In ten months, the global smartphone market will face an unprecedented earthquake! According to the EU’s latest regulations, in ten months, all phones sold in the EU must allow ordinary users to easily replace the battery. This requirement applies to every brand, including Apple.

​​Now most phones are basically sealed all-in-one devices. The battery is glued firmly inside, and the back cover is also sealed tightly shut, so it can’t be opened at all. But the EU suddenly requires that phones launched after ten months allow users to replace the battery without heating, without professional screwdrivers, and without having to go to repair shops—just using their hands or common items at home. Every brand that wants to keep selling phones in the EU has to modify its design according to this standard.
​​This requirement goes completely against the industry’s development direction over the past decade. Back then, manufacturers removed removable batteries little by little to make phones thinner and better protected from water. Now the EU is insisting on pulling it back, which is essentially forcing the entire production line and internal structure to undergo major surgery.
​​Apple faces the greatest pressure. Its all-in-one body design has already become very mature, and the internal space is packed tightly full. To meet the new rules, it would have to change the glue structure that fixes the battery into a snap-on or easy-to-pull design that can be opened easily, and also replan the frame and mainboard layout. The production line would need to be stopped to readjust, and the costs would not be small.
​​A few years ago, when the EU pressured Apple to replace the Lightning port with Type-C, Apple was extremely reluctant too, but in the end it compromised. This time, the change to the battery structure is similar—the market is too big, and no one can get around the rules.
​​The EU is doing this mainly because there is increasingly more electronic waste in Europe. Many phone screens and mainboards are still fine, but because the battery ages and performance deteriorates, the whole device gets thrown away. Consumers find battery replacement expensive and, since the battery can’t be opened, they have no choice but to buy a new phone directly, which means they spend more money and the waste of resources is also severe.
​​In the past, removable batteries were popular. When you were out, you could carry an extra battery pack, and swap the battery in just seconds. Now, although an all-in-one design looks good and offers water resistance, it becomes a hassle when the battery breaks. In ten months, once the new rules take effect, when users’ batteries are no longer good, they can spend a few dozen dollars to buy a new battery and replace it themselves at home. They can keep using the same phone and won’t have to keep buying new ones, saving a lot of money.
​​Of course, changing the design will cost money for manufacturers, and some worry that they may pass those costs on to the phone prices. However, in Europe, price regulation is strict and competition is fierce, so it’s hard for them to arbitrarily raise prices by a large amount.
​​More importantly, this regulation isn’t just about Europe. Phone production today uses a unified global supply chain. Manufacturers can’t open a separate line just for Europe. As a result, phones worldwide may very well have to be redesigned to a layout that makes it easy to replace the battery.
​​The EU previously standardized the Type-C port, and this time it is also regulating batteries. The thinking is the same: using market access power to push the industry to abandon practices that are inconvenient for users. Products can’t only prioritize looking good and performance—they also have to consider how they can be repaired years later and how to be environmentally friendly.
​​This adjustment may give brands headaches, but in the long run it is a tangible benefit for ordinary users and can also reduce electronic waste. No matter how far technology develops, in the end it still has to come back to making things durable, making them affordable for ordinary people, and enabling people to use them for a long time.
​​Do you think it’s progress or a hassle that phones are forced to let users replace the battery themselves? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section.