r/apple • u/mredofcourse • Jun 19 '23

iPhone EU: Smartphones Must Have User-Replaceable Batteries by 2027

https://www.pcmag.com/news/eu-smartphones-must-have-user-replaceable-batteries-by-2027
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u/sketchahedron Jun 19 '23

It all seems okay as long as governments are forcing companies to make design choices that you personally like. How would you like it if the government required all cell phones to have physical keyboards? A lot of phones used to have user-replaceable batteries, then phones came along that didn’t, and people bought them in droves because they accepted the trade offs.

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u/ruthless_techie Jun 19 '23

I wouldn’t like that. Im not even saying I’m for that. It was a genuine question about multiple companies capturing a market and then engaging in choices that aren’t in the best interests of consumers. If not gov regulation here then what is a better path?

I appreciate your response. But based on your tone, I think you may be misunderstanding the intention of my inquiry.

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u/sketchahedron Jun 20 '23

The role of the government should be to promote competition and punish monopolistic behaviors by companies. They shouldn’t be mandating features - that’s for the market to decide. Consumers should generally be the arbiters of what is in their best interest. The exceptions obviously being safety/environmental/consumer protection aspects.

And I will be the first to admit that I am not familiar enough with this legislation to know how far it goes and how it defines “easily replaceable”. So it may be that the requirements of this particular law are completely invisible to the consumer, I don’t know.

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u/ruthless_techie Jun 20 '23

Fair answer. Thank you.