A new EU law will require all mobile devices to have user-replaceable batteries by 2027. In this episode we take a look at the law, it’s consequences and right to repair.

  • worfamerryman@beehaw.org
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    1 year ago

    I think it was apple, but someone claimed that removable batteries would make the phones thicker and more expensive to make.

    Maybe it would make them thicker, but the phones didn’t get any cheaper with the removal of the headphone jack. I don’t need top tier cameras, so let’s meet in the middle.

    Also, how much thinner do phones need to be? They are already so thin they don’t even advertise that as a selling point anymore.

    • wave_walnut@kbin.socialOP
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      1 year ago

      I want a reasonably thin and light smartphone, not one that is paper thin and light as air. If manufacturers want to boast of their technological prowess, they should enhance their technology to solve environmental problems rather than thinness and lightness.

      • worfamerryman@beehaw.org
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        1 year ago

        Totally agree, I have an xr which is on the thicker side of iPhones and I love it. I never once thought that it should be thinner or lighter.

        I regularly think about the battery as it hardly lasts a day. In fact it will need to be charged in the evening for sure.

      • Ferk@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        These days some phones are so thin they are even awkward to hold… specially when they have the rounded display around the edges, sometimes I press the touchscreen edges by mistake when holding it. And thin profiles make the cameras stick out, exposing them to damage.

        I always end up buying a thick & rugged case anyway… the thinness even makes me afraid it’ll snap/crash easily. I never understood the thin obsession… I actually was ok with the size of the thick nokia phones from the 90s.

      • worfamerryman@beehaw.org
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        1 year ago

        Great point! My current case is just thick enough to make the camera sit flush with the back, so I hardly think about it.

      • Fiona@discuss.tchncs.de
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        1 year ago

        The question is which idiot in the press (or anywhere else for that matter) decided that it was acceptable to measure the thickness of a phone in any other way than as the minimum distance between two parallel planes such that the phone fits between them?

    • SlopppyEngineer@discuss.tchncs.de
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      1 year ago

      I use a cover anyway because cracked glass isn’t the look I go for, and use that cover to hold my cards. A millimeter less is something I won’t notice.

      They even sell extra durable phones with extra padding.

      • worfamerryman@beehaw.org
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        1 year ago

        My screens crack is on the curved part of the display where the cover would “cover” the screen.

        Im assuming your talking about a screen protector.

    • mishimaenjoyer@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      “I think it was apple, but someone claimed that removable batteries would make the phones thicker and more expensive to make.” - say goodbye to IP67 rating.

    • wave_walnut@kbin.socialOP
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      1 year ago

      Yes, a long time ago it was common for smartphones to have replaceable batteries, but unfortunately, the mainstream models today seem to have built-in batteries. This time it is revolutionary in the sense that the regulation takes into account the right to repair and environmental issues.

    • CIWS-30@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      The Galaxy S5 was water resistant and had a headphone jack and microSD card too. It set a new standard that unfortunately no one followed up on.

      To this day I wish they’d open-source that design so at the very least, small hobbyists and open source fanatics could try making updates to that design using the same basic frame. I think there’s a large portion of the population that wouldn’t mind having some variation of the Galaxy S5 forever as long as the internals and camera were upgraded every so often.

  • youRFate@feddit.de
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    1 year ago

    The law allows companies to certify their batteries will last a certain amount of years, then they don’t have to be swappable. All phone makers will use that.

    • Virkkunen@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      The tech community quickly jumps to conclusions without actually reading anything. The last I check it, the law only allowed for certified repair shops to disassemble and repair phones with their tools, without needing something specialized from the OEM or any extra activation steps, but people jumped to the conclusion that the average Joe could entirely dismantle their phone with a screwdriver from the comfort of their home.

        • pragmakist@kbin.social
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          1 year ago

          The European definition of rule of law requires that the law is predictable; something it wouldn’t be if you can’t find it or can’t read it.

          Which means you can just look for the European announcement of such things and read that.

          Now, I’m not complaining about you, but fuck those two rags, that didn’t see the need to link to their sources!

  • risottinopazzesco
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    1 year ago

    A hidden advantage of removable batteries is that you can turn your end of life phone into a small wall mounted screen powered by mains. With batteries, you are mounting a fire hazard to your wall.

    If my last 3 smartphones had replaceable batteries, they would all be in use right now.

  • WasPentalive@lemmy.one
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    1 year ago

    The nice thing about a removable battery. If, for some legal reason, one does not wish to be trackable the battery can be removed. This same fact may be a reason for this law to be struck down.

    • Gorejelly@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      Let’s hope not. I know there are at least some for whom, “I don’t care if we destroy the planet. As long as the marijuanas sellers cannot corrupt our christian youths.” rings absolutely true. It’d be nice if we, as a species, had just the teeniest bit more sense than that…We’ll see.