Fortunately, it seems the EU will mandate removable batteries by 2027? Caveat: I haven’t done any research into that besides the headline, so YMMV.

https://www.euronews.com/green/2023/06/22/new-eu-law-to-forc...

It's not going to do something like require phones use clips again to hold the back on and hold the battery inside the housing. Apple's self-service repair program might already qualify.

We do have a useful invention called the screw. With every phone phablet sized nowadays there isn't a valid argument that they don't have room for waterproofed fasteners.

Screws are how in fact one accesses the battery in an iPhone.

Obviously they should be using big ph1 screws

This post is misleading. Have you watched a YouTube video of what it takes to replace a battery in a modern, advanced mobile phone? Woah, that is a lot of glue. And, it is very tricky to do it right.

A 1-2 hour process which includes heating to soften glue, high potential of damaging internal components, or high potential of cracking some piece of glass is not "Screws are how in fact one accesses the battery in an iPhone."

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/iPhone+14+Battery+Replacement/1...

You’re describing removing the rear glass (and it takes 30mins, tops, I’ve done it). Something that’s not covered by the EU legislation I might add.

It literally says the following about removing the battery (emphasis mine)

> Unfasten the battery connector cover screws

and…

> remove the single 1.0 mm-long screw securing the charging coil connector cover

After that it’s just two easy to remove adhesive pull tabs to get the battery out (which would pass the test for user replaceable in the EU law).

Complain about how hard it is to get the glass off, fine, but that’s got zilch to do with the EU law

> “A portable battery should be considered to be removable by the end-user when it can be removed with the use of commercially available tools and without requiring the use of specialised tools, unless they are provided free of charge, or proprietary tools, thermal energy or solvents to disassemble it.”

https://www.theverge.com/2023/6/24/23771064/european-union-b...

If you need to use a heater to get access to the battery to remove it, this would probably be forbidden.

possibly, yes, it’s certainly an argument that could be made in court. However the battery itself can be removed without those. It’s the rear glass that can’t (currently, who knows in 4 years).

Sounds hair splitting I know, but court cases are won & lost on less.

> You’re describing removing the rear glass (and it takes 30mins, tops, I’ve done it).

And? That just seems to prove ifixit's estimate are accurate.

> It literally says the following about removing the battery (emphasis mine)

AFTER spending 30+ minutes very carefully remove a glass cover (as you even attest to). It isn't simply unscrewing screws as portrayed.

> Complain about how hard it is to get the glass off, fine, but that’s got zilch to do with the EU law

I wasn't commenting on EU law, but how "Screws are how in fact one accesses the battery in an iPhone" is very misleading.

This is good for the EU no doubt; but unfortunately they'll just make an EU-only variant just like Apple did with removable SIM cards.