this post was submitted on 12 Jul 2023
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Problem with legislation like this is it frequently doesn't take into account that companies like Apple can be devious assholes. Every loop hole has to be anticipated and covered before it can be exploited.
Seems pretty clear cut to me. Also, USB-C being mandatory on iPhones as well soon. The EU very clearly clarified that there are no loopholes and every chargeable device will have a USB-C port, no exceptions, I'd expect the same from this.
Can you point me to that USBC clarification? I thought that they had only specified a wired charging standard and that you could get around it by using only wireless charging.
I'm pretty sure I read a similar exception for this battery law that was gonna make it not really apply to phones, but I can't find it now.
Source
No exceptions.
Leaks suggests that the iPhone 15 will have a USB-C charging port. Also I can't imagine Apple going full wireless thus incapacitating the user's ability to effectively use the phone while charging.
I can. They'll just figure out some sort of clamping accessory for their wireless chargers.
Wouldn’t MagSafe achieve that functionality if that’s the case? 🤔
They already have magsafe chargers. TBH that would be the best move for Apple. The downside would be no more direct cable data backups. That makes me think no choice but USBC for this next phone.
Now pretend you are Apple. They'll see this legislation and think - "we want people to buy new phones, not keep what they have, so we need to fuck with users to make that happen". So maybe they'll define battery to include battery management system. Maybe even some DRM and some proprietary or encrypted device communication in between the battery and the phone. Now it's hard for anyone to use their phone with an OEM battery because of the DRM. Or if they do permit OEM batteries then Apple could be dicks and put scary popups on the screen like they do when people replace their screens and gimp the battery so they can't charge or discharge as fast .
And Apple could go further. If they're the only ones selling ungimped batteries, they can control the price of those batteries and sell them sky high. $150 sounds like a great fuckoff price point to deter people. And who's to say how many batteries they hold in stock - just because the phone has replaceable batteries doesn't mean Apple sells batteries.
So that's what you have to worry about. EU legislation does have some wording controlling spare part availability and prohibiting software restrictions on batteries so I would hope that is sufficient, but who knows.
Definitely crossed their minds at the EU, ofcourse they expect companies to ride the edge of what's permitted. That's what companies do. The EU wants batteries to be way more ecological, cheaper and very easy to find and replace. If they deem what a company is doing not in line with this philosophy, they will overnight ban that product from being sold anywhere in europe.
Apple may fight that decisions in court, but definitely loose because the EU looks after their citizens and Apple looks out for their wallet, and those courts tend to take the side of the people. Meanwhile loosing literal billions in profits and being publicly labelled as a non-environmental conscious company.
I can see them changing the battery design every year and refusing to make old ones, or just making the batteries cost almost as much as a new phone.
EU is not in it's first Rodeo.
Not EU's first rodeo.
I think if only they did this and the rest of the companies don't they would lose a big chunk of their market share, because a lot of people realy want those replacebal battery's
The thing with apple is that at this point they don't have customers, they have followers. People for whom this will be a deal breaker jumped the ship long ago, now the company can do whatever it wants and people will still buying the product, not because of whatever product does, but because they are people who buy Apple. The bad thing is that other companies will copy everything they do because they don't really understand the dynamics.
When I talked with friends or family no one ever mentioned wanting a replaceable battery..always just the new big screen, the camera or the speed. Some didn't even understand the difference between having 4GB of RAM or 4GB of storage.
I'd like to be wrong but I think most people don't really care and some will even complain about it.
Last time I bought a phone was around 3 years ago and when I asked about a new phone with a replaceable battery the guy just looked at me and asked "Why would you want that?"
only because judicial and governmental systems across the world are too lacking of a backbone to stand up against big money
Yeah I agree with this on principle, but as it is it basically means we will have USBC forever because nobody is going to take market risks on pushing a better standard. It works because USBC is good, but imagine if the EU did this kind of thing with the previous gen mini connector?
Same thing here. I prefer the form factor, ergonomics and long term waterproofing which comes with current trends. Yes I know it's possible to get IP ratings with removable batteries, but those seals fail much more quickly than fully sealed designs, and they always fail at the worst time. I suspect will happen is that this will have the opposite impact, and we will generate a lot more water-damage e-waste again.
I really doubt water damage e-waste is more significant than simply e-waste due to irreplaceable batteries.
One is a possibility, the other is a guarantee.
We'll see I suppose. But what is undeniable is that my personal consumer preference for sealed devices is not well represented by this proposal.
That is not what the law is about. We aren't locked to a single connector. We are however locked to a standard. Meaning if the industry wants to move they can, but they all have to do it at the same time.
Yes, forced standardization
But that's just not how these things tend to work in practice. Again, I like that the EU law finally killed the stupid lightning connector. USBC is a good physical standard. I just have legitimate concerns that we will be "stuck" with it for a long time because the friction to market for the next iteration will be relatively higher.
I'm aware. It is forced standardization. As for "everyone", not sure how that is defined but I assume if Google, Samsung, HP, Dell etc decide, Apple has to go along.
It would already help if it didn't take them 5 years to close the loophole.
If they saw the loophole being exploited, immediately issued a new regulation with a 6 month (or less) transition period that doesn't affect most manufacuters (but potentially really screws the cheating one by requiring him to redesign a product shortly before launch) this would stop quickly.