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[Patrick S.]

Lifted the thread title straight from Louis Rossmann's video that just came out.



This is really great news, will result in much less electronic waste from phones that get trashed because a repair is too expensive or leaves the users without their phones for however long it takes to replace the battery.

I'm glad when this crap with the glued together glass bottom phones ends and we return to what was normal a few years ago: phone batteries you can replace yourself in a minute.

 

[64bitmodels]

While they're at it the EU should make a mandate that all phones should come with a headphone jack & SD card slot.

These guys are gonna start a second golden age of smartphones

 

[feynoob]

While they're at it the EU should make a mandate that all phones should come with a headphone jack & SD card slot.

These guys are gonna start a second golden age of smartphones

bluetooth and more built in storage is better these days,
Make 256 gb storage minimum these days.

 

[Patrick S.]

While they're at it the EU should make a mandate that all phones should come with a headphone jack & SD card slot.

These guys are gonna start a second golden age of smartphones

Haha yeah, just yesterday I wanted to plug my Audio Technica headset into my iPhone 12 to listen to a podcast because my ear buds were out of charge, before I remembered that I couldn't do that

 

[Cyberpunkd]

Haha yeah, just yesterday I wanted to plug my Audio Technica headset into my iPhone 12 to listen to a podcast because my ear buds were out of charge, before I remembered that I couldn't do that

You can with a dongle.

 

[Patrick S.]

bluetooth and more built in storage is better these days,
Make 256 gb storage minimum these days.

My previous phone was an S10+ with 512 GB that was full of memes and porn, so going to my current 128GB iPhone I thought I'd fill it up in a month, but no, I've had it for almost a year and I still have plenty of free storage on it

 

[Trogdor1123]

Usually I’m against these kind of actions but in this case, I’m all for it. I wish they went a touch further and added other components too.

 

[feynoob]

My previous phone was an S10+ with 512 GB that was full of memes and porn, so going to my current 128GB iPhone I thought I'd fill it up in a month, but no, I've had it for almost a year and I still have plenty of free storage on it

Same here. i have 128 gb in house storage and 128gb for sd card. i have yet to use my sd card.

 

[64bitmodels]

Same here. i have 128 gb in house storage and 128gb for sd card. i have yet to use my sd card.

when you don't use spotify and store your music locally, 128gb is small as fuck. My music folder is 200 gigs of FLAC audio and some MP3s.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

Also before people go it destroys innovation - no it does not. It destroys companies’ ability to force you to buy their new product because fuck the planet.
Every electronic should be reparable at a fraction of original cost. You want people to buy new products, make them worth being bought instead of a marginal upgrade.

 

[feynoob]

when you don't use spotify and store your music locally, 128gb is small as fuck. My music folder is 200 gigs of FLAC audio and some MP3s.

That is some serious dedication.

 

[Pallas]

Going to be interesting to see how Apple deals with this since all of their phones do not have removable batteries.

 

[winjer]

This is great news for consumers and for the environment.
Lets hope more governments around the world will follow.

 

[64bitmodels]

Going to be interesting to see how Apple deals with this since all of their phones do not have removable batteries.

I think it's gonna get to the point where they might pull out of the EU entirely

Ideally for me they'd just comply and make their batteries removable, just so that apple gets fucked over for being greedy and their customers can repair their phones at a cheap price

 

[winjer]

Going to be interesting to see how Apple deals with this since all of their phones do not have removable batteries.

Apple will just make up technical excuses about it and complain that the EU is bad.

 

[zeomax]

The idea is great but they made an exception that devices which are waterproof can still be sold with non replaceable batteries. Sadly nothing will change because the manufactures will of course exploit this exception and continue sell phones with glued in batteries.

 

[64bitmodels]

That is some serious dedication.

yeah. I honestly don't see it getting much bigger unless i see some new form of music that i get obsessed with, but I like to have extra space just to be safe- you never know when it could really come in handy.

for me, if you're gonna remove SD cards as a form of upgradability, all flagship, current day phones should come with 512GB minimum. When the Steam Deck offers 512GB on an (upgradeable) SSD for 600 dollars there's no reason a 800-1200 dollar phone using cheaper EMMC flash storage has 512GB as the max. That being said, with all the cloud solutions these days they probably think they can get away with lowballing us on gigs...

 

[Pallas]

I think it's gonna get to the point where they might pull out of the EU entirely

Ideally for me they'd just comply and make their batteries removable, just so that apple gets fucked over for being greedy and their customers can repair their phones at a cheap price

Would that make sense though? I don’t know their market share in the EU, so it might be minuscule.

Apple will just make up technical excuses about it and complain that the EU is bad.

Probably so, but I’m wondering if it’s worth challenging or even exiting the market over a design change.

I do not know the pros and cons of a removable battery vs one that’s built within the phone so I’m really ignorant if one’s being built in is suppose to offer a some kind of benefit because it seems the high end android phones are the same way.

 

[feynoob]

yeah. I honestly don't see it getting much bigger unless i see some new form of music that i get obsessed with, but I like to have extra space just to be safe- you never know when it could really come in handy.

for me, if you're gonna remove SD cards as a form of upgradability, all flagship, current day phones should come with 512GB minimum. When the Steam Deck offers 512GB on an (upgradeable) SSD for 600 dollars there's no reason a 700-1200 dollar phone using cheaper EMMC flash storage has 512GB as the max. That being said, with all the cloud solutions these days they probably think they can get away with lowballing us on gigs...

I hate those cloud storages as they can disappear at any time.

 

[Pallas]

The idea is great but they made an exception that devices which are waterproof can still be sold with non replaceable batteries. Sadly nothing will change because the manufactures will of course exploit this exception and continue sell phones with glued in batteries.

That’s an interesting part of the law then. iPhones currently are only water resistant to a certain degree, right? Since there’s a difference.

 

[ManaByte]

That’s an interesting part of the law then. iPhones currently are only water resistant to a certain degree, right? Since there’s a difference.

Most newer models are IP68.

About splash, water, and dust resistance of iPhone 7 and later - Apple Support

Learn about splash, water, and dust resistance on your iPhone.

support.apple.com

 

[Pallas]

Most newer models are IP68.

About splash, water, and dust resistance of iPhone 7 and later - Apple Support

Learn about splash, water, and dust resistance on your iPhone.

support.apple.com

But isn’t that still different from being waterproof?

 

[zeomax]

That’s an interesting part of the law then. iPhones currently are only water resistant to a certain degree, right? Since there’s a difference.

I hope they redefine the law so that this exception is only applicable to devices that are specifically made for use in wet environment and not for home electronics.

 

[LordCBH]

I’m in favor of this.

 

[midnightAI]

No thanks, waterproof slim, light phones that are not design hampered by removable back and using premium materials such as glass/aluminium please.

 

[willothedog]

I think it's gonna get to the point where they might pull out of the EU entirely

Ideally for me they'd just comply and make their batteries removable, just so that apple gets fucked over for being greedy and their customers can repair their phones at a cheap price

3/4 billion people in the EU and a third of mobile users are iPhone

They would not pull out

 

[funkygunther]

But isn’t that still different from being waterproof?

it depends entirely what the law says, I doubt it says "waterproof" but I can't find any document on it one way or another

 

[6502]

Good, they can put the sd slots back in whilst they are it.

 

[FullMetalx117]

Hopefully this new rule doesn’t actually mean much - I think iPhones are technically waterproof (not in reality) so they can still glue and make phones slim. Would hate if removable batter packs came back

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

Take that f*cking apple

 

[ÆMNE22A!C]

Shame. I love glue.

 

[DrFigs]

All phones will now be waterproof. which is pretty neat imo

 

[sankt-Antonio]

Would rock my 12mini for years to come if it had easily removable (official) batteries. I don't game on phones, its doing everything I need it for and going to need it for the next 10 years. Smartphones have peaked cpu/gpu wise. I have a dedicated camera for photos. These things need to last until they get lost or get broken beyond repair.

This should be coupled with the USB-C effort.

 

[Themacabre]

I guess I don't understand who this is for. Seems like it will cause weird design decisions that will make the phones worse overall?

Perhaps I am biased, since I've never had a phone battery die on me before I have replaced the phone for a variety of other reasons, but I fail to see how this is an interesting feature at all.

 

[64bitmodels]

I fail to see how this is an interesting feature at all.

being able to take the battery out and replace it with a new or alternate one is quite a big deal. If your phone is dead and you've got a friend nearby with a compatible battery, you could swap them temporarily if you need to do something urgent. Or buy 2 of the same battery in your phone to extend your battery life, removing the need for a battery pack.

 

[Yoda]

Not an expert, but won't this make devices harder to waterproof?

 

[K' Dash]

I remember swapping batteries with friends to do whatever on my phone and then swapping again.

Also, having battery that last only a day sucks donkey balls, you’d think by now we would be able to have batteries that last a week at least.

 

[64bitmodels]

Not an expert, but won't this make devices harder to waterproof?

All phones will now be waterproof. which is pretty neat imo

No thanks, waterproof slim, light phones that are not design hampered by removable back and using premium materials such as glass/aluminium please.

Do you guys have constant rain or are you using your phones in the summer pool or what???? Drop them in the toilet too much? Can't seem to stop spilling your drink on them??

Is waterproofness really a thing that you DESPERATELY NEED in day to day situations? With some basic intelligence and common sense, alongside being careful with technology, you'll never need any of this "waterproof" crap.

 

[Patrick S.]

I remember swapping batteries with friends to do whatever on my phone and then swapping again.

Also, having better that last only a day sucks donkey balls, you’d think by now we would be able to have batteries that last a week at least.

Yeah man, back then when I had a Nokia 6110, I often lent my battery to my friend who had a 5110 that was always running out of battery Later on I had a Nokia 6600 that had the same battery as my external GPS antenna, and sometimes I used the battery of the GPS inside my Nokia when I forgot to charge the phone’s battery but needed to make a call. Can’t do anything like that anymore…

 

[Yoda]

Do you guys have constant rain or are you using your phones in the summer pool or what???? Drop them in the toilet too much? Can't seem to stop spilling your drink on them??

Is waterproofness really a thing that you DESPERATELY NEED in day to day situations? With some basic intelligence and common sense, alongside being careful with technology, you'll never need any of this "waterproof" crap.

Did my conversation piece/question tigger you? It's a heavily advertised feature and is nice piece of mind when it's raining/at the pool etc... If it is an issue (didn't say it was), it ought to be considered.

 

[Patrick S.]

Do you guys have constant rain or are you using your phones in the summer pool or what???? Drop them in the toilet too much? Can't seem to stop spilling your drink on them??

Is waterproofness really a thing that you DESPERATELY NEED in day to day situations? With some basic intelligence and common sense, alongside being careful with technology, you'll never need any of this "waterproof" crap.

I used to have all kind of phones in my pocket when I lived on an island and went to the beach or swimming pool super often, and I’ve never ever had water damage on a phone.

 

[midnightAI]

Do you guys have constant rain or are you using your phones in the summer pool or what???? Drop them in the toilet too much? Can't seem to stop spilling your drink on them??

Is waterproofness really a thing that you DESPERATELY NEED in day to day situations? With some basic intelligence and common sense, alongside being careful with technology, you'll never need any of this "waterproof" crap.

I am a mountain biker, I try not to go out in the rain but yes my phone gets wet occasionally (waterproof mounts aren't that great either.

Also, in the past I have actually dropped a non waterproof phone (banana yellow Nokia Lumia 920) in a sink full of water, killed it less than 1yr of ownership, phone manufacturers won't fix/replace due water damage.

Also, do you never use your phone in the bath? Never got caught in a thunderstorm and got soaked through? Nice knowing its safe if it does get wet.

Oh and I live in the UK, so, yeh, wet weather (except this past month, phew, hot)

 

[64bitmodels]

Also, do you never use your phone in the bath?

well, no. Why would I when I know it might get screwed up? not to mention touchscreens don't go well with water....

 

[midnightAI]

What I would agree with is removable batteries that had the charging circuit and USB port on them. That way you can replace the whole lot.

Almost every phone I have had that has gone faulty is either the USB port or the charging circuit never the battery itself.

 

[midnightAI]

well, no. Why would I when I know it might get screwed up? not to mention touchscreens don't go well with water....

Because you can if you know it won't get screwed up?

Never had an issue with touchscreen and water, wipe it clear and works perfectly fine, they don't get damaged if exposed to water (with IP68, at least in my experience)

 

[Patrick S.]

I am a mountain biker, I try not to go out in the rain but yes my phone gets wet occasionally (waterproof mounts aren't that great either.

Also, in the past I have actually dropped a non waterproof phone (banana yellow Nokia Lumia 920) in a sink full of water, killed it less than 1yr of ownership, phone manufacturers won't fix/replace due water damage.

Also, do you never use your phone in the bath? Never got caught in a thunderstorm and got soaked through? Nice knowing its safe if it does get wet.

Oh and I live in the UK, so, yeh, wet weather (except this past month, phew, hot)

User replaceable batteries doesn't mean "non waterproof". You can have little screws and rubber gaskets on the back cover. Or if you take your phone to do outdoor stuff in the UK you could just carry a pouch or ziploc bag for emergencies. It's not super convenient, but it's a price I'd be more than willing to pay if it means I can have a phone I can grab a new battery for for a couple bucks and keep it trucking. And it's convenient to have a spare battery while travelling. I guess a power bank will cover this, too, to be fair.

 

[midnightAI]

User replaceable batteries doesn't mean "non waterproof". You can have little screws and rubber gaskets on the back cover. Or if you take your phone to do outdoor stuff in the UK you could just carry a pouch or ziploc bag for emergencies. It's not super convenient, but it's a price I'd be more than willing to pay if it means I can have a phone I can grab a new battery for for a couple bucks and keep it trucking. And it's convenient to have a spare battery while travelling. I guess a power bank will cover this, too, to be fair.

Yeh, I just use a power bank. You see for me I never really have an issue with battery life, I charge every night (wireless charging) and that is enough. Everyone will be different, I have never had a battery fail in a premium device (I have in the past with an old Nokia, but my bad, shouldnt have bought a cheap backup battery (which is another issue with user replaceable and the cheap knock off batteries on Amazon/Ebay etc., an exploding battery in a phone is not a good thing)) so for me personally I'd rather have future phone design go all out, be innovative and not be restricted by having to have a removable battery (for example what if a clamshell with a flexible screen had a flexible battery that covered the entirety of the phone... off the top of my head, but foldables will definitely be affected)

This legislation isnt about the ability to buy multiple batteries so you can keep going for longer or if damaged (yes thats a nice to have), that would actually go against why this legislation is being brought in in the first place. This legislation is to do with waste, which is nice, I'm all for saving the environment, but here is the issue for me....
I change my phone every two years, I dont do it for battery replacement reasons
If I had the ability to swap batteries then I'd probably would go out and buy multiple batteries
2 years comes around and I swap phones
Instead of 1 phone and 1 battery to dispose of there is now a phone and multiple batteries because you can be darn certain the next phone I upgrade to wont use the same batteries

Now I get it, that isnt the same for everyone, and a lot of people keep phones for years and so they may get to the point they are changing their phone for legitimate battery reasons, but I personally dont know many people who do that, they all change their phones when their phone contract is up regardless if they need one or not in most cases, we are so used to having a 2 year phone contract that when it expires we get a new phone (in the UK)

The simple solution is to give people a choice, but that would be up to the manufacturers to make premium devices with both replaceable batteries and none replaceable batteries which is great for the consumer, but no good for the EU legislation.

 

[Sleepwalker]

Thank you EU for supporting right to repair.

 

[Patrick S.]

Yeh, I just use a power bank. You see for me I never really have an issue with battery life, I charge every night (wireless charging) and that is enough. Everyone will be different, I have never had a battery fail in a premium device (I have in the past with an old Nokia, but my bad, shouldnt have bought a cheap backup battery (which is another issue with user replaceable and the cheap knock off batteries on Amazon/Ebay etc., an exploding battery in a phone is not a good thing)) so for me personally I'd rather have future phone design go all out, be innovative and not be restricted by having to have a removable battery (for example what if a clamshell with a flexible screen had a flexible battery that covered the entirety of the phone... off the top of my head, but foldables will definitely be affected)

This legislation isnt about the ability to buy multiple batteries so you can keep going for longer or if damaged (yes thats a nice to have), that would actually go against why this legislation is being brought in in the first place. This legislation is to do with waste, which is nice, I'm all for saving the environment, but here is the issue for me....
I change my phone every two years, I dont do it for battery replacement reasons
If I had the ability to swap batteries then I'd probably would go out and buy multiple batteries
2 years comes around and I swap phones
Instead of 1 phone and 1 battery to dispose of there is now a phone and multiple batteries because you can be darn certain the next phone I upgrade to wont use the same batteries

Now I get it, that isnt the same for everyone, and a lot of people keep phones for years and so they may get to the point they are changing their phone for legitimate battery reasons, but I personally dont know many people who do that, they all change their phones when their phone contract is up regardless if they need one or not in most cases, we are so used to having a 2 year phone contract that when it expires we get a new phone (in the UK)

The simple solution is to give people a choice, but that would be up to the manufacturers to make premium devices with both replaceable batteries and none replaceable batteries which is great for the consumer, but no good for the EU legislation.

I think the main beneficiaries will be people who can't or don't want to spend a lot of money on phones. If someone has a €120 phone and has the battery on it die or bulging up (it happens) and it costs €75 to have the battery replaced at some shady shop, they'll probably toss the otherwise fine device and just buy a new €120 phone.

However, if hey could just go to Media Markt and buy a new battery, they can just fix their phone for maybe €15 or whatever a battery may cost. I had to replace the battery on my Galaxy S4, and if I remember correctly, the original battery from Samsung was less than €20.

I don't have a cellphone contract, so I don't change phones every two years. I used to buy a new flagship every two years, until phones became so good, that doing that just wasn't necessary anymore. I can see myself using my iPhone 12 Pro Max for another five years, easily. However, for some time now, I've noticed that the phone gets really hot after some time when I'm watching YouTube videos, which is a telltale sign of a dying battery. The phone says it still has 84% of capacity, but somehow I doubt that this is accurate. It was at 87% when I bought it off a coworker maybe 9 months ago. The battery must surely have degraded more than 3% in that time... Now, if I could just easily replace the battery myself, I'd gladly go out and get a new one and put it in, but since I can't, I'll ride it out until the phone get's too hot to use, then I'll have to decide if I'm putting it up on ebay, or if I'm sending it to Apple to put a new battery in for probably close to a hundred bucks... vs. just putting in a new battery right now for maybe thirty bucks. That inability to replace batteries is affecting me and the usability of my device, right now. So I'm really glad that replaceable batteries will be making a return

 

[sankt-Antonio]

Yeh, I just use a power bank. You see for me I never really have an issue with battery life, I charge every night (wireless charging) and that is enough. Everyone will be different, I have never had a battery fail in a premium device (I have in the past with an old Nokia, but my bad, shouldnt have bought a cheap backup battery (which is another issue with user replaceable and the cheap knock off batteries on Amazon/Ebay etc., an exploding battery in a phone is not a good thing)) so for me personally I'd rather have future phone design go all out, be innovative and not be restricted by having to have a removable battery (for example what if a clamshell with a flexible screen had a flexible battery that covered the entirety of the phone... off the top of my head, but foldables will definitely be affected)

This legislation isnt about the ability to buy multiple batteries so you can keep going for longer or if damaged (yes thats a nice to have), that would actually go against why this legislation is being brought in in the first place. This legislation is to do with waste, which is nice, I'm all for saving the environment, but here is the issue for me....
I change my phone every two years, I dont do it for battery replacement reasons
If I had the ability to swap batteries then I'd probably would go out and buy multiple batteries
2 years comes around and I swap phones
Instead of 1 phone and 1 battery to dispose of there is now a phone and multiple batteries because you can be darn certain the next phone I upgrade to wont use the same batteries

Now I get it, that isnt the same for everyone, and a lot of people keep phones for years and so they may get to the point they are changing their phone for legitimate battery reasons, but I personally dont know many people who do that, they all change their phones when their phone contract is up regardless if they need one or not in most cases, we are so used to having a 2 year phone contract that when it expires we get a new phone (in the UK)

The simple solution is to give people a choice, but that would be up to the manufacturers to make premium devices with both replaceable batteries and none replaceable batteries which is great for the consumer, but no good for the EU legislation.

There is no reason to switch phones every 2 years, Apple* made you think you do and they get the money from you. But people who would not buy new phones kinda have to buy a new one if the battery isn't lasing a day because they got old and its gluend in the phones case.
Apple got sued for reducing bat. capacity over time per software. They want you bad on that 2 year cycle be it by advertisement magic or planned hardware obsolescence (bettery degrading is a god send for all them phone makers), gluing them in is not a cost or design decision, its to sell more product.