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

https://lemmy.world/post/3208029

All smartphones, including iPhones, must have replaceable batteries by 2027 in the EU - Lemmy.world

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

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.

Industrial design is about tradeoffs

Nope, for battery removal, nope!
Are you going to say that pentalobe screws is also a trade-off.

Also, smartphone are just too thin and it’s because you use a case that you tend to forget about it.

It’s fine to say that the tradeoff doesn’t matter to you because you’re fine with the extra size, but it’s kind of absurd to claim that there’s no tradeoff and also claim that the tradeoff isn’t a big deal in the same comment. Some people may prefer the slimmer size that non-removable batteries allow, and we should at least accept that a downside of this regulation is that those people will be left with fewer thin options, even if it doesn’t seem like a big deal to you or I.
My phone has a removable battery and it’s like 7-8mm thick.