Post-EU iPhones may be unrecognizable. After the USB-C port and the already serious possibility of opening alternative App Stores, it is now planned to force all manufacturers to use interchangeable batteries. And that, of course, also puts the iPhone in the basket.
The change would bring advantages but also disadvantages, and would break another of the red lines of Apple’s philosophy. And knowing that all the European Union proposals launched to date have been approved, it is useful to know What would be the consequences of an iPhone with interchangeable batteries?.
The European Union wants to do this in favor of saving materials and environmental impact: each battery manufactured contains rare earths which are increasingly expensive to extract and which leave their mark in the form of contamination. If all phones switched to removable batteries it would be much easier to recycle them
Another great benefit that consumers would appreciate is a much simpler battery changing process: we would just have to buy the part from a store and change it ourselves at home. If you’re of a certain age, you’ll remember that the first smartphones already had batteries that you could swap out.
It will also have more positive consequences: batteries would have to include information about their autonomy, and competition that would allow a universal connection or “plug” would lower the price of Apple batteries.
Why has it ceased to be produced? Well, because an interchangeable battery means having to place more internal parts in the mobile, parts that take up valuable space right now. A non-replaceable battery like the one that currently resides in the vast majority of smart phones in the world allows larger batteries and therefore greater autonomy. If we go back to interchangeables, the autonomy of the iPhone (and the rest of the mobiles) will decrease.
Another consequence of the return to removable batteries is that would affect the seal: it would be much more difficult to sell waterproof/dustproof or submersible phones because the outer casing would have to have a part that the user could easily unscrew or disassemble.
However, the European Union wants to give priority to the environment and to greater freedom for users. These are very understandable and very noble goals that in a way I support, because the future depends on them. But we must also recognize that we would have to get used to a drop in the performance of our iPhone in several of its features.
If the European Union decides to approve this proposal and turn it into law, Apple and the rest of the manufacturers will have three and a half years to redesign their terminals according to the new regulations. It will be a big change, but it will be a change that will take time to materialize.