TL;DR
- The European Council has ended its adoption procedure for rules related to phones with replaceable batteries.
- By 2027, all phones released in the EU must have a battery the user can easily replace with no tools or expertise.
- The regulation intends to introduce a circular economy for batteries.
It is a special day when there is happy tech news. This is a day for celebration. Having done my own battery replacements some have been a nightmare to do with all the glue and hoping the screen doesn’t break. I look forward to this, since with rise of phone costs I don’t intend to update frequently. I’d actually change my battery annually if it wasn’t such a hassle.
Not sure I’m on board with this one. Sure, swappable batteries are cool, but that’ s not something I really need, and the inherent bulk of battery enclosures isn’t either. And battery swap isnt that hard, actually, the chinese guys have figured this out, they can make any kind of battery you want, and a worker at a local store can learn to perform the swap with just a few hours of training.
What I’d like instead is something about 18650’s, they are everywhere but you cant buy them officially because battery manufacturers only sell them to other manufacturers to pass liability onto them, but they just wrap them in plastic and then people handle them willy-nilly. Maybe dd battery safety to school curicculum and make 18650 the new AA?
The headline says it’s official. But then the article mentions -
Now, the only step left is for the European Council and Parliament to sign on the dotted line.
So it’s not official?? Can anyone explain please??
This won’t screw innovation in the future at all /s
They should do the same for laptops
