European laws force Apple to change the previously accepted standards. After the European Parliament’s approval of a common charging standard that forced Apple to say goodbye to the iPhone’s Lightning port in favor of USB C, the next thing could be a change in regulations that the possibility to the end user. To replace your iPhone’s battery.

According to the regulation, the proposal aims to reduce waste and improve environmental sustainability. User-replaceable batteries comply with guidelines that “regulate the entire life cycle of batteries, from manufacture to reuse and recycling.”

The regulation stipulates that by 2027, portable batteries included in devices must be removable and replaceable by the end user, thus allowing sufficient time for operators to adapt the design of their products to this requirement. This is an important provision for consumers.

What will manufacturers do?

While a few years ago this arrangement only affected Apple, obviously since the iPhone launched the removable battery, most manufacturers today have adopted this design that achieves a more modern look, keeps them slim and makes a huge difference when it comes to the battery. water resistance.

As soon as we get this fact, The regulation is not intended to revert to the old design of placing the removable battery in the battery compartment on the back of the phone.. For this reason, EU regulators have defined “easily removable” as: “can be extracted from a product using commercially available tools”. With that, Apple’s challenge will be to provide options to access it without too much trouble.

Although Apple started offering a self-service repair program last year, the process requires the rental of private vehicles, something that would likely contradict the new EU regulation, the full text of which is:

A portable battery will be considered easily removable by the end user when it can be removed from a product using commercially available tools without the need for special tools, unless provided free of charge with the product. product.

While Apple could partially remedy this situation by offering its “special tools” to its European customers for free, a ban on the use of “special tools, heat power or solvents” could force the company to offer more standard and widely available options to allow customers in Europe . It allows users to repair their devices without restrictions.

The Council of Europe approved the Regulation on batteries and waste batteries on Sunday 9 June to close the adoption procedure. The following steps are just formalities for the European Parliament to approve the regulation and publish it in the EU Official Journal for it to come into force. Apple and other electronic product manufacturers will have until 2027 to adapt.