Thinness does have some value for phones. For laptops, there's certainly a market for ultra portable machines but Apple seems to have forgotten that some of us use our computers for work and are willing to trade off thinness for practical usability.

I think the issue is that articulating that balance is hard - for example, the original thinner retina MBP lost some practical usability, but from a work standpoint for me, it was worth it for the increased portability.

same goes for smartphones, sadly the market has a tendency to align with 'stupid' goals and so no more production of non-thin devices. I'd be very happy with a thicker phone (larger battery, more shock resilience and even... some buttons)

So get a thin phone and put a battery back case on it?

that's a possibility but I find the idea a bit stupid, I get two parts that will probably won't feel as nice, and probably not sturdy together.

> they removed 'user replaceable' for thinness

Also better water resistance.

That's a myth. Some of the older Samsung models had removable batteries and good water resistance ratings.

Like the beloved S4 Active. It even came in a camo color scheme, for those more rugged outdoor types. I still have it as a sort of alarm clock/emergency phone by my bedside.

no way to have sealed covers ? (open question)

...which happened just around the time batteries became good enough for both daily use, as well as a phone’s typical lifespan.

10 years or so ago, a three-year old cell phone battery would still be good for maybe three or four hours per charge. Today, I’m using a 5-year old iPhone that still gets through a typical day on a single charge.

There are also battery cases, or external battery banks, whose introduction has solved most people’s battery-related questions, except “why are people still complaining about non-removable batteries?”

well it just happen that my moto g1 battery died so I had to find a supplier (harder since it's not a shelf part anymore) and disassemble the phone (the battery is still glued, I'm waiting for the replacement to do that).

all your points are valid though, but still I like a bit of swappability.