Do you miss phones with replaceable batteries? By 2027, you won’t anymore because, by law, almost every smartphone will have them again.
Great
Guaranteed Apple will have code that says:
If phone > 2 years old:
Slow down phoneIf battery changed:
Slow down phoneEtc
They’ll still make you buy a new phone. Don’t you worry about that.
I mean fuck Apple and all but what they were doing with downclocking the CPU of phones with aging batteries was absolutely a good thing for users.
If they didn’t do that, the phones would have randomly shut off as the voltage dropped. Their misstep was not telling people about it.
If they didn’t do that, the phones would have randomly shut off as the voltage dropped. Their misstep was not telling people about it.
Which if you have a replaceable battery it it’s not an issue
Glad to see I’m not the only sane person on these threads.
Apples a corporation that only exists to generate profit, they definitely suck as much as every other corporation, but the ‘Apple slowed down phones to make people upgrade’ thing is so braindead that it hurts.
Good. I also read appliances (like your electric toothbrush or headphones) will also have to follow this guidance. This should make it easier to repair and recycle electronics.
My toothbrush uses AA for just that reason.
A lot of rechargeable gadgets like Philips Sonicare do not.
Good, no reason why my Pixel 6 shouldn’t last until I accidentally drop it instead of the slow death of worsening battery.
It’s not so much the batteries for me but the USB C port that has been my main issue and that damn humidity/water sensor that thinks that I’ve dipped my phone in water when I haven’t
That’s part of the problem I have with this. Most electronics life cycle is gone before or around the time the battery is gone. Only people that abuse the batteries by over charging / full draining typically benefit from replacement batteries. -And this just mostly needs awareness.
The vast majority of batteries operated devices are stuff that in its use is going to be “abused”. The hell is the harm in letting people switch out a fucking battery if that’s the issue. Companies won’t let people switch batteries out so they are being made. Apple have been fighting tooth and nail over repair shops
You use Apple? lol.
Uhhh no I was just using them as an example of a company that is really against customer repairs
They fucking brick stuff that’s repaired.
It’s not a Samsung device is it? Their sensors seem to be super sensitive. Meanwhile my pixel has been used in the shower and not said a word…
It actually is! Second time I’m having the subboard replaced. 3rd time I can request a new phone or a replacement by law. Still not ok for a flagship phone by such a large manufacturer
Try cleaning it. I used to have the same issue, and had to get the subboard replaced multiple times too, until I realized that mechanically cleaning it with something really thin works as well. Felt really dumb after finding out lol. The pocket lint can absorb moisture and then the sensor doesn’t work properly.
I’ll try it out thanks
It’s almost hypersensitive, well beyond what it needs to be. I couldn’t charge it by cable for 3 days. Not ok at all, good luck with it mate!
* in Europe
Tim Cook can suck a fat one.
Oftentimes EU device laws affect other markets because it’s easier to send the same device everywhere than to design and produce a separate one just for Europe.
Yeah I don’t see Apple paying for wildly different phone designs for different markets. But I have no doubts they’ll find some new way to make their phones worthless after 2 or so years.
Updates. That’s all you need to know. They’ve already be caught with the whole slow phone after updates to make you buy a new phone.
I used to say that- but, they did actually have an argument for that- consistent battery life in exchange for lower performance. They thought users would prefer lowering performance of the phone so the battery still lasts just as long- and honestly I don’t think they’re that wrong. 95% of the time as long as it’s usuable I don’t care about the performance of my phone- but I do care about battery life.
He’d probably just enjoy it.
but only the EU though, everywhere else is still fucked
Chances are most companies aren’t going to make two separate production lines with and without a removable battery. The cost likely outweighs the profit i’d wager. Much like how we see apple finally begrudgingly moving to USB-C despite no NA law requiring them to do so.
Why not? Many companies already have US exclusive SKUs. Some companies like Samsung even have a history of shipping completely different SOCs.
A different chip is a different scenario. We’re talking about how the entire design, case etc has to accommodate for a removable battery.
Different SOC means different motherboard, different antenna layout, different everything. It’s no different from making battery removable.
I hope so too. But if somehow the cost to manufacture phones with removable batteries is higher then I doubt they’d switch the existing production line to removable battery. I hope I’m wrong, to be honest.
This is what happens in the US when California passes a big consumer friendly law. The companies just adapt to whatever California said because it’s too expensive to have California versions and non-California versions. California’s population is high and their economy is big. Double plus if NY is in on it.
The cost isn’t that much higher. The profit they get from people buying new phone when battery dies, however, is completely different story
There’s just going to be more plastic phones.
I’m looking to upgrade my iPhone 11 for no reason other than the battery life is starting to bug me. None of the features released since the 11 hold any interest for me, I literally just want more battery life. Looks like that’ll cost me about $1000 if I want to stay with iOS. Absolutely insane.
Although I am not experienced with iPhone prices, shouldn’t a non-official replacement cost somewhere between $30 and $50? I tend to repair my Android phone batteries every 2-3 years at home, and alongside light software mods they become impressively more usable in the long run.
You know you can get the battery replaced, right? Not as cheap as buying a replacement yourself, but not that much compared to a 1000$ phone.
I’d also say an $89 battery replacement is pretty much the cheapest option (barring aftermarket batteries), especially if you don’t care about the developments in the latest phones.
Just hit up an apple store bud - they’ll swap a new battery for like $89. I had the battery replaced on my 11 a few months ago. Took like 20 minutes.
Yurop did it again.
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again (someone else definitely said this before me) I’m totally fine with a user replaceable battery but I don’t really need a “hot swappable” battery. Don’t you guys remember the old memes where an android phone is dropped and the Lego brick breaking sound effect is used from the Lego video games. I’m ok with a semi sealed device for water resistance and what not. It would just be nice to be able to replace the battery when the time comes
I can’t really remember if that was an issue for my S4. I’m sure it happened like once or twice but I don’t really drop my phone and I’m sure the majority of people nowadays have a case that will pretty much prohibit the battery cover from opening. What I DO remember is keeping a spare battery in my wallet and anytime my phone was low (I’m terminally addicted and 3 hours of screen on time was the best I got back then) just popping that bad boy in. Was a great feature and took a lot of stress off of me in the days when battery life was terrible. I hope they can revive a feature like that in a modern premium phone.
I had a Galaxy s4! and I remember I bought 2 extended batteries (about 3000mah but they were the same size so who knows) and a wall charger for them from ZeroLemon. I would hot swap the batteries instead of charging my phone. it was such a convenient system I felt so cool 🤓
I really miss hot swappable batteries. Just carry a small spare battery and swap it when needed. So much now convenient than needing to plug it in to top up.
@Raglesnarf @Purplexingg I did the same!
The memes I don’t remember but … I’m old. And…
Reading this gave me an instant flashback of dropping my old Ericsson on a train and it just … lost all its parts! Man that was 😱
Yes I had to hunt for: the battery, the battery cover and the SIM card! In those days the latter was bigger than we have now but very expensive.
To be honest: hot swappable wasn’t all that cool or user friendly at all. You had the dropping issue, the dirt and grime got in the cracks causing it to loose contact. Just like a mouse ball back in the day. All that and … when it was time to change it, never found a replacement and the phone was just outdated anyway.
Now all those different chargers we had? That was the real nightmare. Man! Very glad that is solved, even with the mess usb-c is.
I fear this is again one of those rules politician’s make without any knowledge; or they just ignore reality. Per usual.
just the first one I found but basically this . and I feel that with the move to USB C or even with iphones and the lightning cable. You either have one of those two so it’s pretty nice now compared to back then
Here is an alternative Piped link(s): https://piped.video/shorts/9mGkOCd4hz8?feature=share
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source, check me out at GitHub.
The legislation allows that. It just says that batteries have to be available and replaceable by non-specialists using standard tools. Think a small torx screwdriver, maybe a spudger, no glue type of situation and definitely no soldering or crypto-locking batteries to the mainboard and CPU so even specialists can’t replace stuff without signing their first-born to the manufacturer (hello Apple).
Some make the argument that batteries are already replaceable if you get the right tools, but it’s not even a matter of making it possible.
I think it’s more about making it so you aren’t voiding your warranty and that the option is there.
Otherwise you replaced your battery and they decide they will never offer any support for your phone because you dared touch it.
Hi there! The links in your response are not clickable for Lemmy users, here are the clickable versions: [email protected]
You can do that now with a heat gun and some very basic tools.
You can do that now with a heat gun and some very basic tools.
A heat gun is a specialized tool. That’s the problem.
It’s really not a specialized tool.l at all, there are a million things you can use a heat gun for. And they’re like $20 at Harbor Freight.
A hair dryer?
Not nearly hot enough for these kinds of applications. And you seriously don’t want to dry your hair with a heat gun.
It’s like comparing a NERF gun to a howitzer, sure both shoot projectiles…
It’s what I literally have used for multiple repairs now, so don’t tell me it’s not hot enough. iPhone 11, Pixel 5a, and a Samsung Galaxy S21.
That’s an overstatement. It takes a lot of work for some phones and you risk damaging it. Not everyone is able to do it even with the right tools. We need to have a solution so that anyone can do it
I literally bought an iFixIt kit to open my phone up (for a screen replace rather than a battery swap, but still) and could not get it open after an hour+ of trying. I’d definitely believe it’s because I’m inexperienced in modern phone repair, but I’m not a generally unsavvy person. I build computers and mess around with tech as a hobbyist. I had to take it to a shop and return the kit. It’s definitely not an easy process for some devices.
Hyperbole. To do it correctly you need a lot of tools which companies like Apple have made it very difficult to obtain. The risk of damaging the device is high for the average person.
I get that the majority of people here on Lemmy are likely to be more tech savvy than the average person, I don’t think we should set the precedent of exaggerated comments, we don’t want to become Reddit.
You start a sentence with hyperbole and then go into an outright lie.
$20
$10
You now own every single tool needed to replace an iPhone battery. They are absolutelty not difficult to obtain.
I mean I get it. Most of us here are tech savvy and capable. Would I tell my mom to do this herself? My girlfriend? 75% of people on the street? No to all the above. But don’t come in here and say something as blatantly false as “Apple has made [a lot of tools] difficult to obtain”. That is a bald faced lie and you do a bigger disservice to your argument when you add such a statement to it.
People are gonna hate on this comment but it’s true. I can replace the battery in my iPhone in an hour if I want to, even if it’s not as easy as it used to be with removable plastic covers on the back of phones.
On the Fairphone everyone can do it, without tools in under 30 seconds. That is replaceable, not having to order equipment and asking your family “IT guy”…
Good luck on waterproofing.
Producers got away with going to non-replaceable batteries because “most” people replace their phone before the battery wears out. Only a portion of consumers have a problem with it.
I’m sure there’s a few of us that can comfortably get six years off a phone. In fact the phone I’m currently using is coming up on three years. I could probably get another three years out of it, but I’m going to have to replace it soon because of battery wear.
Non-replaceable batteries are bad for the consumer and bad for the environment. It forces obsolescence putting more financial strain on consumers and increases environmental impact with higher production and waste.
A phone replaced before three years could be sold second hand with a battery replacement. Otherwise consumers could keep a phone twice as long. So they’re basically doubling the rate of production and waste to squeeze as much money as possible out of the consumer. Then there’s zero regard for the environment. But you know that’s typical of how corporations do business, rape the Earth, screw the consumer. We have to keep a leash on these guys.
I just barely replaced my galaxy s8, and it wasn’t the battery that became the issue, it was the lack of any new software updates.
I was starting to have software compatibility issues, where installing new apps would say “android verision x is not supported”. Also, I’m pretty sure it was getting any security patches from either samsung or upstream google.
I’m now looking at repurposing the s8 into a security camera since I think it’s a waste to just throw it in a drawer.
I had an old galaxy a5 with a badly degraded battery sitting around. A few weeks ago I had nothing better to do so I opened it (breaking the glass back in the process because of how strongly it was glued), ripped the battery out and soldered a charging cable straight to the phone’s battery contacts. It now lives on a phone stand in my car, connected to a bluetooth OBD2 scanner and I use it to show a couple of additional gauges like oil temperature, instant fuel economy and engine load while driving. The 12v output provides just enough power for the phone to reliably run and with the lack of battery I don’t have to worry about it exploding if it sits in the sun for hours. I haven’t found a way to make it turn on as soon as it gets power, so it’s mildly annoying to turn it on manually every time I start the car, but I can live with that.
That’s pretty clever I’m starting to think of doing that to my old Google pixel to play mp3s
Yes yes, but companies mandate is to maximize profits and have constant growth. All those things you’re mentioning sound very anti-capitalist. The elite would have a hard time taking all the wealth and keeping everyone as slaves.
removed by mod
I don’t think an actual waterproof phone even exists. They’re water resistant.
My Samsung Galaxy XCover 6Pro has a removable battery (and a headphone jack) and it’s ip68 rated. You wouldn’t be able to tell from the outside that the back cover comes off.
The Galaxy S5 active is evidence that you’re just wrong. Classic removable battery but still IP67.
They could just incorporate a gasket + screws. There are a ton of waterproof devices that have replaceable batteries.
Waterproof ratings are all nonsense anyways IMO. The way appliances are tested does not take into consideration human error.
Gotta drop the phone a couple times onto concrete to simulate how morons like me treating it, then check its water resistance.
I don’t really mind that my battery doesn’t work well. It lasts through the day, though I’m perpetually at 40% or less and I don’t use it that much. If it’s really a problem then a battery bank charge mid day totally fixes it.
However, if I could replace the battery for $50 I would.
There are so many ways you can waterproof a phone and have a user replaceable battery and still keep it thin and sleek. But that doesn’t sell a new iPhone to someone every 2 years. It’s why anytime Apple, or any company like them, spouts off about how green they are, I know they’re full of shit. They intentionally cause so much waste it’s insane.
I wish they had some truly modular phones. The phone I am currently using is quite bulky compared to slim model phones and even a lot of Iphones, I don’t care. I don’t see why I shouldn’t be able to swap put almost every component other than the screen, it’s not like the phone frame themselves have really changed much from the original Iphones. Battery, Storage, Processor, RAM, Speaker, Receiver…even the camera. I see no reason why those couldn’t be part of modular systems.
The question I’ve been asking, since this whole water resistance thing became a trend, is why do we even need water resistant phones in the first place?
We survived just fine with flip phones, walkmans, Gameboys, pagers, etc that had no water resistance.
I love water proof phones, it’s a massive reduction in anxiety and means I don’t have to avoid bringing it into the bathroom.
They’re not even waterproof though, just water resistant. But even the weather resistance from a few years back when phones had headphone jacks and replaceable batteries seemed sufficient. Now they’re overkill, being able to handle being dipped in water. I mean it’s fine if they make phones like that, but does everything need that kind of resistance?
My S8 has been dunked in water and sprayed by the shower plenty of times with no issue. It might not be strictly water proof but it’s kind of a semantic difference.
And nah, not everything needs that kind of resistance, but it’s nice to have
The yellow sony walkman was waterproof.
While I manage ok without (but would appreciate the feature) I know several people who have destroyed too many phones by accidentally dropping it into some sort of water to ever want anything but a waterproof one.
You are right. My iPhone XR is around 4 or 5 years old, and now I need to charge it in the afternoon if I have used it during work to spend some time. I guess that in a year I’ll have to replace it because the battery will last even less.
I had an S3 for ages because you could get a replacement battery for like $12. Upgraded to an S10, can no longer swap the battery. Biding my time.
I hate this forced upgrade/payment model and how phones seemed to double in cost almost overnight.
They’re even trying to get sneakier with the contracts. 3 years now to payoff your device, instead of 2, but the payment is the same. Absolutely bonkers.
Wherever possible buy outright, it is always cheaper. If needed, get a 0% interest credit card and use that to buy it outright. Do not fall into their trap of paying hundreds more for convenience and interest, all while never actually owning the device.
I support replaceable batteries, I do. But I want one person to show me all the cellphone models that are going to have to change their design to comply with this law. No device I have done this repair on is affected. You don’t have to have thermal energy, and all the bits and picks needed are already available for $30 or less. So I’m seriously failing to understand just why people keep conflating this with cellphones when they already are abiding by this
The law affects every device with a rechargable battery. Not just phones.
So b3øecause the law just says all devices with a rechargable battery, and we all have phones…
A lot of phones are not easy to replace batteries on without ruining the glass back or whatever. Thats not “user replacable” basically. Some are easier than others though.
The law doesn’t touch on that at all my man. Commercially available tools and without the use of solvents or thermal energy. You may not consider that user replaceable but that’s the law as written. And that’s able to be done currently on the overwhelming majority of cell phones. In other devices it is a major change, but even this thread is “Smartphones”.
I thought there were large exceptions for water proofing etc…?
2027 wow they could have taken like 3999 With that. It has to come NOW or it has literally 0 effect.
