In mid-June, the European Parliament approved new rules for the design, production and waste management of all types of batteries sold in the European Union. The purpose of the maneuver is announced as ecological, in particular to limit electronic waste and lower its level of toxicity, and also to fight against planned obsolescence.
Removable batteries for smartphones
Several devices and measures are listed in this official document, with one line in particular that caught our attention: “Portable device batteries shall be designed in such a way that consumers can easily remove and replace them themselves”. In other words, smartphones will have to have removable batteries, which is not currently the case for all mobiles, in particular Apple iPhones. Indeed, Apple does not like anyone tampering with the entrails of its devices and making their dismantling too complicated for ordinary mortals, in order to reserve this task for approved companies.
Entry of the new regulations in 2027
So, after having forced Apple to abandon the Lightning in favor of the USB-C standard, the European Union could once again break the feet of the Cupertino giant and impose a new change on it. Those rules will turn into legislation no sooner than 2027, giving Apple until iPhone 19 to incorporate a battery "that consumers can easily remove and replace themselves."
