this is a good idea, just like forcing apple to make their phones usbc
So many fuking cables
Oh, yeah, that usbc change was so positive
Never used an iphone so a bit out of the loop on what would be negative about it?
Nothing was negative about it other than Apple's manevolent compliance.
Apple's Lightning connector was initially an improvement on microUSB being kinda a not great connector/port. I can't remember if it also ran at a faster data rate than USB2 or if I'm just mixing up my history with FireWire.
But once USB-C became ubiquitous, Apple's continued insistence on the Lightning connector was more because being different became a social pressure to switch to and remain in the iOS ecosystem, plus they collect royalties on every lightning connector cable/device sold
yes, it was running at usb2 speeds which was considered slow in 2014. they intentionally limited it to force people to use iCloud to move data around devices instead of sending pictures over the cable.
ironically when they moved to the USB c ports with the 15 series. the base 15 was still usb2 speeds under the hood just with a new chip. the pro, plus, and pro max were faster iirc.
The EU again, making strides to improve consumer electronics. Thank you EU
They keep flip flopping between hero and villain. I'm getting a headache.
Thank you EU for making life better for literally everyone
they'll still block access to the battery in the US.
They didn't bother making a non-USB C iPhone for the US because it was easier to have one model. Could easily be the same. Plus the it's hard to argue they couldn't do it when they have done it in the EU.
Oh, you don't understand. US customers expect their phones to survive one month at a water depth of 11 km, so sadly it is impossible to let them have easily repairable batteries ... /s
Companies will just make EU specific devices and continue to fuck over the rest of us
This would require them to sacrifice significant economies of scale. With past EU legislation like this what has mostly happened is most devices are pretty much the same for the entire world, but some region-specific devices won't be compliant because they were never intended for sale in the EU in the first place
This has been a massive no-brainer for quite a while. I think the only iPhone that was pretty close to having this a reality was the iPhone 4, it was really easy to just slide the back open and swap the battery. Not as easy as it could be, but certainly close.
Repairability has never been an Apple thing.
I've replaced the keyboard on a Macbook, I swear there were 40 screw in that thing, and I'm not exaggerating for effect or anything. About every 2 keys it was screwed to the case from the bottom.
I've also done an iphone battery a couple times for friends, it's a nightmare, but now pretty much all phones are difficult. I have to do the batteries on my Razr soon and I'm not looking forward to it.
FWIW they’re definitely improving in that regard, probably because they know legislation like this is coming.
The iPhone 16 replaced the frustrating glue strips with a special adhesive that unsticks with an electric current, and the MacBook Neo is apparently really easy to get into for simple repairs.
Still a long way to go, but it’s encouraging.
At least it was screws, often the keyboard is now attached using "plastic rivets" where the plastic was intentionally melted around the holes. Makes replacement of just the keyboard almost impossible.
This was a thing with Samsung from the beginning all the way to the S7. The rational after that was the waterproof rating but I have a Zebra TC27 at work that's IP rated WITH ad repalcable battery. So it's easy to do, just cost more than not doing it and for Apple it's a revenue stream replacing batteries.
The s5 was also water resistant, same rating as every other water resistant galaxy since. Used to have 2 batteries and a separate battery charger so I could just hot swap. I don't think I ever actually plugged the phone into a charger.
I'm very curious how this will be handled by OEM's.
Water resistance is pretty much universal at this point, and as far as I know that's dependent on an airtight seal being maintained throughout the device.
The EU rule forbids use of tools, chemicals or heat to remove the battery. So how does Apple, Google etc retain the IP68 rating if the back is removable via screws?
I obviously think this is a really great step for mobile phones; I miss being able to carry a second battery for long trips back in the day. But I'm concerned that this will also make phones bulkier, heavier and less water resistant.
The Galaxy S5 was water resistant and had a replaceable battery. The main reason they stopped was that Apple was doing glass/metal phones without replaceable anything that still sold like pancakes, so Samsung moved to glass-back phones with the S6 and the rest of the OEMs eventually followed suit.
That is what gaskets are designed to do. Admittedly I haven't read the regulations, but they could even go as far as making the gasket "single use". Meaning the battery is user replaceable, but not meant to be constantly swapped. Removing the back cover could require replacing the gasket and using a specific torque value and sequence on the screws the same way you would on any other gasket interface meant to keep dust and liquids in or out.
They could also potentially start waterproofing the circuit boards themselves with conformal coating the way they do with mission critical hardware that needs to still function even if there is some amount of water ingress. I'm not saying I'd be happy with that solution, but it wouldn't surprise me if they did.
What would also work is waterproofing the phone except of the battery case and use a waterproof connector between the battery and the phone.
So what your saying is I could have a water cooled phone just like a pc
🇪🇺
Sadly, but I am pretty sure that companies will still find some loophole here and abuse it for their profit.
We will see bug this regilation has already real impact today. The new Neo from Apple is surprisinglx modular and its battery easy to replace with nothing more than s screw driver. Previous laptops were horrendous in this regard. Of course, that is only because Apple found its love for repairability and is not already preparing for the above regulation. Turns out also modern phone batteries can be easily replaceable. You'll see in a year.
Ah you see you need to buy the Apple brand specific battery for your safety. Inserting a non apple battery is too dangerous! (And doesn't obselete itself in two years)
John Apple has a tough path ahead of him
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