European Union: iPhone must have a user-replaceable battery

Now it is more likely that a unified charging standard, USB-C, will be implemented according to the European Union's decision   this link It seems that there is a new step targeting smartphones to come, and many may not prefer it, which is that the phone likes to contain batteries that are simply user-replaceable. Is it possible to do such a thing? Is it important to the user now?

According to a new report published by the Dutch Het Financieele Dagblad, shared by TechRadar, the European Commission is seeking to pass legislation that would compel all smartphone manufacturers selling devices in the European Union to make the batteries user-replaceable. It may be difficult to implement this now, but it is something we may see important to the user. In the past, many people carried spare batteries for their phones and exchanged them as needed.

When the first iPhone appeared in 2007, it was considered the most popular smartphone that comes with a built-in battery that is not replaceable by the user, in a move that has already raised a large number of complaints from users who were concerned about the battery running out at a time when they needed the phone. . Perhaps, paradoxically, this is another area in which Apple has led all other companies until almost all of them follow suit. And the non-removable battery became one of the current standards for smartphones.

There is no doubt to abandon the idea of ​​a replaceable battery from time to time in favor of built-in batteries, it will provide other advantages, the most important of which is, for example, water resistance, other than reducing the size of the battery compartment prepared for the user's access to it.

There is no doubt that the fears of the dead phone due to its completely empty battery from any charge, have vanished due to the remarkable improvement in the life of the batteries. It seldom happens that the battery dies unless the phone malfunctions and the user keeps it locked up for a period of time until the charge is completely depleted. And here, technical intervention is necessary to fix it either by switching or with an electrical charge through a dedicated device for some seconds and then putting it on the regular charger to charge again.

It appears that the source of this information came from leaked documents from agencies within the European Union seen by Het Financieele Dagblad, so none of those proposals have been made public, and it is likely that they will not be published and none of that will happen. However, it appears to be in line with the European Union's goals regarding e-waste disposal.

It is too early to say exactly what shape this legislation will take, but it seems unlikely that this is a return to the past as users can simply replace the batteries when needed.

European Union targets for the replaceable battery

First, the primary goal of the European Union is to ensure that users can easily replace the battery when the core runs out or even replace the old one with a new one, without having to go to approved maintenance centers and pay for the replacement, and that the replacement has nothing to do with the warranty, i.e. the guarantee of unlocking the phone. This will undoubtedly change the structure of phones. This does not mean that the quality of the batteries is poor and that they are sold as if it is an accessory or the like, but rather a good battery and it can be changed when urgent.

Some companies may resist these changes due to the provision of water resistance and not leakage inside the phone or for the aesthetic appearance, on top of them Apple, and if these companies did, it is unlikely that we will see a battery cover that can be easily removed. As it will meet the minimum requirements of the European Union. It is possible to reach the battery with a screwdriver or other tools and Apple should of course stay away from the crazy pentalobe screws at least for the outer shell.

Unlike the battle for the USB C unified charging standard, Apple will not be the only resistance against EU directives in this case, because many other manufacturers like Samsung prefer to use built-in batteries now, and they have to deal with the same design issues if they have to switch to a user-replaceable model. .

It is likely that dealing with this matter, especially with the 27 countries that make up the membership of the European Union, the movement will be very slow. It took more than a decade for the debate over imposing a new shipping standard to be settled.

Likewise, this suggestion for user-replaceable batteries has not been formally launched yet. Until such time as the European Union makes a decision, smartphones will likely switch to an entirely new battery technology.

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