21/04/2026
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1QVZh2q8AL/
🇪🇺🔋 THE EUROPEAN UNION DECLARES WAR ON PLANNED OBSOLESCENCE: FROM 2027 ALL SMARTPHONES MUST HAVE REPLACEABLE BATTERIES
📅 The date is set. On February 18, 2027, Article 11 of the EU Batteries Regulation enters into force, approved by the European Parliament with 587 votes in favor, 9 against, and 20 abstentions. From that day, any smartphone, tablet, or digital camera sold in Europe must allow the user to replace the battery at home.
🔧 Goodbye to the tricks that force you to buy a new phone. No more impossible glues, heat guns, or proprietary screws. The law requires the battery to be removable with a common screwdriver. Manufacturers will also be obligated to guarantee original spare parts for years and maintain software updates for a minimum period.
📊 The data driving the decision is uncomfortable for the industry. The average user changes phones every 2.7 years, not because the device stops working, but because the battery degrades. With the new regulation, the EU estimates phones could last 5 to 6 years, drastically reducing electronic waste, lithium mining, and the user's dependence on the forced consumption cycle.
🏭 Apple, Samsung, and Google in the crosshairs. The industry has resisted for two decades, arguing that sealed batteries are necessary for waterproofing. But Samsung's own Galaxy XCover line already proves otherwise: replaceable batteries, IP68 submersion certification, and military-grade MIL-STD-810. The problem, regulators say, was never technical. It was the business model.
⚖️ And the domino effect could be global. When the EU mandated USB-C in 2022, Apple ended up unifying that port on all iPhones worldwide, not just in Europe. The question now is whether the replaceable battery will follow the same path. Consumers could recover something they lost fifteen years ago: the real possibility that their phone lasts as long as it was designed to last.
