It had been in the works for a while, but now it has formally been adopted. From the article:
The regulation provides that by 2027 portable batteries incorporated into appliances should be removable and replaceable by the end-user, leaving sufficient time for operators to adapt the design of their products to this requirement.
I don’t care hugely about aesthetics, my concern is non-standard form factors. I don’t know how a phone like the Z Folds can be made with removable batteries, one of the 2 batteries is literally sandwiched between 2 screens. Implementing this would take it from feeling like a brick to being literally the size of a brick. Hopefully tech improves enough by 2027 to negate my concerns but I don’t see how.
I don’t think it’s requiring the battery to be hot swappable. Just requires that the user can remove the back with a screwdriver and not have to worry about a bunch of different proprietary screws or absolutely require a third party repair option.
Someone can correct me if I’m wrong but I don’t see any reason why you couldn’t make a flip that can have the battery removable with just using universal screws and no glue etc
The flip is possibly doable, but as someone with a Fold4 there simply isn’t room in the device to start incorporating screws in the half with a screen on both sides. Only way I can see it working is putting the whole battery on the side with a normal back, but there isn’t enough room for the same size of battery. It’d probably also throw off the balance in the hand when open.
It improved enough in the last years to allow foldable smartphones… it can improve enough by 2027 to make batteries replaceable.
Always possible, and given the choice between a phone without a replaceable battery vs [functionally] the same phone with one I’ll always take the latter, but consumer battery tech has moved at a glacial pace compared to screen tech. Samsung plays in both industries though so maybe this’ll light a fire for them to speed up battery development.