Do you miss phones with replaceable batteries? By 2027, you won’t anymore because, by law, almost every smartphone will have them again.
Do you miss phones with replaceable batteries? By 2027, you won’t anymore because, by law, almost every smartphone will have them again.
I mean…battery replacements were ALWAYS proprietary. You can’t pop a Galaxy S4 battery in a GS 5.
But you can put up a firmware barrier that keeps the phone from booting up, or at least from operating at full advertised capacity, unless it’s an “authentic” battery that’s been officially registered to that particular phone’s serial number, which can only be done via special tools and software that are only available to official Apple repair shops. They’ve done it with cameras and screens and buttons, why not batteries? It’s just another part.
At that point there’s no way they can argue that the battery is user-serviceable without extra tools. Sure, they could argue that the law doesn’t specify that they can’t sabotage the device if you swap your battery but European courts have traditionally taken a dim view of that kind of tomfoolery.
I’m pretty sure that Apple aren’t going to risk having to suddenly take all of their devices off the shelves. It’s cheaper to comply.
You can buy third party batteries. The batteries are customized to the phone, but they aren’t exclusively sold by the OEM.