All phones sold in the EU to have replaceable batteries from 2027

Bonus: reasonably accessible replaceable batteries double up as a hardware off switch.

Ironically the EU also demands phones are water proof.

And they say this will save consumers money, but I will this not also make all new phones way more expensive?

I hope this puts more pressure to extend the software life-span.

It seems like the whole world could massively benefit from this much like the other great innovation out of the EU -- the Common Charger Directive (aka USB-C).

Gigaset makes IP68/MIL-STD-810H smartphones with removable batteries and sold the battery for 30€, don't fall for the "but watterproof".

What good are replaceable batteries if the software becomes obsolete and un-upgradeable by the time you need to replace the battery?

Please bring back the 3.5mm headphone jack!

Removing it is one of the most annoying things ever in a phone. Yes, Bluetooth is getting better, but the jack always works perfectly. Why can't we have both?

Next: replaceable storage? Since flash-based storage is widely known as a consumable that tends to fail first.

Anyone know how much harder water resistance gets with replaceable batteries?

Thank you, EU, for having the courage to pass the pro-consumer regulations that my own government lacks. Often, as happened when the iPhone got rid of the proprietary Lightning connector, the benefits extend well beyond your borders.

[offtopic] Ive always wondered why a conversion has not been offered ( by someone ) for apple phones to make, it so the battery can be replaced by end user? It would be a case modification somehow. Some kind of new "back"

This is about user replaceable batteries, which is subtly different for me. Batteries that can be replaced by a shop, with some specialized tools and knowledge are important to me from a sustainability perspective since that extends the life of the phone.

Batteries that can be popped out and replaced by your average consumer are something beyond that, and have certain consumer benefits like being able to bring along a backup or something, but aren't that important to me.

Great, now do storage!

People shouldn't have to pay $$$ for a 128GB upgrade when a 1TB microSDXC card is under $200. It feels like a trick to sell cloud storage and new phones.

EU is late by 19 years. No one cares anymore about user replaceable batteries.

So this means no iPhone Air 2 in Europe? I can hardly see Apple wiggle around the special tools requirement when these batteries are glued and sealed shut in the devices.

[edit] didn’t see the fine print with the cycles requirement etc. so it seems Apple etc is still safe.

Aside from an easily swap-able battery I would love for an iPhone with a double thickness screen that was less susceptible to cracking and built-in rubber bumpers so I wouldn't need a case.

And next we could have mandatory security patching for 5 years to make it worth replacing the battery on an old phone. I would say right to repair should apply to the firmware/OS as well.

good idea - but not effective enough.

if you gonna go about e-waste then go by repairability and part prices and part supply. then let the market sort itself out.

as someone said - either standardize batteries or ensure that device makers can cap the cost of battery replacement from 3rd parties.

most phones these days - the screen gets damaged before batteries.

what about laptops ? other e-devices ?

Both options have pros and cons but IMHO the cons for replaceable are more.

Since 2020 phone hardware and especially battery has become much better, reliable and long lasting, at least at not dirt cheap ones. It will fail long after the screen brakes or the software updates stop. And a replaceable battery degrades the design.

On the other side a new battery makes an old phone like new. But again it only costs 15-20E to change it in a non-repl phone.

The only real reason to promote battery repl is to reduce e-waste.

This is a bad development. This is likely the end of waterproof phones in the EU market. Customers preferred phones that had non-removable batteries. Previously all phones had replaceable batteries. This is due to market forces.

I understood that the move to non-replaceable batteries was at least partially driven by water resistance

*Edit. Not sure why people are downvoting. I didn't make a positive declaration. HN didn't used to be this way for completely milquetoast comments.

seems reasonable on its own, but knowing the track record of EU regulations... Even this sounds dodgy

I made my local store to change the battery of my iPhone 6s for 39€. And here we are again, for the next ten years.

This might be shifting us closer to worse overall design/performance to accommodate swapability. The pouch cells are very fragile, with the phone itself being the physical protection for the cell. If end users begin to handle these, you likely have to add additional packaging to the cell which increases the overall dimensions or reduces total capacity to maintain the same size.

Maybe it's for our own good, maybe we have to suck it up and lose a little capacity to meet sustainability goals. Or maybe this won't do much for the environment.

Earlier this year I downgraded my S24 ultra to an iphone 13 mini and then to the first gen iphone SE. I replaced the battery myself on the SE and couldn't be happier. Less screen time and more IRL time. People should just use less of their phones and for battery longevity they should not let their phones go daily below 20%.

No one on this planet should use their phone more than 2 hours per day. Period. More is just plain stupid.

They should extend the principle to laptops, obviously.

They need a standardized battery. Something with common terminals and width available in a range of thicknesses and lengths would be ideal.

Hopefully the EU can get the battery situation to mirror the charging cable situation. IE force them all to adopt an industry standard.

Considering that this, and other, regulation is officially aimed at reducing e-waste, the EU should commit to publish independent data on the amount of e-waste and phones replacement rates now and every year afterwards in order to measure the real world impact.

Too often, including in HN comments, those regulations are presented as "obviously" good policies. Well, data are better than assumptions.

What if they also mandate that each phone manufacturer has to bring back iPhone 4 sized phones. Just saying. But would be great.

For context to HN readers reading all the naysayer comments: Here's old HN post about EU and USB-C regulation

"EU reaches deal to make USB-C a common charger for most electronic devices"

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31652291

And 1 year later: "Apple says iPhones will switch to USB-C chargers to comply with new EU law"

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33358353

It's interesting to see almost all the exact sentiment. I think barring some niches, most people are happy with USB-C transition.

I understand the scepticism but the expectation of "perfection" from regulators (incremental improvement disliked) while fanfare for incremental startup / tech improvement is a weird, cognitive dissonance of HN

I wonder if this is the reason for Google not majorly renewing their Pixel line since Pixel 9 till 11.

As a non-European I want to say: thanks EU

Replacing the battery on my iphone takes 30 minutes and the only tools needed are a couple of screwdrivers and a new display adhesive. In exchange, the phone is a lot more waterproof. For me, it's a good tradeoff.

What's next? Mandating that the screens be "replaceable" as well? Having used a fairphone before, I can tell from experience that easily replaceable parts are more prone to breaking from dust and moisture etc.

I thought USB-C was already required.

> The move comes amid EU-wide efforts to cut the continent’s carbon footprint and tackle mounting waste [...]

...

> [...] if specialised tools are required, they must be provided free of charge when the phone or tablet is purchased.

So if a family buys several phones and tablets that all use the same specialized tool to change their batteries they end up with several identical specialized tools?

From a reducing waste perspective wouldn't it be better to just require that the tool be available for free for some reasonable amount of time such as however long the manufacturer is required to support the device?

What percent of iphone users would take a sleeker, slimmer phone over a replaceable battery?

Well, Nokia phones used to be good phones with replaceable batteries.

I get the impulse, but I do not think this mandate is a good idea. I didn't think the USB-C mandate was a good idea, either.

If only we had batteries that would last for 20 years...

Well, 9 more months until I’m going to replace my iPhone 12!

I don't own EVs but I hope this is forced on EVs (cars and bikes)... that's the only reason I don't buy one.

my naive opinion is that this will result in more bulky phones, with worse quality batteries.

Hot swap batteries! Who's going to offer THAT first?

I recently bought a Supernote Manta. It's an e-ink writing tablet. Guess what: it has a back which can be opened, and its innards are easily accessible. I could pop in an SD card, and the battery can be replaced, too. It's thin and light.

We are being gaslighted by Apple. They keep telling us that it's impossible to have a thin and light device with a user-replaceable battery, or even, heaven forbid, an SD card slot. I beg to differ: there are some compromises (it won't be as seamless perhaps and Jony Ive or whoever won't be able to wax poetic about the materials), but it can be done.

I would imagine something similar is true for waterproofing. There are certainly ways to have a separate battery and phone, with a waterproofed connector.

I honestly would not have upgraded my iPhone 13 Pro if I could have just swapped the battery. That phone seemed to get better battery life than current models.

Europeans are very good at making companies do unnecessary things.

Finally! Great to have them back.

good. now do the software enshittification part, which is the real driver of device obsolescence. being able to replace the battery is nice, but if the new battery lasts half as long because the software needs twice as much resources to perform the same tasks - you're not really fixing anything.