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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: July 23rd, 2023

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  • A portable battery should be considered to be removable by the end-user when it can be removed with the use of commercially available tools and without requiring the use of specialised tools, unless they are provided free of charge, or proprietary tools, thermal energy or solvents to disassemble it. Commercially available tools are considered to be tools available on the market to all end users without the need for them to provide evidence of any proprietary rights and that can be used with no restriction, except health and safety-related restrictions.

    I’m glad they got specific. I wonder where Apple’s self-service battery replacement program falls under this? AFAIK it’s not free. They charge a fee to rent the specialized tools, which are also proprietary.

    This gives Apple a few choices:

    1. Make the tools commercially available, but at an astronomical price in typical Apple fashion
    2. Make the tools commercially available at a normal consumer price (unlikely)
    3. Make the self-service battery replacement program free (most likely, but will require a significant revision to the tools used since they are industrial-grade)


  • I’m not sure if English is your first language, but that’s not the exact wording from the document.

    Emphasis mine:

    To ensure the safety of end-users, this Regulation should provide for a limited derogation for portable batteries from the removability and replaceability requirements set for portable batteries concerning appliances that incorporate portable batteries and that are specifically designed to be used, for the majority of the active service of the appliance, in an environment that is regularly subject to splashing water, water streams or water immersion and that are intended to be washable or rinseable.

    To me this would be things meant to be used in and around water (underwater cameras, water sensors, etc.), not water-resistant devices like smartphones that aren’t specifically designed to be used in that kind of environment.