That's on what EU is working, to reduce the cost to leave an ecosystem... I look forward to have replaceable batteries, not only on phones but on laptops too 🙂
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Apple Stops Selling iPhone 14 and iPhone SE in More EU Countries
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Lizzard899
macrumors 6502
jlc1978
macrumors 604
It doesn't really address the main switching costs - programs and data portablity.
It will be interetsing to see how that plays out - in terms of what is "easy" and what a replacement battery costs. Manufacturers could design batteries to be replaced as a unit by simply removing a backplate, as in the past, but incoporate various electronics in the backplate so a 3rd party could not easily replicate it. In theory, a MagSafe style, battery pack design would qualify, or some other wireless design. Maybe that's the future - wireless battery packs and no internal battery.
That might actually be the best news of all this. Hadn’t seen anyone mention this before but it makes sense and sounds great to me.
You might still have removable batteries today if it hadn't been for the EU Ecodesign Directive in 2009 and EU energy efficiency regulations, which had the effect of leading manufacturers to glue batteries into electronic devices to comply with rules aimed at improving energy efficiency and device compactness. There are always unintended consequences when politicians mandate engineering designs. In tech, they usually hurt the consumer. And then the company gets blamed.
Also opens the door for reduced battery capacity (because the door, and case around the battery take up space the cells could occupy, so does the user friendly connector), and less incentive for manufacturers to use higher capacity / more expensive chemistry. That combination will likely also lead to more E-Waste and likely require people to replace batteries more often.
I 100% do not want to go back to needing 1 or 2 battery replacements per year on my phones like in the old feature / flip phone days.
My 2008 MBP had the battery replaced 3 times before I upgraded to a 2015 unibody. That Unibody battery started showing warnings 2 years ago, and is only now at the point where it needs to be replaced. With that, the battery is 100% replaceable (Just like iPhones), but requries a bit of skill and time to do so.
User 6502
macrumors 65816
Of course they can’t. The law applies to all companies not just Apple.
Look at those prices 😖 it’s fraudulent to ask that for those old tech.
one more
macrumors 603
What did you expect? That is the whole point of SE - old tech for a lower price. Actually, it is also meant to feature Apple’s first 5G modem, so should be quite fun.
one more
macrumors 603
I guess Apple literally stick to the letter of the law, as the date is the 28 December. You will need to double-check tomorrow.
one more
macrumors 603
Not a biggie, as Apple have never participated in the Mobile World Congress.
JosephAW
macrumors 604
I’m sure there’s a warehouse full of these somewhere in Europe, I’m assuming they’ll ship these back to America and reinstall the US version of iOS and there should be a fire sale of iPhone 14 devices. 🙄
Very similar to iPad ninth generation, retailers are still coming out their ears with them and are still pushing them for $199, I’m waiting for that to drop to about $149 soon.
Very similar to iPad ninth generation, retailers are still coming out their ears with them and are still pushing them for $199, I’m waiting for that to drop to about $149 soon.
jlc1978
macrumors 604
I suspect the EU would allow Apple to continue selling warehouse stock until they are all gone; and given Apple's supply chain focus already reduced the supply to the bare minimum based on expected sales. They could simply convert any unsold devices to warranty replacements if needed.
ApplesAreSweet&Sour
Suspended
Apple most certainly prefers selling iPhones 16 over any SE.
-Launching a new SE too close to the flagship mid-tier and Pro would see one too many buyers opting to save money and go with an SE over the more expensive options.
Apple would have preferred to keep SE 3 and iPhone 14 in the lineup until SE 4 launches, obviously.
But it’s better to have no budget options than to kill 15, 16 and 16 Pro sales by launching an SE 4 six months too soon.
ApplesAreSweet&Sour
Suspended
All EU retailers and manufacturers can sell remaining stock until it’s gone.
Apple just can’t make new Lightning devices and sell them within the EU after the deadline. That would lead to hefty fines.
But from what I can tell, the bulk of EU iPhone buyers have caught on to the shift over to USB-C and won’t buy Lightning iPhones despite exceptional discounts.
Same goes for Lighting iPads (iPad 9 has been on sale for the last two years where I live).
I’d assume Apple was seeing very little traction on their EU websites for Lightning iPhones as EU retailers are and chose to pull them.
phuklok1
macrumors regular
this is kind of a useless regulation... we all have lightning cables if we were using apple products. replacing this stuff with usb-c does nothing for reducing e-waste - it simply creates it. btw, i used to be for usb-c (more for the speed than anything else, which theoretically could also be improved in lightning) but I have changed my tune on this one, simply for the fact that the lightning port is way, way, way more robust connector for a portable device getting daily wear.
i have never had one go bad on a ton of my items (and family and friends, too), but have already experienced usb-c failing, even on a high quality port like my macbook pro. it has gotten very loose (and I am careful, but use this thing daily) and I have suffered a complete port failure on a different manufacturers speaker and charger. unfortunately, this is not uncommon. you can simply look at the physical connector and its tiny center tab and see it cannot be as resilient of a design.
Let's not even get into the mess that is the usb-c cable! if you know, you know.
quite frankly i wish they would have made mag-safe the standard (like the charging connector on a mac, but adding data as well) for apple devices and skipped a hard connection.
i have never had one go bad on a ton of my items (and family and friends, too), but have already experienced usb-c failing, even on a high quality port like my macbook pro. it has gotten very loose (and I am careful, but use this thing daily) and I have suffered a complete port failure on a different manufacturers speaker and charger. unfortunately, this is not uncommon. you can simply look at the physical connector and its tiny center tab and see it cannot be as resilient of a design.
Let's not even get into the mess that is the usb-c cable! if you know, you know.
quite frankly i wish they would have made mag-safe the standard (like the charging connector on a mac, but adding data as well) for apple devices and skipped a hard connection.
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Europe is only a couple of months ahead of ROW. When iPhone SE 4 will launch both iPhone SE 3 and iPhone 14 will be removed from Apple Store. Everywhere. Maybe just refurbished will be available
WarmWinterHat
Suspended
There is no directive to retrofit anything, on either end.
Those iPhones (models sold in EU) have a SIM slot
I would like to see them sold in the US I don’t care about usb-c I have plenty of lightning cables
I would like to see them sold in the US I don’t care about usb-c I have plenty of lightning cables