Batteries are already fairly easy to replace if you’re not an idiot. A hair dryer, a little screwdriver, a guitar pick, and a 5 minute YouTube video is all you really need.
I guess the EU just misses the days of ugly plastic backed phones that die if they get slightly wet. Or you drop them and the back falls out and battery goes flying across the room.
Gotta cater to the lowest common denominator of humanity though I guess.
I tried pulling the battery from my old Pixel 4 because it was swelling. The damn thing was glued in so tight that I ruptured the battery trying to get it off and it burst into flame. So no, they’re not that easy.
The government really has no business dictating how manufacturers design their products. If people don’t like phones without user-replaceable batteries, they won’t buy them, will they?
The days of replacing empty phone batteries rather than recharging them are long-dead. I agree that replacing a modern smartphone battery, even in a sealed unit is stupid-easy. With the proper instructions and tools, my mom could do it quite easily. I’ve done it myself and it was at most a 15 minute job.
