Indeed, it looks as though Apple may not have to worry at all: as noted on Reddit, batteries that can maintain an 80% capacity level after 1,000 cycles aren't covered by the new rulings. Apple meets that standard, as per its official support documents, on models starting from the iPhone 15 that launched in 2023.
and even with that, recent iphones are way easier to repair than a few years ago. I would not say anyone can do it, but it’s definitely easier than before when you basically had to disassemble the whole thing
batteries that can maintain an 80% capacity level after 1,000 cycles aren’t covered by the new rulings.
So most people who want to reclaim 100% capacity after 2-3 years of use won't be able to do it themselves. How disappointing.
I have a Samsung with over 1100 charges and a capacity of 88%. Well beyond needing its battery to be replaceable.
All flagships probably meet this standard.
(The biggest exception is probably super-slim phones, but they would lose that one feature if they got made compliant.)
I think the "80% after 1000 cycles" isn't ambitious enough. 1000 cycles is still very easy to reach, and some phones already barely last a full day when new so even that 20% lost capacity can really degrade the experience. I'd argue that it's not even an ambitious target at all, as even bog standard lithium ion batteries are frequently rated for that lifespan or more.
I could understand it if they had an exception for potential future technologies that would be pretty much guaranteed to outlast the useful lifespan of the device (such as solid-state batteries which could in theory last for tens of thousands of cycles and thus last for decades, if it is ever able to leave the lab). But as it is now with the unambitious goal of 1000 cycles so many batteries will be exempt by default that I don't think it'll change much.
The debates that led to these regulations seem tedious as hell. I miss being able to just pop in a new battery (I used to always have a spare, because batteries sucked a decade ago), but this said, I don't miss the IP rating on dust and water that meant using a phone was risky in a light drizzle.
User replaceable batteries do not require phones that are "risky" to use "in a light drizzle". Decent IP ratings are possible even with those. It is just a question of good design. But such design can't be really expected by companies pushing glass phone backside for no other reason than that they are prone to break.
The last phone I had with a removable battery was over a decade ago. With proper gasketing, light rain wasn't an issue, but up until that point, while I was still in my midrange-phone phase, it totally was. I know people who put their phone in the shower to listen to music and would be aghast that everything hasn't always been IP68.
Plus .a few screws on the back shouldn't be too much of an issue, since the case will cover them.
They're possible, but nowhere near as easy. Every time you pop that back off you wear the water protection. Within a year of use my S5 was not IP67 anymore. And all those warnings about it not being fully sealed? Nah. I'll take a glued shut phone with glue that isn't insane over that any day.
Samsung phones do that without a removable back - they just use a shitty design software doing the detection.
Never had that problem on any other phone.
I have no idea what you talk about:
also iphones this days can be fully submerged in water with zero issues. I would not trade off that safety
I see approx 75-100 people per day and they have to show me their phone is switched off. Lots of them, especially the younger ones and manual workers, have cracked screens.
Most people are hiding that glass behind TPU. It is pretty pointless other than being a durability weak point. You don't need glass for wireless charging. You do know that there are alternatived to metal, do you any they don't need to feel cheap either.
Glass backs are noticeably heavier, and they are definitely far more fragile than plastic.
That's just the designed to fail but where they want you to buy a new phone even though the old one functions perfectly well with a new battery
Maybe I'm wrong, but the rule sounds fine:
In any case phones are going to last longer. The ones with replaceable batteries because you can replace the battery. And the ones with sealed batteries, because they have to compete with the replaceable ones.
If this is true, this ruling might not matter because
batteries that can maintain an 80% capacity level after 1,000 cycles aren't covered by the new rulings. Apple meets that standard, as per its official support documents
Rewrite the rule, no exceptions, and do it for all electronics.
Literally fighting over the rare resources to make these high tech batteries and companies intentionally implement them in a way they fully know will get thrown out.
Fucking hate e-waste and planned obsolescence.
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