USB-C feels great, but do you really think this is the end-all, be-all? I think the cost of this mandatory standardization will become apparent a few years from now.

do you think that regulations can not be updated to improove?

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

#935

Post by ThrowawayTestr »

ramenat2am wrote: post #933

I wish they actually standardised the USB-C with actual data transfer and charging protocols inside, not just the physical shape of the port. It's a total mess these days. Why PD and QC are even different protocols? Why there are USB 2.0, USB 3.0 and then there are 3.2 gen 1 and 3.2 gen 2? And what about Thunderbolt?

>Why there are USB 2.0, USB 3.0 and then there are 3.2 gen 1 and 3.2 gen 2?

The first is half a gigabit, the second is 5Gbit, then 10 then 20.

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

#936

Post by cryptonym »

wincy wrote: post #255
bombcar wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're taking "commercially available" to mean things like a screwdriver - not a $1000 phone disassembly machine.

With all due respect, I can buy a kit on iFixit for $55 for an iPhone 16 pro max, including the battery . I’ve replaced my iPhone battery before, aside from the glue being a bit sticky so needing a heat gun it isn’t that difficult.

Vendor or even model specific tools plus fighting with glue is not that complicated for someone willing to dedicate the effort, but it won't help recycling economy.

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

#937

Post by solenoid0937 »

SomeUserName432 wrote: post #857
argsnd wrote: post #836

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you filled the negative space on an iPhone 17 Pro/Max it would be a horrendously unwieldy phone. People who say this stuff seriously underestimate the disastrous effect on ergonomics increasing the whole phone from 8.75mm to 13.2mm would have.

Would only need to be at the top, to balance out the camera. The only reason I use a case is that the iPhone is close to unusable on a flat surface without it.

The iPhone is already heavy as a brick, and a battery is a couple orders of magnitude heavier than a TPU shell covering the same volume.

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

#938

Post by ghighi7878 »

argsnd wrote: post #836
denkmoon wrote: post #802

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If they filled that negative space my phone wouldn't rock annoyingly and sit awkwardly on flat surfaces, and that would be a great shame.

If you filled the negative space on an iPhone 17 Pro/Max it would be a horrendously unwieldy phone. People who say this stuff seriously underestimate the disastrous effect on ergonomics increasing the whole phone from 8.75mm to 13.2mm would have.

I buy cases to make my phone feel thicker around 12mm. I have no idea what you're taking about.

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

#939

Post by mastermage »

antifarben wrote: post #781

I'm an exception for sure but I have not seen much innovation in the phone space that you'd genuinely make me buy a new phone. Yes, cameras are better now. But some phones had good cameras years ago. I bought new phones mainly because of battery decline and/or not getting security updates. If one of these will be solved, that might change my phone buying behaviour. I don't care whether a display is called "retina" ,…

my big thing is honestly storage space which is terible. I have 256 GB but thats not enough with the size of some of my games. The model i got had no 512 Option back then.

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

#940

Post by bzzzt »

nozzlegear wrote: post #447
srmatto wrote: post #416

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't speak to the experience with Android but Apple offers both in-store battery replacement or Mail-in battery replacement for $70-120 which to me seems very reasonable. Could it be cheaper? Sure, maybe I guess? But $70-120 is a lot less than a new phone. And this way we don't need to compromise the shell of the phone with seams and things that can fail. https://support.apple.com/iphone/repair/battery-replacement

I just checked for my iPhone 14 Pro and the mail-in battery replacement is free. Maybe because I have Apple Care?

Yes. You're paying at least $9,99 per month which means that after the 5 or so years when the battery starts going bad you've already paid for multiple batteries.
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