Technology

Man I wish the US regulatory body would throw some wrenches like this at the tech companies here. They need a wake up call, start with breaking up Meta. Right to repair is also often gutted

Would this affect the waterproof ratings of phones? It would make the phone less sealed.

This is a much bigger demand than the usbc charging. I wonder if they can actually pull it off. I’d be happy with simply the right to be able to use a fully independent 3rd party to replace a battery.

This is great news! Even better than the USB-C regulation. Changing a battery on a modern phone is a huge pita… And it’s definitely getting worse since some companies are trying everything to prevent you from doing so…

I would absolutely buy a phone twice as thick as my iPhone SE 2020 if it has an easily swappable battery. Bonus points if it is able to be used as an actual phone without a case to prevent it from dying instantly from a light breeze or some evil look by a person…

While that's great, what I'm more concerned about is pricing for original replacement batteries. I don't really care if I have to send my phone in for 2 to 3 days (which is what it took last time I sent an iPhone 11 Pro to Apple), what concerns me more is pricing. Especially with older phones, having to pay $69 to $89 for battery repair (plus shipping) is quite a lot. Self-service parts cost the exact same price from Apple currently.

The EU should forbid charging more for replacement or repair parts than the cost to manufacture them plus a small (!) markup.

Also, please extend this law to include all kinds of electronics (smartwatches, laptops, tablets etc.).

Especially AirPods and other true wireless earbuds should have replaceable batteries, as they are basically dead after 3 to 5 years, which just feels wrong considering everything except the batteries probably lasts a lot longer and when you get an expensive "battery repair" they just give you new AirPods.

I recommend checking out Fairphone. The phone is completely modular so when something breaks, you can buy a new part and replace it yourself.

About time. I got two batteries on my Samsung Omnia i900. Is faster than carrying a clumsy external battery. Instantaneous 100%

Wouldn’t this affect water resistance? One argument for “sealed” devices is better protection against water/dust/debris.

I’m all for allowing easier replacements and repairs for the consumer (No reason a device should be unusable after a few years due to a battery), but I can see this issue being brought up.

Good!

I had the battery for my OnePlus 6T replaced, extending the phone lifetime for probably 2 years. It cost me about $100.

Forcing manufacturers to make batteries easily replaceable by the user without special tools and skills seems like it could make phones less lightweight and less waterproof. I would be fine if they just require manufactures to make it available as a reasonably priced service.

I'll admit that I haven't had battery problems for a long time, but I still think that this is a great idea if it can prolong the usage of other hardware.

Usually the software bugs down before the battery, and even with replacement batteries there will still be an issue of what to do with the spent batteries. Can they be revived or clustered for other purposes etc.?

I know that used batteries from cars are still valuable as storage even when they are at half capacity or less, but phone batteries are so small that it isn't feasible.

Hopefully this will push the manufactures into a different direction than the current use and discard strategy. European companies will soon have to file environmental reports, but with batteries coming from Asia, I'm not sure what effect EU will have. Chain responsibility isn't really there yet.

non-replaceable batterys are also safety hazard. what if one starts swelling up due to age or fault? Only reason why they started doing that is so phones would become unusable faster.

I like replaceable batteries but there is no doubt that the simplified unibody designs have other benefits besides the planned obsolescence companies seek. Battery life or thickeness will certainly take a hit. I feel like having some form of incentives for more repairable phones would work better to bring better, more renuable options without blockingotherr designs

Yes please! That would seriously be a dream come true. At this point, battery packs are super small, but they still need to come with a wire even if it's just like a 6 inch wire. Being able to care one or two spare batteries I can swap out would be amazing.

Oh yeah! this is more than welcome imo, honestly