Say what you want about the EU, but at least they keep greedy companies in check as much as they can.
For sure, but it’s better than nothing. Imagine the world without the EU… shudders
I love what the EU does to technology. Thank you EU!
Well… for iPhones (and other smartphones) I’m not sure if anything changes. There is a exception in the regulation: if the device is waterproof, it is enough if the manufacturer or repair shops can change the battery for you. They do not need to be user replaceable.
But probably for MacBooks, there will be replaceable batteries in the future. I don’t see, how Apple will find a way around this regulation.
Apple Watch: they are waterproof —> nothing changes.
AirPods: well… are they waterproof? I don’t see user changeable batteries ever. Perhaps they will become waterproof in the future too? :) AirPods, now also for swimming and diving!
iPads: well: probably there will be changeable batteries in the future. Or we will have underwater Tablets soon. We just need another input method. Probably gestures like the VisionPro?
How is “water proof” defined in the legislation? Apple carefully says their devices are water resistant. There is a possibility that it will not qualify.
The industry standard is the IP rating: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IP_code
The first digit is dust protection grade.
The second digit is water protection grade.
IP67 is a common consumer electronics requirement.
It’s not just Apple. Almost all manufacturers offer water resistant flagship phones (and mid-rangers). ASUS, Xiaomi, Oppo, Huawei, Sony, Samsung, Vivo, Honor…
However, the phones are NOT water-proof. From none of these (neither Apple). They are water-resistant, which is a big difference and they are just required to not be damaged if submerged underwater for 30 minutes, 1.5m, if they want IP68.
Phones and smartwatches are not resistant to condensation or water getting in – water can still get in, as they’re NOT impervious (smartwatches if they have speakers), which is actually required for calling your device truly “water proof”. Water resistant is literally two steps below that.
There has been some marketing claiming water proof devices. This was just wrong.
Interesting. Apple itself says, „Apple Watch Ultra has a water-resistance rating of 100 meters“.
If even being officially able to dive until 40m and use the Ultra as a dive computer, doesn’t make it waterproof but just water-resistant?
What does it need to be waterproof? Being able to dive down the Marianne Trench?
Being able to have a spare battery in case of emergency (or simply app train/bus tickets) is going to be nice. It’s going go be exciting to see how apple will try to circumvent this.
i believe the law is more about easily being able to replace a battery for repair than being able to swap it on the go
I doubt they’ll circumvent this. They don’t seem to circumvent the mandated USB-C port if the rumors are to be trusted.
They already tried, given that the reason that they’ve held out for so long is because of one of those circumventions.
It’s just that the EU is clamping down, and Apple is running out of time on that restriction, hence them moving over to USB-C coincidentally just before the EU would force their hand.
I think I was unclear. I agree that having replaceable batteries is exciting. Ben sarcastically called Apple coming up with a way to circumvent the law exciting. And I agreed, also sarcastically.
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.
There’s nothing to figure out. All manufacturers have already used removable batteries in the past. Just blow the dust off the old designs and adapt them!
They sure will fight it. The main counter-argument I see is water proofing, but I believe I’ve seen a phone with good proofing but still accessible. Don’t remember the brand and model though.
The Samsung Galaxy S5 was a good example of this. The back panel and battery was removable, and the charging port had an extra plastic cover that went on top to protect against water ingress
There will be a lot to figure out. The new designs provide features that the old ones couldn’t- and there are very few people who would prioritize a replaceable battery over other features.
I don’t know if you ever see the ifixit tear downs, there is no new tricks. The battery is still replaceable, it’s just that the manufacturing process adds more stuff to “anti-tempering”. Let me list a few:
- special kind of screw, some screw can’t be unscrewed without special screw driver
- we all know about glue battery so they are fixed in place AND harder to remove safely.
- they add more of those tiny ribbon around so if you don’t know the internal layout there is a chance you break the ribbon.
- plastic wedge that might be broken when you try to pry it open(so when you put the cover back it’s a bit loose, and lose water resist), even with proper tool. They designed it so it was not suppose to open again. ( I have a old casio slim camera that can still be water resistant with removable battery, there is no reason why a phone can’t do the same with modern materials. )
there are very few people who would prioritize a replaceable battery over other features.
I gotta gently push back against this. You may not know them personally, but there are a LOT of people who have gone back to dumbphones over this. IMO, this is a large part of why dumbphone sales are catching up on smartphone sales for the first time in years. I even know some elderly folks who stopped using cell phones entirely when smartphones stopped having replaceable batteries (easier to going back to having a landline when one is retired/not raising kids, of course).
There are very few people who buy the currently existing smartphones who would prioritize this feature, yes – because anyone who does prioritize this feature has been excluded from the entire smartphone market for several years now.
It’d also go well with modern battery packs, because you can just have a spare battery sitting and charging away in your bag, and can swap it on the fly, without having to have a cable dangling about that might get caught on things, or bent the wrong way.
The only downside with a replaceable battery is that you have to switch the phone off to do it, but that’s small potatoes for effectively charging the phone to full in an instant.
Please tell me what new design / feature precludes an easily changeable battery? The only one is supposedly the ever slimmer form factor, which is IMHO not actually that wanted because everyone I’ve ever seen immediately adds bulk back with a case. If the phone was a little thicker, more tough, and not glass all around, I could see people going back to not needing a case.
I think it’s extremely hard to tell what people would prioritize. If you aks them hypothetically, everyone probably is some green warrior for mother earth. But then when push comes to shove, the industry will give them the choice between a flagship phone, glued all around, and a phone with a removable battery with all the greatest specs from five years ago. Of course many will chose the glued one, and then some people will be like “welp, the free market has decided”. 🤷
edit: typo
greatest specs from five years ago. Of course many will chose the glued ond, and then some people will be like “welp, the free market has decided”. 🤷
This whole practice infuriates me to no end. The market has never truly been given a choice in any of these changes since every phone worth buying has copied the others (removing headphone jack, replaceable batteries, SD card slot, no charger, etc) all around the same time. Never stops sycophants from telling the rest of us that nobody wants these features ‘becuz da market sayz so.’
