Do you understand that every single laptop and mobile phone had user replicable batteries before Apple decided to hotglue everything together? It’s actually much safer if user can remove the battery from rest of the unit than having everything glued together.
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Leaked Documents Suggest Apple Could Be Forced to Build iPhones With User-Removable Batteries in Europe
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Do you understand that every single laptop and mobile phone had user replicable batteries before Apple decided to hotglue everything together? It’s actually much safer if user can remove the battery from rest of the unit than having everything glued together.
Funny... how everyone looses their minds over a draft... It's not even public nor is remotely decided that it will come into force.
So here's the fact: Some people at the EU think it might be wise to make batteries easier replaceable. That's all.
Side note: This design would be very easy to waterproof.
So here's the fact: Some people at the EU think it might be wise to make batteries easier replaceable. That's all.
No, it doesn't. There's a lot of different ways to design a phone. Just because some people lack the imagination, doesn't mean it's not possible. It just means that they wouldn't make good designers or engineers.
The government does this because it's their job to intervene when the rights of some cause problems for everyone. E-waste and planned obsolescence are big societal issues and I'm glad the EU is taking them seriously because the US is just laughing at any environmental issue. Also we tend to not believe in the full unconstrained power of 'the market' here so most people here are just fine with such measures.
Extortionate amount of money for battery replacements? My last replacement was $29. Oooh...ouch. Real bank-breaker, there.
Great. Those “some people” are free to buy whatever phones they’d like, including phones with replaceable batteries. Better yet, those “some people” are free to start companies that manufacture and sell such phones. If there is actually consumer demand, they’ll make a mint.
It is not impossible to make the phone water resistant with a user removable battery. Samsung did it with the Galaxy S5. That phone was IP67 rated in 2014... with a removable battery, plastic body, headphone jack, and the same thickness as today's iPhone Pro Max. The phone did not lose it's water resistance because the user replaced the battery. The battery is smaller, but so is the phone. There's no need for a mechanism to remove the battery. A fingernail in the indent is all that's needed. Water resistance is not a valid argument against user replaceable batteries.
Wireless charging could be an impediment since it would have to be placed in the rear cover if the battery was accessed by removing the cover. If the battery could be slotted somehow that could possible overcome the wireless charging issue. Idk. There could be many other roadblocks preventing a modern smartphone from having removable batteries. Water resistance ain't one of 'em.
The problem with this approach is that consumers are more likely to throw an expired battery in the garbage/trash/bin than a retired mobile phone. I think this will only lead to more e-waste, not less.
LOL 😂, do you have any idea how big market Europe is? If Europe decides every smartphone must come with pliers and parachute attached then every manufacturer will introduce one within a year.
So far out of context it’s not even Apple to orange.
Those manufacturers are doing the same, following apple's lead to have the thinnest laptop/phone on the market. All at the expense of user-upgradeability. It's time for the government to assert the right of a citizen to repair/upgrade his/her product. I'm not one for over-regulation; but zero regulation is not good either. There is a balance in the middle.
So where's the evidence that non-replaceable batteries are causing e-waste? I remember back in the day that people threw their cellphones away even if they battery was replaceable, because who cares.
Laughable.
This isn’t a single shred of evidence this would do anything whatsoever to address “e-waste”. In fact, it could increase it fairly significantly.
If you want to address deeded e-waste, you’ll need mandatory minimum usage times for consumers. Every Euro must use his phone for a minimum of 5 years before upgrading.
You replaced it under Apple grace period for 30 dollar replacement, I just had my brother x replaced and Apple charged 70 dollars before tax
There's nothing undemocratic about this kind of decision, it is going to be taken by a majority in parliament.
This is the kind of regulations that a single European country could never enforce, but the EU can. The UK will soon find out that they are no longer the world-dominating nation they once were, but that they are a small country that has not impact anymore on anything.
I will take and thin, sealed phone whose battery can be replaced by any phone store, over a thicker, heavier unit non-waterproof phone with a user-replaceable battery.
LOL.
If you lack good designers... of course it will look like crap. Great designers will design a great looking product.
You can be sure that if the EU pass such a law, Apple abide by, and adapt. It will be a non-issue. Basically, another First World Problem.
You are mistaken. All of those manufacturers have plenty of models with user replaceable parts.
Go buy one of those. Problem solved.
The idea that you have a “right” to tell tech companies how to design their products and consumers what they are allowed to buy is an absolute joke.
That authoritarian nonsense belongs in North Korea or Saudi Arabia.
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Go design one then.
If it is not fully addressing e-waste (it surely will to some extent), it will at least address the wish of many consumers to have user-replaceable batteries in their smartphone and to have their batteries replaced at a much lower cost.
This is not forcing anything on consumers, this is enabling consumers to do something they would like to do...
You are making claims that don’t have a shred of evidence to back them up. There is absolutely zero evidence that mandatory user replaceable batteries would prolong the average upgrade cycle. None.
And if consumers want phones with user replaceable batteries... they can... buy them. Like today. Those phones exist. Nothing is stopping you from buying one.
You just described any dell laptop. Instead of trying to force change on a product maybe look into one that better fits your consumer needs.