Holy fuck this is insane. EU is doing something right (still salty about them wanting encryption keys but provisions to improve repair of hardware is big)
this post was submitted on 18 Jun 2023
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Good, it's a small victory but one step closer to a society that doesn't create waste just to buy the next new shiny toy. Products should be build to last, be easily repairable and create as little waste as possible (which isn't possible in a system that demands unlimited growth over anything else). If we want to have a somewhat ok climate in the future, just focusing on electric vehicles (which are doing the whole subscription to access your hardware fully, not easily repairable bs as well) isn't gonna cut it.
The question is, easily removable by the user or easily removable by a specialist with the right tools?
I'm assuming somewhere in the middle leaning more toward easily user replaceable. The current crop of batteries are designed to be replaced by specialists with the right tools and the EU voted to depart from that.
That link is dead for me. I wonder what constitutes "removable". I'd honestly be fine if it still required a spludger, but it required them to make it easily accessable and not loaded down with glue once you're in. And make OEM batteries available for sale.
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I do miss being able to swap out a phone battery and this will certainly be a step in the right direction in terms ewaste and device longevity.
One thing that I wonder about is waterproofing or water resistance. Some phones are basically waterproof in shallow water. How achievable is this with a device with a trivial way to remove the battery?
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Misleading title. Phones can still be glued. Waterproof phones still don't need to have a user replaceable battery (the battery needs to be replaceable but by professionals).
Do you have a reference for that? From all the documentation I've seen elsewhere, that's not true. There's no exclusion for waterproof devices, and everything has to be possible with tools a normal person can buy (you might need to go to a local hardware store, but no unique specialist expensive kit).
The full law is here: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/docs_autres_institutions/commission_europeenne/com/2020/0798/COM_COM(2020)0798_EN.pdf. It only mentions 'water' 3 times and none of them relate to waterproof phones (they're talking about batteries of waterbourne transport & environmental impact of water use) so I don't know where that's coming from.
It's totally possible to make waterproof phones with removable batteries - Samsung did it with the Galaxy S5 (IP67 - 1 meter under water for 30 minutes) way back in 2014 and there's lots of other examples. It's just not quite as cheap as glueing everything together.
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How is this a win? My non-Android device is at 89% health after 5 years. I’m not going to replace the battery, I’m going to replace the device.
I’d prefer that we get paid $20 to recycle an old phone so that they actually get recycled.
Because you are an outlier when it comes to most people's experience of battery life in their phones.
The recycling scheme is a good idea too, we should do both.
Reducing is just as important as recycling. And reducing the amount of people buying new phones because their battery dies is a win.
Also there are these well-used battery recycling boxes in plenty shops where I'm from. If people could remove their phone battery, they might still throw away their phone, as there's not as obvious, easy and visible a recycling system for those yet, but perhaps some might at least take out the battery first and chuck it in the recycling bin next time they go to shop.
How is it a loss for you in any way? Just because the battery can be replaced more easily doesn't mean you have to replace it if you're at 89% after 5 years. I use my phone a lot and burn through batteries in 18-24 months. This shouldn't have any effect on people who only have light usage like you but benefit the rest of us tremendously.
It'd be like only driving 1,000 miles a year and saying there's no need to make oil changes easier to accomplish. Some of use have to change it orders of magnitude more frequently than you and would appreciate not having to disassemble the whole front of our cars to do it.
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Amen! Now let's see how Apple gets around that one too. :)
I can’t wait to hear the Apple marketing word for this feature. They’ll add some gimmick like the battery is held in with magnets and say “We call it MagPack and we think you’re going to love it.”
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I'm curious to see what this will mean for phone designs & dust/waterproof ratings. Either way, it only takes effect in 2027 so that should give some time for innovation rather than falling back on plastic clamshells of yore.
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I love reading such headlines, really glad there's an entity that can enforce such rules on manufacturers, at least when they're looking after us
Really hoping this happens. I want to be able to replace the battery on my phone after a year because the performance on the battery degraded by nearly half.
That being said, I'm also willing to bet some time shortly after this goes into affect, the cost of mobile service (at least in the US) will go up another $10/$15 a month, and phones will increase in cost by another $100-$200. Not because materials cost more, or designs change. But to preemptively screw people over.
on the battery degraded by nearly half.
One year nearly half ? wtf , even my 24/7 power used phone lost approx only 17% on battery health and its a Poco x3 pro
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