All smartphones, including iPhones, must have replaceable batteries by 2027 in the EU::undefined

  • mlfh@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    Thank fucking god for the EU, for fighting for global digital rights where nobody else does.

      • Moc@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Anywhere that isn’t a fascist theocracy is hell on Earth to many republicans

        • Instigate@aussie.zone
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          1 year ago

          It’s funny how many of them unironically praise the Taliban. At least, it’s funny from my perspective looking in. I’m sure for a fellow citizen that’s a scary thought.

        • Queen HawlSera@lemm.ee
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          4 months ago

          I’m sure many places that are are still Hell because they aren’t majority white and not fascist enough.

        • Quokka@quokk.au
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          1 year ago

          They’re still liberal and give a lot more to corporations than they do people.

          • SnowdenHeroOfOurTime@unilem.org
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            1 year ago

            And yet to us Americans, we see that the EU does a billion times more for its citizens and we wish our country could be half as good about the things the EU does right.

              • SnowdenHeroOfOurTime@unilem.org
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                1 year ago

                Actually the Europeans I’ve talked to with a small couple of exceptions very much like their “welfare state” and mainly like America for its entertainment. They do not typically want to live here. I wish I could live in Europe badly

                • Anamana@feddit.de
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                  1 year ago

                  I mean I am European :D I wouldn’t wanna trade either. But there are definitely some people here who still believe in an American Dream or like the idea of earning more and spending less on taxes living in the US. Really depends who you ask.

      • Carighan Maconar@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        No wonder, while plenty right wing parties are on the rise here, too, overall people are at least somewhat less removed from actual reality.

    • PlantbasedChe@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      We have a fake economy. All investments, researching and efforts could be decided by state (we/public). Protecting society interests and not “investors” interests is an obligation

    • nostradiel@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      One sensible right doesn’t overweight the never-ending bullshit coming from them.

      And imo this is not a sensible right. To change a battery in phones is easy even now. All you need is heat gun (hairdryer), new battery, phone tape (2$ ali) and 30 mins of your time…

      Also watter resistance will take a hit… I wouldn’t sink my phone under watter with detachable back cover even if it had ip68 by producer. They don’t even cover it in reclamation now.

      • SuperSpecialNickname@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        Compare to how it used to be, removing the battery cover and replacing the battery on the fly. And water resistance with removable batteries has been and can be done. Stop with this nonsense.

      • Syrc@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        One sensible right doesn’t overweight the never-ending bullshit coming from them.

        True. Between the private healthcare, abortion rights, school shootings…

        Oh wait, you weren’t talking about the US?

  • cordlesslamp@lemmy.today
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    1 year ago

    Apple in 2027: This is not a battery, it’s a…umm … Ultra High Density Low Current Super Capacitor.

    • can@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      Say, “We at Apple, Think Different.” and refuse to be shepherded into the flock with the likes of the dirty android heathens. You can’t give in so easily. First, they’ll take your Lightning ports, then they’ll take your internal battery and IP68 rating, and before you know it, they’ll take your blue iMessage bubble too.

      At that point, why even bother? You might as well throw a Qualcomm Snapdragon in the next iPhone and call it a day. Congratulations Apple, you have the best UI of any Android phone on the market.

      What the actual fuck?

      You swear this isn’t satire?

      • Neshura@bookwormstory.social
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        1 year ago

        and before you know it, they’ll take your blue iMessage bubble too

        Nobody tell this guy what the EU’s Digital Markets Act means for Apple and iMessage…

    • Bogasse@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I love how higher IP rating is always the argument, it looks like everybody in this planet is doing daily deep diving and needs its smartphone to do that 😅

        • Fonzie!@ttrpg.network
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          1 year ago

          I have a Samsung Xcover (5, not 6) and this thing is such a breath of fresh air!

          16:9 screen, audio jack, good USB-C, SD card, removable battery, physical shortcut button that’s programmable to anything, decent performance (some newer phone games like Genshin don’t run well, but emulated NDS games or Morrowind? Just fine!)

          And this is SAMSUNG‽
          Where’s the world going‽

      • RaivoKulli@sopuli.xyz
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        1 year ago

        You’d think they’d figure out a way to have those high IP ratings and have removable batteries (they have afaik)

    • Tuggles@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I… Couldn’t even make it through the whole article. Absolutely insane.

    • madcaesar@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      We need SD cards more. They removed them so they can charge you 300 $ to upgrade 128gb and to force you into shitty cloud service.

      Again, just anti consumer bullshit spearheaded by Apple and gargled by Samsung.

      • el_bhm@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        I have flashbacks to using external storage on Android. It was such a shit show of an API. That being said, external storage, to break away from cloud storage is the next needed thing. We need to own the data.

        • beigegull@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          When you design an OS to pretend there’s no such thing as a file, it ends up being bad at handling files.

          • Croquette@sh.itjust.works
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            1 year ago

            Yeah, even today, browsing through files on Android is a fucking mess. And there isn’t an SD card.

            So the SD card wasn’t the problem

            • Matriks404@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              I was trying to figure out recently how do I copy files into application user data directory, it turns out you just can’t, lol.

              • bric@lemm.ee
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                1 year ago

                You can with very basic root tools, but really that just solidifies your point. It’s an easy thing to do, but they’ve intentionally taken away the ability for no good reason

              • Fonzie!@ttrpg.network
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                1 year ago

                Which did away with the headphone jack and asks €400 for crap performance.

                Nah I’m sticking to my Samsung XCover

                • LUHG@lemmy.world
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                  1 year ago

                  Xperia IV aren’t crap performance but they are 3x €400

                  It was the SOC that wasn’t great. Nothing to do with the manufacturers.

      • chaircat@lemdro.id
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        1 year ago

        Again, just anti consumer bullshit spearheaded by Apple and gargled by Samsung.

        Samsung was actually one of the later Android manufacturers to drop it is my recollection.

    • KCN@feddit.it
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      1 year ago

      Definitely. Never understood why some manufacturers removed jacks

      • sebinspace@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I personally prefer my bluetooth headphones, but it’s not like bluetooth and jacks can’t exist on the same device…

        Plus, pairing bluetooth in a car can be annoying as fuck. Looking at you, Nissan

          • limelight79@lemm.ee
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            1 year ago

            BT pairing in our Ram works fine, and it works fine with the aftermarket Pioneer radio in my car. I’ve never had a major issue with either one with any phone I’ve owned, iPhone or Android.

            For our Mazda, though, BT pairing does not work reliably with my Samsung S21 - it’s okay for phone calls (in fact, the car “steals” my calls if I’m on the phone at home and my wife gets home with the car), but for music it almost never works correctly, unless I’m also using Android Auto, which is rare because I just don’t need it for most day-to-day drives. The BT phone and music works fine for my wife’s iPhone, though.

            I blame the car - my phone works just fine with several sets of Bluetooth headsets, and the other two car stereos. I think Mazda just didn’t bother to do any debugging before they shipped that piece of shit to the dealers. (This theory is based on other bugs we’ve found in the infotainment system as well.)

          • Croquette@sh.itjust.works
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            1 year ago

            Because they do the bare minimum to meet the spec so that they could advertise it then. They still do the bare minimum now.

        • macrocephalic@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Yeah I want a headphone jack, but the truth is that I can’t remember the last time I used mine. I have an old phone plugged into an old amp that I can play Spotify through, otherwise I use bt.

        • KCN@feddit.it
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          1 year ago

          Yeah, they could coexist. I’m partial to non-bluetooth, but only because they come in shapes that I find more comfortable, and I’ve yet to find bluetooth ones that don’t make my ears hurt

      • SuperSpecialNickname@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        Money from selling true wireless earbuds was too enticing. Even Fairphone made them and removed headphone jack and spat nonsense that it was a “point of failure.”

      • samsy@feddit.de
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        1 year ago

        The argument was saving space for other parts. That’s true in a way. But if things needed we should have this space. What’s next? Saving the space of the charger? /s

      • Psiczar@aussie.zone
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        1 year ago

        Headphone jacks are a 19th century invention, if having them restricts innovation then I am all for removing them.

        • oce 🐆@jlai.lu
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          1 year ago

          We can’t only consider innovation today, we also have to consider its ecological impact. Jack plugs and headphones are way more durable than Bluetooth equivalent. I have 16 yo jack headset that still works perfectly, I only had to change the cushions twice.

          • brb@sh.itjust.works
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            1 year ago

            It’s specifically the wire that always breaks first. How can they be more durable?

            • ne0phyte@feddit.de
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              1 year ago

              You can repair a broken cable fairly easily. Especially on higher end headphones. Sometimes you can even buy replacement cables right from the manufacturer.

              When you buy wireless headphones you know upfront that they will die within a few years and you will not be able to replace the tiny glued in, oddly shaped batteries they come with.

              I like the convenience of BT at times, but I really miss having headphone jacks and hate having to bring adaptors with me.

            • oce 🐆@jlai.lu
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              1 year ago

              If you can financially, buy (second-hand) higher-end material, it will come with stronger wires and stronger connections.
              For example, see the difference in the constraints damper on these connectors:

              vs Apple’s:

              Jack being simple technology, it’s also very easy to get it repaired by the nearby tech enthusiast armed with a soldering iron.

          • Psiczar@aussie.zone
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            1 year ago

            So stop making any technological advancement because of the potential impact of e-waste? Not saying it’s a bad thing but it will have have its own environmental implications. No new energy development, we have to rely on existing oil and nuclear technology rather than investing in making renewable energy sources cheaper and more efficient.

            • oce 🐆@jlai.lu
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              It’s not an either-or situation, we can do both at the same time, we just have to consider environmental impact as an essential component of innovation.

            • Contend6248@feddit.de
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              1 year ago

              At the point we are at, yes we have to make a major change, e-waste is an immense problem for many years and we are only starting to fight it.

              Inventions not thinking about e-waste at all shouldn’t be allowed anymore.

            • PeachMan@lemmy.one
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              1 year ago

              What’s the practical alternative to headphone jacks? Bluetooth is crap and carrying around extra dongles is annoying.

                • PeachMan@lemmy.one
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                  1 year ago

                  Practical for some scenarios, but impractical in others. A headphone jack also offers better sound quality overall and a less flaky connection, with no audio cutouts. It’s not just latency, it’s a superior and more reliable way to transmit high quality audio. And there’s no battery to worry about charging. And a standard set of wired headphones can last for DECADES while a Bluetooth headset will start to die in about five years or less because the battery is non-replaceable lithium-ion. And there’s no concern about whether your wired headphones are optimized for Android or iPhone, it’s a standardized connector with an identical experience on both. And there’s no issue with wireless interference on the 2.4GHz band that Bluetooth operates on.

                  I can come up with more if you want.

        • KCN@feddit.it
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          1 year ago

          Technically 20th century, if I’m not mistaken? I just don’t see how they would restrict innovation, I guess

            • KCN@feddit.it
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              1 year ago

              Interesting! It’s cool to know how stuff we use/used was developed

            • LUHG@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              By that logic let’s just replace the most superior household plug. The 3 pin UK plug.

        • rambaroo@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          A “19th century” technology that objectively produces better sound quality and uses less energy. And I already have wired earbuds and headsets.

    • FireWire400@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I’d be almost ready to say that we don’t need them any more if Bluetooth headphones were about 100x better and cheaper

      • T156@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        At the same time, wired earphones/headphones are already just as good with a lot less parts/complexity.

        You don’t need batteries, radios, and chips for coding/decoding a signal coming out of a headphone jack. You can just plumb it straight into the speakers. No need to mess with controls and all of that, which would make them a lot cheaper.

        • beatensoup@baraza.africa
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          1 year ago

          Don’t forget how new Bluetooth headphones require that you download an app to set up the headphone. So a whole new data harvesting broker forces itself right where an audiojack used to be.

          Check on the AppStore’s the kind of personal data one has to handover to tune the headphones. Total fuckery!

      • cjthomp@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Still too much lag. I love my QC45s, but there’s still just enough lag to bother me

        • zik@aussie.zone
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          1 year ago

          But now you have to charge two things rather than one. Some people would prefer not to have to do that.

      • raptir@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        Bluetooth headphones are solid now, as long as you have something that supports aptx HD and LL (HD for music, LL for movies/games). But yeah they’re not cheap.

  • UnderScore@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    The fact that some of the gen Z crowd think it will be horrible have forgotten that it was much easier to carry 2 batteries and swap them out vs carrying a charger and cable with you everywhere. Pop in the new battery, power it on and carry on with you now full battery phone. Being tethered to a wall so you can have 10% from 20 minutes of charging is crazy.

    • chaircat@lemdro.id
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      1 year ago

      I used to do this. I thought it was awesome but I was literally the only person I ever knew who did this. It was not a popular thing to do.

      • Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        Zero lemon had them so cheap that I had 4 extra batteries (they also had the extended batteries that would last forever but the cases were janky). I would keep one at work, one by the door to take with me and two at home if you include the one in my phone that I would swap out. I rarely charged my phone at all, just the batteries. I loved it.

      • focusedkiwibear@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Most people did not do this nor needed to since the very beginning of cell phones

        We literally do not need replaceable batteries in 2023

        • PanchoAventuras@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Maybe, but you have to admit that battery live used to be longer (specially pre-smartphones), if your phone could comfortably last a couple of days there was less need to have portable power.

          I fondly remember the convenience of having a flat, replaceable battery in my pocket even in the early Android days, and I’ve missed it ever since it went away.

    • andrew@lemmy.stuart.fun
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      Don’t forget the option to carry a 30lb battery bank everywhere with you so you’re at least tethered to something marginally more movable than a wall.

      Seriously though, I miss my phone+battery in one charger and the ability to restart with full battery at around 4pm.

      • Chriskmee@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        I know you are intentionally exaggerating a bit, but they do make pretty small portable chargers. I have an Anker PowerCore 5000, it has 1-2 full charges depending on your phone, and easily fits in a pocket

    • Blackmist@feddit.uk
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      The main reason I’m thinking of upgrading my mid-range phone now is the battery is on its last legs.

      In fairness it’s lasted 6 years, which is two years more than my Nexus 4 got. Pokemon Go eventually killed that.

      I don’t know when we all just collectively accepted that batteries should last one day and not a second more. Sure, it’s doing more than a Nokia 3310 ever did, but sometimes you really do need it to last more than that, like when travelling.

      • Echo Dot@feddit.uk
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        1 year ago

        You’re not going to get a bigger battery though. Battery size is a pretty much maxed out, the only way to make a battery bigger would be to make the battery physically bigger. This would make the phone bigger / heavier. So it’s not going to happen.

        If you are waiting on some magic new battery chemistry it’ll come along eventually but you’ll be waiting a while, and stubbornly not having a replaceable battery in the meantime isn’t going to make any difference.

        • Riven@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          There’s some huge battery breakthroughs going on right now. You’re right though, I would give it another 5 or so before they’re widespread among phones.

    • Syrc@lemmy.world
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      What is this sorcery? Wouldn’t this cause issues with internal clock and stuff?

      • T156@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Not really. The phone, especially these days, would just synchronise the internal clock as soon as it got internet access, and unless you’re leaving it powered down for long periods of time, there’s enough power for it to keep the last set time, if it doesn’t keep it indefinitely.

        • Syrc@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Huh. My mom has a flip phone that messes everything up when the battery comes off so I figured that it would be the same for newer ones too.

          If switching batteries is actually doable with next to zero inconveniences… 2027 can’t come soon enough.

          • T156@lemmy.world
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            Huh. My mom has a flip phone that messes everything up when the battery comes off so I figured that it would be the same for newer ones too.

            Assuming you mean an older flip phone, those tended to have problems (they probably had no way to fetch the time compared to modern smartphones), but they’ve not been an issue for a while, in my experience.

            I regularly swapped the batteries on my old Nokia/Samsung smartphones without running into clock problems at all, since they would synchronise the moment they connected to the network, and got internet access, if they didn’t keep the time in the first place.

            • Syrc@lemmy.world
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              It’s from 2011 (it’s also not a flip but a slider, I messed up my terminology), if the issue got solved since then that’s great.

    • shinjiikarus@mylem.eu
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      1 year ago

      This. People read this and think about the removable batteries of Nokia bricks and plastic hardshells, but this would really hamper with IP68 rating. It probably just means the users must be able to replace the battery themselves, instead of artificially locking it down with DRM. And maybe provide some documentation. Otherwise phones would become so much worse, than they have been for more than a decade.

      • ∟⊔⊤∦∣≶@lemmy.nz
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        1 year ago

        Louis was saying ‘Does everyone have collective amnesia?? We had IP68 phones with removable batteries already!’

        • shinjiikarus@mylem.eu
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          I only remember the Samsung rugged ones, which do not look great. Some compromise will be needed to get removable batteries into phones. Compromises the buyer of a gold iPhone Pro Max to flex their wealth won’t appreciate. Not DRMing batteries and giving users access to documentation and tools for replacing the battery requires almost no compromise from no one (except a tiny dent in Apple‘s balance sheet, which they will recover from, I’m sure).

          • PaddyP@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            The Samsung galaxy S5 were IP67 rated with removable battery.

            • T156@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              They also featured optional wireless charging, despite you being able to pop open the back and replace the battery.

  • Nioxic@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    It’s NOT just phones.

    It’s EVERYTHING with a battery. Including cars, laptops, e-bikes, video game controllers, headphones etc. (im not even sure if there are exceptions, such as tiny tiny “airpod” like things… ?)

    And they must be (with a few exceptions) replacable by a “layman”, without the use of special tools - which means no heat pads, to soften up glue etc etc. (and for gods sake, i hope it also means apple can’t hardwareID lock a battery)

    an exception mentioned in the EU document about the law says, high power batteries for example in an electric car, must be done by a profesional - but of course it still has to be “replacable” and not… tear the whole car apart and rebuild it using new batteries.

    replacable batteries in headphones, bluetooth mice, laptops etc, is gonna be awesome.

    and lets not forget, they have to recycle the old ones - and produce new batteries using recycled materials.

    in fact, i will try to hold on replacing my current (2 year old) phone, and wait to get one before 2027. Usually the battery turns to shit in 3ish years.

  • lolcatnip@reddthat.com
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    1 year ago

    Stand back everyone, I’m going to attempt nuance.

    Industrial design is about tradeoffs. Making the battery easily replaceable will come with drawbacks. Maybe it’ll be size, or water resistance, or durability, but something will have to be compromised. The extent of the compromises remains to be seen, and people will have different opinions about whether it’s worth it.

    Ordinarily I’m not a fan of regulators making product design decisions, because that’s exactly the kind of thing market forces are supposed to be good at. In this case, though, there’s a demand that’s clearly not being met, and companies clearly have a vested interest in pushing consumers toward replacing their old hardware rather than repairing it, which creates externalities markets are unable to account for. Market failures like this are exactly the kind of situation where government regulation is needed.

  • Thorny_Thicket@sopuli.xyz
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    1 year ago

    My current device and the two before that all have had removable batteries. I’ve always thought built in batteries are stupid and it’s nice to finally notice that other people agree. Hopefully they next mandate that it has to be able to be taken apart with a screwdriver and spare parts must be able to be purchased straight from the manufacturer.

    • rab@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      Ya the only reason I get new phones is because the battery gets too weak. I could easily keep the same device for 5+ years if I could swap batteries

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        1 year ago

        The only reason I get new phones is cos OS updates stop flowing. That happens way before I notice any battery degradation. This law solves nothing.

        • rab@lemmy.ca
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          1 year ago

          I’m an android guy but you can solve that problem by going iPhone if so inclined

            • zik@aussie.zone
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              1 year ago

              Samsung and Google support their current generation phones for five years. Apple supports theirs for seven years from when they’re last sold.

            • rab@lemmy.ca
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              1 year ago

              I’m not sure but a lot longer than android

          • ShittyRedditWasBetter@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Yes. $15 and an hour. You can bring in your own battery or pay ~$60 USD for an official one. It’s all very easy.

            This law won’t change shit. People are still going to dump their phone every 2 year.

    • bric@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      Hopefully they next mandate that it has to be able to be taken apart with a screwdriver

      It does include that, mostly. It says that any tools that aren’t commonly available without proprietary rights or restrictions (i.e. screwdrivers) have to be provided by the manufacturers free of charge

    • June@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      I prefer ip68 to easily accessible battery. I’ll need to change my battery maybe once every 3 years, but I need to know it can handle moisture far more often than that.

      • Thorny_Thicket@sopuli.xyz
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        1 year ago

        I prefer ip68 to easily accessible battery

        You can have both. My Galaxy XCover 6Pro is ip68 rated.

        The another benefit with removable batteries is that if you have two you can go from 0 to 100% charge in about a minute.

        • Comment105@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          This is why I want replaceable batteries in small EVs like bikes and such, too.

          And why I have thought for a while that it would be nice to have maybe 30% or so of electric car batteries be replacable with a moderately large rack in the “frunk” or trunk. But that’s just me.

          • __dev@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Most of the ebikes and motor scooters I’ve seen have removable batteries. Gogoro in India even has a battery swapping network for their scooters.

            • Comment105@lemm.ee
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              1 year ago

              Gogoro’s existence is kinda bittersweet, it shows that it’s possible, but that companies aren’t willing to standardize and cooperate to make it the status quo and actually possible to build swap stations for globally, of even across just Europe.

              Ideally I’d want to see a plan where an e-bike or electric kickscooter takes one or two, and motorcycles take a few more. Idk if you could make batteries in that form-factor and put 12 or so into a car to gain enough miles to make a difference. Perhaps eventually, if we get the energy density gains we’re hoping for.

              Car-wise, I have no expectation that the industry will shift towards low weight and drag like Aptera is pushing for, so I don’t expect efficiency gains that way.

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            This isn’t a replacement, but I have said for years now that someone needs to market a rentable tow-behind or rooftop battery sort of like U-Hauls for extra capacity needed for longer trips.

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              1 year ago

              People have tried it. The extra drag of a trailer or roof box consumes most of the extra energy that they carry.

      • NeoNachtwaechter@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I prefer ip68 to easily accessible battery.

        All it needs is that little rubber band, and you have to handle it carefully when closing the lid.

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        Psst those Brands are not your friends and might lie about their reasons to make batteries non-removable.

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        Any moderately well built phone won’t die just because you took it out in the rain.

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        1 year ago

        I have a handheld marine vhf radio with a removable battery that I can throw in the ocean and it will work and continue to work for days. Don’t believe the bs the manufacturers tell you.

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    1 year ago

    Coming soon from Apple. Screws that require a 4D tesseract shaped screwdriver to undo.

    But if you can undo them, feel free to change the battery.

    • Echo Dot@feddit.uk
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      1 year ago

      The EU defines user replaceable as you can remove the batteries with common tools. Common tools is defined as a Phillips or flathead screwdriver. So even Nintendo and their stupid try-force screw thing won’t be acceptable.

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        If that’s really the definition, it’s an awful definition and exactly why we shouldn’t regulate stuff like this. Torx are objectively better than Philips or flathead in every possible way.

        • Echo Dot@feddit.uk
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          As long as the tool isn’t proprietary it’s acceptable. If I can go to a hardware store and buy the interface tool then it’s fine, but it’s not fine if I have to get it from a special manufacturer or if it’s proprietary.

          In the case of Nintendo I gave; Nintendo have their proprietary tri-headed screw. They do not make The tri-headed screwdriver publicly available, of course companies have copied them and so you can get one that way, but they’re not official, so my understanding is that that would not be acceptable. Nintendo would have to officially release the tri-headed screw design, and they’re probably just more likely to switch to a different already public screw design.

          I also think they are allowed to just glue the batteries in as long as they have pull tabs. Which is probably the better option.

          My point is Apple won’t be allowed to just come up with some brand new screw design that no one else has ever seen before. Unless they open source the screw head. In which case I guess it doesn’t matter. But they’re not going to do that because there would be no point.

          • samsy@feddit.de
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            That’s the reason I bought a set of screwdrivers for apple and there was also the tri-headed included. It was just 5 bucks and I am really happy with them.

            Anyway, I just hope they go further in their law like a replacement without any screws. Why not just use the way a laptop battery will be changed? Just click it out easy.

          • Wintermute@lemmy.villa-straylight.social
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            Well if you broaden the definition that much, then it sounds like iPhone batteries are already user replaceable since I can easily purchase the necessary tools from iFixIt.

            • Echo Dot@feddit.uk
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              Again, this is not official. Just because somebody has grogged a way too interface with their proprietary screw heads doesn’t mean that the design is public domain, and the requirement is that the tool set is public domain. Apple’s screw heads are not better than Phillips heads so they’re only doing it to be awkward that’s the point, they’re not allowed to do that anymore. So just because you can technically get the screwdrivers doesn’t make it acceptable.

              You’re acting like I’m being unreasonable I’m just telling you what the law is it’s not my fault you haven’t read up on it

          • Echo Dot@feddit.uk
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            1 year ago

            Most batteries are currently held in with some sticky glue, so I’m sure 4 random off the shelf screws would be sufficient. We’re not mounting plasma screen TVs to plasterboard here.

          • Yendor@reddthat.com
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            As someone who works with small electronics, Phillips is NOT perfectly fine at small sizes. Below a PH1, the torque required to unscrew a long thread and the torque required to cam-out and strip the head get very close together.

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          I agree that Torx might be better for things that require a lot of torque, but mobile phones?

          • aard@kyu.de
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            1 year ago

            I just stripped half the screw head in my steam deck because none of my bits would fit just exactly right. I’d have been thrilled about finding torx there.

    • PraiseTheSoup@lemm.ee
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      I’m sure apple will happily sell you the proprietary tool to turn their proprietary screws for a very reasonable price.

      • Echo Dot@feddit.uk
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        They’re not allowed to do that. The tool design has to be freely available for any manufacturer to fabricate free of charge, they’re not allowed to try and use this as a profit making exercise.

        I don’t know why it is that every single time the EU comes up with a law there’s always people in the comments that say it’s a bad law and that they haven’t thought it out, when they’ve not read the documentation. All of the little tricks that the companies might come up with to turn this to their advantage have already being thought of and protected against. This is exactly what happened with the mandating the USB-C port.

        • bric@lemm.ee
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          Exactly, the law definitely defines that the tools have to be commonly available with no restrictions or proprietary rights, and that any tools that don’t fit under that definition must be provided free of charge. It also lists a few practices that are outright banned regardless of availability, like needing thermal or chemical tools. They’ve been very thorough.

        • rar@discuss.online
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          Laws being made in good faith and corporations taking advantage of ambiguities or loopholes for “compliance” has been the staple of western corporate lore. I’m sure many of those commenters would love replaceable batteries with usb-c port on their phones too.

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    1 year ago

    Honestly good. Usb C is so good.

    I have a couple of 100w chargers around the house, no messing about can charge nearly everything at full speed.

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    Pesky EU throwing their weight around giving consumers more rights! --Brexiteer logic

    Oh well hopefully we’ll (UK) still benefit from it. Easier to design one phone than “EU” and “Rest of world” versions after all.

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    Can’t want to be able to buy used phone and just pop in new battery. Still we need a law to allow easier mobile operating systems development for third-parties.

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    They should also demand unlocked boot loaders and open drivers for all devices. That or steep penalties if they don’t support the devices for at least 10 years. We should have manuals and specifications for every component, really. We really need to reduce waste.