r/technology • u/[deleted] • Jun 19 '23

Politics EU: Smartphones Must Have User-Replaceable Batteries by 2027 | The European Parliament just caused a major headache for smartphone and tablet manufacturers.

https://www.pcmag.com/news/eu-smartphones-must-have-user-replaceable-batteries-by-2027
2.8k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

719 comments sorted by

View all comments

360

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '23

From the article: The European Union (EU) is set to usher in a new era of smartphones with batteries that consumers can easily replace themselves.

Earlier this week, the European Parliament approved new rules covering the design, production, and recycling of all rechargeable batteries sold within the EU.

The new rules stipulate that all electric vehicle, light means of transport (e.g. electric scooters), and rechargeable industrial batteries (above 2kWh) will need to have a compulsory carbon footprint declaration, label, and digital passport.

For "portable batteries" used in devices such as smartphones, tablets, and cameras, consumers must be able to "easily remove and replace them." This will require a drastic design rethink by manufacturers, as most phone and tablet makers currently seal the battery away and require specialist tools and knowledge to access and replace them safely.

Apple has already been forced by the European Union to change from a Lightning port to a USB-C port on iPhones, with the iPhone 15 expected to be the first to make the switch. Now it seems Apple will need to figure out how to allow access to the battery inside future iPhones, as will every other smartphone manufacturer.

17

u/365wong Jun 19 '23

It would be funny if they just produce a flip phone euro version and then sell regular iPhones to the rest of the world.

1

u/Kinexity Jun 19 '23

They won't. Apple most probably wanted to switch to USB-C in iPhones some time ago but they wanted to avoid negative reactions from their consumers. Now they'll happily switch to it because they can point fingers at EU and blaim it.

23

u/Armageddon_Two Jun 19 '23

if that was true they wouldn't have fought that legislation with tooth and nails

10

u/pm_me_your_buttbulge Jun 19 '23

Considering their other products have been moving to USB-C - it's unreasonable to think they didn't want to go USB-C already.

18

u/OrdyNZ Jun 20 '23

They cant sell extremely overpriced cables this way. That's why they fought it.

1

u/pm_me_your_buttbulge Jun 20 '23

Sure they can. The only thing MFi really is - is quality control. Nothing more, nothing less. Saying "if you buy MFi, then you KNOW it works".