[srmatto]

I can't speak to the experience with Android but Apple offers both in-store battery replacement or Mail-in battery replacement for $70-120 which to me seems very reasonable. Could it be cheaper? Sure, maybe I guess? But $70-120 is a lot less than a new phone. And this way we don't need to compromise the shell of the phone with seams and things that can fail.

https://support.apple.com/iphone/repair/battery-replacement

[semi-extrinsic]

The battery costs $7-$12 to produce and ship to your location, so kind of strange to say $70-$120 is cheap.

It's a philosophical thing, sure. But the EU is taking the approach that businesses should make honest money by selling quality products, not through consumer-hostile practices like inflating the cost of spare parts + labour for fixing stuff.

In the past our family has had several Android phones where the battery was easily replaceable. We even had a couple of Motorolas where the screen was a simple and cheap thing to replace. That seems to be increasingly a thing of the past.

With those phones, I have never once experienced a failure mode related to seams / screws holding the phone together. If it's one thing that's extremely well known technology, it's fasteners and gaskets for consumer products.

[BigTTYGothGF]

> And this way we don't need to compromise the shell of the phone with seams and things that can fail

The ancients managed to design around replaceable batteries, I don't think these techniques have been entirely lost to time.

[scottyah]

The ancients also designed ways to carry humans without gas or electricity, but I don't really want to regress to those techniques.

[xdennis]

The "ancients" refers to phone makers 15 years ago when batteries were still replaceable.

[BigTTYGothGF]

Not a biker, eh?

[scottyah]

Hah fair- I wouldn't give up paragliding either. To keep the analogies- I wouldn't want a bike without inflatable tires, nor a paraglider without a reserve.

[halostatue]

They also designed with cheap shells that felt loose before a year was out, and offered exactly zero water and dust protection so if your device got wet, it was considered out of warranty.

[Neywiny]

https://m.gsmarena.com/results.php3?chkRemovableBattery=sele...

Incorrect. Here are 115 phones with removable batteries and rated for > 0 water protection.

[vincnetas]

how long are you willing to be without your phone? banking apps, public transit tickets, calls, messages, digital signatures. this is luxury not many can afford these days to be offline for days.

[rendx]

With Apple, at least in Germany, you schedule an appointment online, you walk in at that time, and you can come pick it up an hour later. Many independent shops offer basically the same for Android and Apple phones.

[pirates]

When I did it two months ago it took them an hour. Be generous and say they’re backed up and sometimes it takes two hours. Is that too long to be without your phone?

[bragr]

That's assuming you live near a store.

[kalmi10]

There are many small shops that swap batteries just fine in an hour, at least in Europe.

[u_fucking_dork]

> offline for days

Just making shit up.

[vincnetas]

i was referring more to this part "Mail-in battery replacement". good to know that they can do this so fast. but it would be even faster when battery would be user serviceable. and not everyone is living driving distance away from certified workshops.

[antonvs]

> And this way we don't need to compromise the shell of the phone with seams and things that can fail.

My older Samsung Galaxy had an easy clip-off back cover and easily replaceable battery. Nothing related to that ever failed.

Whereas two newer Pixel phones have had issues with the back cover glue coming loose, leading to interior damage.

Given that, the idea that a case that can be opened easily “compromises the shell of the phone” sounds like a weak excuse for some other deficiency or agenda.

[dpoloncsak]

Can you keep the same water-resistant standards with a removable cover? In my head that's the main tradeoff

[buran77]

> the same water-resistant standards

You can have water protection and easily replaceable battery.

Still, I'm really curious about how many people take advantage of those standards and need IP67 (30min at 1m depth) as opposed to a quick splash or rain on it, or how many buy the artificial tradeoff of water resistance over easily replaceable battery because this is all that's offered.

[albuic]

Yes you can! It was done with many phones in the past...

[nozzlegear]

I just checked for my iPhone 14 Pro and the mail-in battery replacement is free. Maybe because I have Apple Care?

[bzzzt]

Yes. You're paying at least $9,99 per month which means that after the 5 or so years when the battery starts going bad you've already paid for multiple batteries.

[nozzlegear]

Well yeah but it also covers an entire new phone if I break the phone. So it's not like I'm paying for AppleCare just to get a battery.

[prmoustache]

In many part of the world a lot of people buy second hand phones exclusively and they are the first customers for battery replacement. $70-120 is quite steep for them.

[derkades]

A genuine Pixel battery costs €38 from iFixit