Leaked Documents Suggest Apple Could Be Forced to Build iPhones With User-Removable Batteries in Europe

[Darth.Titan]

We cannot just point at Apple on the lack of removable batteries. Good luck finding a premium smartphone from any manufacturer that has one. Removable battery phones generally fall into the 200-300 dollar range budget phones.

If the EU implements this, I would think it would be easier and cheaper for premium phone manufacturers to just stop selling their flagship phones in the EU. The black market would thrive, so no real sales would be lost.

 

[Saipher]

That’s what happens when you have a Parliament run by a bunch of 70 year olds

 

[djphat2000]

How is this a bad thing?

The future designs of the iPhone will be completely different. They will get bigger, and far less seamless with more breaks in the case design to allow for a battery to be removable. Plus, how big the battery would be will be affected. Say take the bottom half of the phone for the battery "only", and the top half for the electronics. Some things may not fit, get proper cooling, or cause all kinds of unforeseen issues that we don't have today. Things are laid out in the iPhone for a reason. Everything gets the space it needs currently. Forcing this change would be like having phones from the 2004-2009 era all over again. We don't make them like that because we have big screens with thin bezels and a host of electronics that all fit bacause the battery is shaped and fixed in a way to allow that hardware to also fit and work correctly.

 

[tarkeybear]

If Apple can provide (and sell in EU) both the "clunky" version with battery access and a "sleek" version with an integrated battery, I think everyone should be happy. It would be silly to expect all versions of iPhone to offer the clunky and sleek versions. I suspect the clunky would be for the cheaper entry level product that would appeal to the more cash-strapped "value consumer" and the sleek would be for the "pro" version which probably appeals to people who can afford to have a professional replace a battery when it is necessary and whom value clean, efficient engineering over battery convenience.

 

[MacLawyer]

How is this a bad thing?

Thicker, heavier phones?

 

[Appleman3546]

I am fine with a thicker iPhone if it means a bigger or remove battery. Android phones manage some amount of water proofing with removable batteries, although maybe not to the extremely unnecessary amount that Apple has available

 

[swingerofbirch]

I mean there are waterproof devices that are very modular. Look at the Olympus TG line of cameras. You can swap out the battery and SD card. It would probably just be a bit more engineering work and perhaps a bit thicker. Also, I have heard from others that Apple's current waterproofing methods really only apply when the device is brand new and shouldn't be trusted over the long term. I've never tested it out but not really wanting to risk it.

 

[urgs]

Except most of the other smartphone makers, iPhones already have user replaceable batteries.
If you can't use a screwdriver without hurting yourself, then you shouldn't take anything apart.

The sole problem is to get replacement parts, that not came out of a chinese trash can.

 

[Stella]

The EU is going to end up with iPhones that re:
- fat, ugly
- no water resistance
- no ports

Strange, my camera is fully waterproof and still has a replaceable battery and has USB ports...

 

[Ma2k5]

Is this really necessary? Smartphone batteries have such long lives these days that swapping your battery isn't something people typically have to do very often. I had my iPhone 7 Plus for three years and the battery was still excellent; my girlfriend is using it now for about six months more and she still gets awesome battery life.

I'm normally all for user serviceability but smartphone battery tech has gotten really good and I'm not sure I want the compromises from a battery swappable design anymore.

My iPhone X is less than 3 years old and I’ve had the service message for a while now..

 

[sman789]

Would rather have a headphone jack.

We have a dongle for that!




With the way things are, I'd imagine Apple could ensure only batteries made by them would be compatible and they would be a premium price. You could say for security, safety, money or all of the above.

 

[DrwMDvs]

Can't wait to go back to the days when every time I drop my phone, it falls apart.

 

[MacLawyer]

Hi. I'm from the government. I'm here to help you.

 

[badatusernames]

I would love that.

 

[0924487]

Let's move to Europe! They don't have the crazy Chinese, and yet, they don't have corporate America with its Military-industrial complex. The Europeans are always underrated, especially the Northern Europeans, the Scandinavian ones.

 

[H3LL5P4WN]

Europe is stupid.

I'll take a solidly built, nearly waterproof phone that lasts all day over a green bubble person's wet dream.

 

[2010mini]

How is this a bad thing?

That would be a goodbye to any type of waterproofing.

 

[djphat2000]

What compromises do you mean? We're not talking about hot-swapping batteries, and Samsung has proven multiple times over that you can create a waterproof user-replaceable battery (and headphone jack...) without compromising the form or function of the device.

And not everyone likes their phones. Plus I'm sure there is a bunch of patents that protect their design. So it's not like you can just copy what they did to the iPhone and get away with it because the EU said so.

 

[Toratek]

Ah, the same socialist thinking that gave us wonderful products like the Lada car and the Zenit camera. Fantastic.

 

[H3LL5P4WN]

I mean there are waterproof devices that are very modular. Look at the Olympus TG line of cameras. You can swap out the battery and SD card. It would probably just be a bit more engineering work and perhaps a bit thicker. Also, I have heard from others that Apple's current waterproofing methods really only apply when the device is brand new and shouldn't be trusted over the long term. I've never tested it out but not really wanting to risk it.

No one has ever described a toughcam as sleek.

 

[ghostface147]

Is this really necessary? Smartphone batteries have such long lives these days that swapping your battery isn't something people typically have to do very often. I had my iPhone 7 Plus for three years and the battery was still excellent; my girlfriend is using it now for about six months more and she still gets awesome battery life.

I'm normally all for user serviceability but smartphone battery tech has gotten really good and I'm not sure I want the compromises from a battery swappable design anymore.

Define long life? Two years?

 

[GalileoSeven]

The EU needs to go pound sand.

 

[axcess99]

Wonder how they define "user replaceable".

If the battery becomes a cartridge, users either loose battery capacity or significantly increase the bulk of the phone (due to added gaskets, component walls, whatever release switch is added etc). Think about the apple battery case, less than half the volume of that is the batter cell itself; any removable battery needs more things like a controller, contacts, and a sturdy housing (most of that would becomes extra environment waste over what an integrated battery would have).

People that use their phone heavily and are away from power for protracted periods have some sort of portable charger. These devices have more competition, more variety in style/shape, are more affordable, and have more capacity than any removable component that a phone would build in. And if you aren't one of these, you likely a) aren't going to buy a spare battery, invalidating the main "benefit" described and b) you have a bigger single unit battery that maximizes how much time you have with your phone and reduces the need for and waste of spares as much as possible.

 

[macfacts]

How is this a bad thing?

People don't believe apple can design a phone with user replaceable battery and be water resistant.

 

[thejadedmonkey]

That would me a goodbye to any type of waterproofing.

No it wouldn't. I assume it would be just like replacing a watch battery. They're both easily user replaceable and waterproof.