[HenrikB]

Agree - I read this as it will be easy to replace the battery when it reaches its end of life and no longer can hold my charge. It will still take time to replace it, but that's okay since it'll only be done once every few years. It's not meant to re-introduce swappable battery packs, so you won't be able to carry spares on long trips etc.

[b112]

You will when people sell mods for phones, such as a replacement back wth easy access.

Or when phone manufacturers realise they may as well do so, at least on some models, because why not. And yes, the battery compartment can be waterproof with a rubber seal... but even so? Many would prefer battery swap to full waterproof, if that was the cost.

[usrusr]

The trade-off between having the field-swappability feature and going the lean way (it's not just cheaper, also smaller, lighter, less to go wrong) shifts though: when regulation forces companies to go 20% of the way towards field swappability, more will take the bet that there might be a niche worth serving at the 100% mark.

I still would not expect this to happen for mainstream phones, but other devices? There will more field swappability with the regulation that enforces layman replaceability then without.