4 ms·
As others have mentioned this is for phones with batteries that can’t survive a reasonable number of cycles. That’s a reasonable exemption, in my opinion. I do
by Aurornis 6mo ago
As others have mentioned this is for phones with batteries that can’t survive a reasonable number of cycles.
That’s a reasonable exemption, in my opinion. I don’t want to pay the extra penalties of reduced structural rigidity and water tightness for a battery that I don’t need to replace for 3-4 years anyway.
I do wish one manufacturer would make a flagship phone with replaceable battery so all of the uncompromising replaceable battery fans could have a phone that fits their niche demands rather than trying to force everyone else to pay the extra costs (price, size, water intrusion, structural rigidity) that would come with laws forcing all phones to have removable batteries.
- mrandish 6mo agoThis regulation isn't primarily for fans of replaceable batteries, it's driven by general concerns about e-waste. It's unclear how much it might actually reduce e-waste in practice but it will certainly increase compliance costs.
- detourdog 6mo agoAt least it's a performance standard. If the Government is going to regulate consumer products I would rather it be performance standards than implementation details. If a device doesn't meet performance standards it can trigger warranty requirements.
- mossTechnician 6mo agoMany flagship phones promise 7 years of security updates now. 3-4 years means the battery will only last for half that time, and heavy users (1 cycle per day) will hit that quota in under 2.75 years.
- IanCal 6mo agoImportantly “last” means that it will have at least 80% battery capacity left.
- gavinsyancey 6mo agoDegradation is usually nonlinear.
- mossTechnician 6mo agoThat must be somewhat significant, because after that percent, Apple will start showing "Your battery’s health is significantly degraded" warnings.
- elzbardico 6mo agoThen the law should just make sure that there's a second source at least for the batteries, that technicians have free access to disassembly instructions, and that it can be done without undue effort or risk. Requiring common tools or technical skills for replacing something that last 4 years is not a hassle to justify enshitiffying phones design as long as you're not vendor locked for such replacement, and a technician can do it in a reasonable amount of time, with reasonable tool and without the risk of degrading the functionality of the device doing so.
- bigbuppo 6mo agoI'm old enough to remember the old Nokia phones that had removable cases, removable batteries, and you would have upgrade envy for the last year of your 36 month cell service contract. Then we had wince and early android devices and BlackBerries which were pretty much the same. Somehow we made it work back then.
- Aurornis 6mo agoThe battery doesn't cease functioning after 3-4 years. The benchmark says it should have 80% capacity. It's also not really that expensive to have phone batteries replaced. Apple will do it for $120 including the battery for their flagship models that cost over $1000. Cheaper for lower end models. I can't take any arguments seriously that claim these phones are becoming e-waste after 2.75 years. Battery replacement is a common process.
- alt227 6mo ago> a battery that I don’t need to replace for 3-4 years anyway. This is not just about battery replacement. I used to keep several fully charged batteries stocked in my rucksack whenever I went hiking or anywhere else that was remote. After a day of taking photos in the wild its nice to be able to just chuck in a fresh batttery and off you go. I feel like this feature of phones was not only lost, but pretty much forgotten about after smartphones stopped including user replaceable batteries.
- detourdog 6mo agoYou can keep several power bricks that will charge any USB-C device now.
- alt227 6mo agoyes exactly my point, I dont want to wait to charge up my device with another device. I just want to pop in a fresh 100% battery. It used to be so simple.
- detourdog 6mo agoMy powerbrick connects to the back of my phone. Form factor wise it's pretty close to my extra large StarTac removable battery that I would carry around.
- manoDev 6mo ago> I don’t want to pay the extra penalties of reduced structural rigidity and water tightness for a battery This is a BS excuse. Lots and lots of gadgets with removable batteries and waterproof design as evidence.
- pembrook 6mo ago> Lots and lots of gadgets with removable batteries and waterproof design as evidence. And this is a BS rebuttal. None of them achieve the same miniaturization and water tightness as iPhone. This law is basically government being co-opted by a tiny vocal minority to force their unpopular opinions onto the rest of the public. If any modest percentage of the market cared about replaceable batteries above all else in their phones, the market would already be packed with removable battery phone options.
- manoDev 6mo agoAFAIK, the primary reason Apple and others for avoiding removable batteries was the reputational risk and fire hazard of having customers put fake or damaged batteries, because that was long before they started marketing an IP rating. And by the way, the "water proofing" is only 30 minutes with pressure equivalent to 6 meters deep, tested with water nozzles. That's not a lot. Other gadgets that employ gaskets or positive pressure achieve more. I'm sure they can design for the same rating without hurting easier battery replacement ability with the right incentives.
- IAmBroom 6mo agoNot a lot??!!
- mort96 6mo agoShould we not expect phones to last more than 3-4 years? We aren't in the exponential performance growth and requirements part of the smartphone world anymore, a 5-7 year old phone can be a perfectly functional device. Isn't it unfortunate that a perfectly good phone gets turned to e-waste years before it has to, just because a consumable part of it happens to be non-replaceable?
- deleted 6mo ago[deleted]
- rootusrootus 6mo ago> Isn't it unfortunate that a perfectly good phone gets turned to e-waste years before it has to This does not happen. There is a thriving market for used phones, many of which have had the battery replaced.
- bigbuppo 6mo ago> I don’t want to pay the extra penalties of reduced structural rigidity and water tightness for a battery that I don’t need to replace for 3-4 years anyway. What are you doing to your phone that needs all that? Using it as a hammer? Temporary support while building a tunnel?
- tgsovlerkhgsel 6mo agoThe big question is, what happens when the manufacturer claims it can survive a reasonable number of cycles, then it turns out it can't. By the time this becomes obvious, the phones will be out of warranty. Will the manufacturer simply be prohibited from selling those phones (which are probably no longer sold by that time anyways), will they be fined a "cost of doing business" level fine, or will customers have an actual remedy (e.g. full refund even after the 2 year warranty period)?