In an interview with the YouTube channel ORBIT, a vice-president of Apple suggests that the company does not want to offer removable batteries on iPhones, despite the law passed to this effect by Europe.
Improve the repairability of appliances and the recycling of their components to promote sustainable development. The European Union has wanted to push this credo for several years. Between the obligation to offer a USB-C charging port and that of having removable smartphone batteries, we cannot say that it does not act. In the majority of cases, we notice that decisions mostly affect Apple. The firm has always kept control of its ecosystem with proprietary components, among others.
In an interview with ORBIT on YouTube, John Ternus, vice president of hardware engineering at Apple, half-words that removable batteries on iPhone are not on the program. He points out that for him, an easily replaceable battery creates “a conflict between durability and repairability. You can make an internal component more repairable by making it unobtrusive and removable, but that inherently adds a potential point of failure.”
Apple doesn’t want a removable battery on iPhones so as not to make them too fragile
John Ternus continues by taking the example of the iPhone water and dust resistance, which requires “highly technical adhesives and sealants”. On the other hand, it makes the devices more difficult to open to, for example, replace the battery. “A question of balance”, he concludes. Even if he does not mention it, one can easily imagine that allowing users to change a defective battery themselves would be a loss of revenue for Apple. In France, it costs around 120 € for that of an iPhone 14.
Beyond the economic aspect, such a decision could totally changing the face of the smartphone market in Europe. By imagining that the law passed this year leaves no leeway to manufacturers refusing to comply with it, Apple should simply stop selling its products in European Union countries. The first mobile models with removable battery being expected for 2027, the firm still has time to change its mind.