We all know that the Apple Pencil is one of the best tools the company has introduced for content creators and designers on iPads, but there is a painful historical fact that everyone who has owned this stylus knows: if the internal battery dies, the stylus suddenly turns into an expensive, useless piece of plastic. There is no official or easy way to replace the battery without completely destroying the outer casing of the stylus. However, it seems that this environmental and technical nightmare is on its way to being solved soon, thanks—as you have surely guessed—to the strict regulations of the European Union.
A new Apple Pencil with a replaceable battery by 2027
According to a recent report published by the famous journalist Mark Gurman in his “Power On” newsletter via Bloomberg, Apple is currently working on developing a new generation of its accessories, specifically the Apple Pencil (USB-C) and the Apple Pencil Pro. The primary goal of this update is not just to introduce new writing or drawing features, but to completely redesign the internal structure to allow for easier battery replacement in line with strict European Union requirements.
Gurman points out that current (and previous) styluses are a real maintenance nightmare; they are filled with parts glued together with strong adhesive, making any attempt to open the stylus or replace its battery almost impossible without completely damaging the sensitive components. Therefore, this anticipated change will be a radical shift in Apple’s design philosophy for this category of accessories.
What does “battery replacement” mean under EU standards?
Before your imagination runs wild and you picture a stylus with a back door to insert small dry-cell batteries, let us clarify things. The European Union’s requirements do not force companies to provide batteries that an average user can remove and replace by hand at any time like old devices. Instead, the regulation states that batteries must be “easily removable” using commercially available tools accessible to independent repairers or users interested in self-repair.
The core idea here is to reduce electronic waste. Regulators in Europe believe that discarding an entire device like an Apple Pencil just because its battery has degraded is a major environmental waste. When this regulation becomes mandatory in February 2027, all new products must be fully compliant with this principle.
It is worth noting that Apple has already taken excellent steps in this direction with its main devices; we have seen tangible improvements in repairability in the iPhone 16 and M5 MacBook Pro computers last year. However, small accessories like the Apple Pencil and AirPods remain the biggest challenge for Apple, as batteries are soldered and integrated with electronic circuits in a very complex way, which the company is seeking to resolve before the 2027 deadline.
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