• turdas@suppo.fi
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    17 hours ago

    Stuff like this is why you should tell all your friends and family to hold off on buying devices with non-replaceable batteries now.

    edit: Contrary to what the article says though, this doesn’t guarantee they’re launching one with replaceable batteries (though it’s possible). AFAIK the regulation has a cop-out where if the battery is certified to last 1000 cycles at >80% health then the device is exempt from the regulation. This is what iPhones have already pretty much been confirmed to do.

    • ZkhqrD5o@lemmy.world
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      9 hours ago

      > 80% after 1000 cycles AND at least IP67 protection. That’s the loophole. So anything that can’t be made waterproof is still affected by the law.

      • brucethemoose@lemmy.world
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        8 hours ago

        And IP67 is not trivial. That’s vacuum dust proof + 1 meter underwater for 30 minutes.

        The iPhone passes this, yes, but it’s kind of crazy that it does. There’s no way the Switch and its joycons would.

    • d00ery@lemmy.world
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      13 hours ago

      Not doubting your AFAIK and without checking it myself. That’s a rubbish cop out - look at all the Gameboys and older consoles that people still enjoy and even put a premium on.

      Edit - I did some research (a Google search):

      The ecodesign requirements are set out in Annex II, including rules on:

      • resistance to accidental drops or scratches and protection from dust and water;
      • durability of batteries – batteries of smart phones and slate tablets should withstand at least 800 cycles of charge and discharge while retaining at least 80% of their initial capacity;
      • disassembly and repair, including obligations for producers to make critical spare parts available to repairers within 5–10 working days, and until 7 years after the end of sales of the product model on the EU market;
      • operating system upgrades for at least 5 years after the product has been placed on the market;
      • non-discriminatory access for professional repairers to any software or firmware needed for the replacement.

      https://eur-lex.europa.eu/EN/legal-content/summary/ecodesign-requirements-smartphones-mobile-phones-other-than-smartphones-cordless-phones-and-slate-tablets.html?hl=en-GB

      If we take 800 cycles to be just over 2 years at one cycle a day,then I think that’s a bit limited. I often run phones that are over 2 years old and they are perfectly fine for everyday use performance-wise. In my opinion this is missing the whole point.

      • turdas@suppo.fi
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        10 hours ago

        Yeah I feel like it’ll be pretty easy for most batteries to meet that standard, and 800 cycles isn’t that many for most devices.

        A lot of manufacturers have opted for replaceable batteries anyway, perhaps anticipating future amendments to the regulation (I believe it was initially more strict).