EU proposal would force Apple to make iPhones with user-removable batteries
The wording should be changed to serviceable battery!
What a wonderful idea!
We have been working with our coalition at Repair.eu and ECOS on advancing measures like this. Their new report just came out today: Long Live the Machine.
Our new report shows that the EU ecodesign and energy labelling regulatory instruments have a great potential to contribute to the reversal of the current throwaway culture, double laptop lifetimes, and save some 5 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent by 2030 – equivalent to taking nearly 3 million cars off the road.
1 Comment:
In regards to phones, even if you could make them modular they're still going to be short lived disposable devices. Yes, the move to payment plans from $200 phones with a 2 year contract has reduced the trend somewhat where people are keeping their phones for longer amounts of time (largely due to the upgrade price barrier).
While I demand the gold standard with laptops (in the sense of having modular RAM, SSD drives and being single panel service operation), even phones are mildly disposable to me since I can upgrade cheap after 1 year at a 50%+ discount on the used market.
That said, I hold onto them for longer then most people (3 years production/4-5 secondary) but even then after the 4 year mark I find trouble justifying repair. To name an example of when the line has to be drawn, my S6 Edge+ I put the eBay battery in has problems again and I'm probably not going to fix it because the LTE support isn't as good as many carriers expect now - partially due to AT&T no less. I suspect a new battery will work again since the eBay one was a "new" reconditioned job from an old phone Samsung or a repair shop sent to China, but what am I going to do when T-Mobile doesn't accept it anymore because AT&T used a weird set of LTE bands only 1-10% of their customers still use due to unlock carryovers? I'm no longer getting 4G LTE with T-Mobile and Verizon/Sprint won't take it since Verizon doesn't take carrier specific devices on the open network list and Sprint is still closed loop. Even worse is 2G/3G are near the end of their life.
You can't fix these phones forever - I've hit that brick wall with my S6 :(. It's time to move onto used S9's WITHOUT CARRIER LOCKS since US unlocked by Samsung is available for those.
The other class of nightmare phone is the increasingly popular budget unlocked phone. The screen can easily cost 40-50% of a new one and about as much as a nice used one of similar condition. I told someone who did a number to the screen to the point you could physically feel the glass split to leave their protector on and baby it - they have a G6 Play. It's normally $250 new, but you can get a new one for $95-110 on eBay. The screen is $25-30+ on eBay so it's not bad but when I can get a NEW phone for $100 the possibility of spending $30 or more to repair the old one becomes harder to swallow. Add to that labor for people who won't do it themselves and you're screwed cost wise. Might as well get a G7.
by Nick
@kyle - I'm a bit concerned on ramification of a user replaceable battery Vs serviceable battery.
Using snap-on back covers don't offer any real waterproofing. So we don't stop adding to the junk pile prematurely with liquid damaged devices. Glue & Goop for waterproof seals should not be used, screws and proper compression seals is whats needed here.
The other factor is the battery its self, having drop-in batteries also means the battery will need a hard case and the interface connector then becomes a weak area as compression spring type of contacts then would be needed Vs the current ribbon and press-fit with bracket which is more reliable.
While the standard is important! The ease of gaining entry needs to be metered with the risks of loosing waterproofness and balancing out the ease of entry and replacement of the battery.
The word serviceable is whats important here not ''user.
The mind set is my worry, for both the consumer and the maker. I don't think people want bigger phones and I'm sure the phone makers don't want to deal with people carrying a spare battery in their pocket thinking they can just snap the cover off to replace it, as well as the safety aspects.
I fully understand the backlash but going to far the other way is also dangerous!
As an example forcing the device to have UCB-C connectors so any USB-C charger can be used is a lofty goal! Now think of all of the Lightning plugged phones and chargers out in the wild plus the cost of the added electronics USB-C forces into the phone.
I do worry this action confuses people and causes other complications and waste.
USB-C is also not a clean standard! The cords are not marked if they are fully wired and have the correct gage for power. This reminds me of the RS232 standard mess in the early days!
It looks like I’m not the only one, here’s their polling:
1 Comment:
I wouldn't say make it easy like it used to be - I would go inbetween and make it non-destructive (looking at YOU Samsung!). Think something along the lines of a back held on with double sided tape that can come off with heat on water resistant devices (preferably water resistant foam tape, but that leaves a way in) and no heat without it (foam tape). We all know how to deal with these devices so it's not going to be a shock beyond seeing bad designs that are screen first go away. Screws are preferable, but not the compromise most manufacturers will likely go with.
It's still sealed, but it's far more serviceable then some of the devices we have now - and can be done with instructions with end users and those of us who know what to do don't see any changes other then not having to remove and risk breaking the screen - or being forced to like on the S6 Active because Samsung took the lazy approach and put a $100+ part in the way with the destructive tape included.
by Nick
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