Great news! I remember the first cell phone I ever had I replaced the battery on twice. It’s absurd that tech companies today just expect us to trash our phones when the battery starts going.
It’s like the only way they sell new ones now.
If batteries didn’t fail, phones from 5 years ago would still be fine. Mobile OS and app demands haven’t increased that much, so the only barrier to using our devices are the wear on the battery, and the refusal to provide security updates.
Next we need laws forcing some kind lf bare minimum of software support, though I have no idea what that would look like.
It’s like the only way they sell new ones now.
If batteries didn’t fail, phones from 5 years ago would still be fine.
I just got the battery on my iPhone XR, a 4.5 year old phone, replaced before a 3 week summer holiday. I had the option of replacing it myself, paying a third party store to replace it, or paying Apple to replace it. The part of the article that concerns me is quoted below.
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.
That makes it sound like the current iPhone’s, like the XR at least and through the 14, won’t be considered “user replaceable” because they don’t have a back cover that just pops off, like they used to have on the Galaxy S12 or whatever. I’m concerned that this will result in phones either losing decent water resistance capability, or losing brand new battery capacity because manufacturers have to use a smaller battery in order to fit in a bunch of new gaskets and seals around a battery cover.
the refusal to provide security updates.
This is the single largest problem with phone manufacturers today. Apple devices currently get about 5-6 years of full OS updates, and up to 9-10 years of security updates. Samsung is the Android industry in this regard, and they, only just within the past year, committed to 5 years of security updates. Huawei commits to 24 months of security updates.
I can wholeheartedly support the requirements for battery recycling and mandated percentage of recycled material in new batteries, but if the EU really wanted to address e-waste they would be prioritizing legislation to enact minimum security update timelines. This is the single biggest driver of “planned obsolescence” and e-waste in smart phones and tablets today.
Nah, its the biggest driver for people who care. Most people will see the “you just got your last update” notification and happily keep using the phone for several more years. It’s not safe, but the reason that actually makes people dump their old phones right now, is the battery.
There are ways to make phone batteries replaceable, and water-resistant. One would be to allow water to enter the battery compartment, but make everything inside impervious to water, and merely protect the electrical contacts with something. We survived thicker phones before, we will again.
And besides, the main reason people value water resistance, is because if you do drop your phone in a lake, you can’t have it affordably repaired, so people pay a premium for phones that are resistant to being damaged in the first place.
iPhones have had user replaceable batteries for at least 5 years now. Alternatively you can pay about $45 for a third party repair center to do the swap, or you can pay $90 to have it done at an Apple Store. That’s extremely affordable when you’re talking about a $700+ phone. Maybe it’s much more of an issue in the Android phone space, but the only manufacturer directly named in the article was Apple.
And besides, the main reason people value water resistance, is because if you do drop your phone in a lake, you can’t have it affordably repaired, so people pay a premium for phones that are resistant to being damaged in the first place.
I pay a premium for phones that are resistant to being damaged because of the inconvenience of dealing with a damaged phone, regardless of repair cost. Even if I paid for AppleCare, I’m fucked if I drop my phone in the toilet while on work travel in Japan. Yeah, there are Apple stores in Tokyo, but I definitely used my phone as a crutch to navigate the Tokyo metro rail system. If it happened somewhere else, like Nagasaki or Sasebo I’d be double fucked without translation or navigation. Even if I’m just on vacation in a country where I speak the language and know where things are, now I have to stop my travel plans to get a phone fixed, even if the fix is completely free. I’d rather have a device that doesn’t lead to the loss of my personal time over an issue that could have been engineered away, but wasn’t because of some well intentioned but short-sighted legislation, especially when I can already do the thing the legislation is trying to enable me to do.
An yet, it can still be better.
Apple has a tendency to undercut this type of legislation by preempting it with options that are just barely good enough that 90% of users are satisfied. This way they can continue screwing over third party repair partners, the customers, and the planet, only ever doing just enough to not be forced to go all the way to doing it all right. They tightly control component availability, device schematics access, and more.
As long as they only wrong a minority, they can get away with it, because a majority has to be upset with them to force them right.
As for your need for a more damage resistant phone… An iPhone is never going to be it. It has always prioritized form over function in that regard. Modern phones only ever introduced water proofing and impact resistance, once it could be done without making them ugly or too large. Yet most people slap on a case anyway. If phones were made in a way that integrated the space taken up by a case into the actual device, making it larger and heavier, the case unnecessary in the first place, we could have it all. Case and point, caterpillar phones, and the old XCOVER Samsungs, which had swappable batteries, AND waterproofing.
If durability is a priority due to your need of always having a functioning mobile device, a user replaceable, even hot-swappable battery, is a boon, not a detriment. Your argument is self-contradictory.
As for your need for a more damage resistant phone… An iPhone is never going to be it. It has always prioritized form over function in that regard. Modern phones only ever introduced water proofing and impact resistance, once it could be done without making them ugly or too large. Yet most people slap on a case anyway.
I’ve run an iPhone without a case for the past 4.5 years. The only thing I’ve ever had to do was replace the battery. I don’t want an ugly or large phone, so the current designs and durability work great for me.
If phones were made in a way that integrated the space taken up by a case into the actual device, making it larger and heavier, the case unnecessary in the first place, we could have it all.
iPhones currently are made in a way that makes a case largely unnecessary for 99% of people.
Case in point, caterpillar phones, and the old XCOVER Samsungs, which had swappable batteries, AND waterproofing.
So those CAT phones are ugly as sin, and they don’t have an easily swappable battery. I’m not a CAT engineer, but it’s probably because they can’t get to the same IP ratings with one. After a quick search I’m seeing a fair amount of reviews complaining about the back cover of the XCover 6 popping off, and recommending a case for this already “ruggedized” device.
If durability is a priority due to your need of always having a functioning mobile device, a user replaceable, even hot-swappable battery, is a boon, not a detriment. Your argument is self-contradictory.
I don’t care about having to charge my phone, I care about my phone being damaged to the point of requiring repair. A hot-swappable battery isn’t a boon for me. I’ve had phones with hot-swappable batteries, and carrying them all around and keeping them charged up etc was definitely a detriment for me.
As I said before, my iPhone already has a user replaceable battery.
No. It doesn’t. It has a absolutely horrible design for repairability, which apple has desperately worked around to be able to claim they’ve done their due diligence, so they wont have to change how they design, make, and market products.
You main point is that in this case, we cannot have our cake and eat it too, but the only reason that’s true, is because the practices of modern device manufacturers choose not to develop products in that direction.
Yes! I can’t believe this wasn’t a law previously. I hope my current phone lasts until 2027 because I don’t plan on buying another device without a user replaceable battery.
