Leaked proposals from the European Union suggest that smartphone manufacturers in the EU could be forced to make all batteries removable in the future. This would mean that any smartphone brand wanting to sell a handheld in the EU, including Apple, would have to ensure that every device on the market has a user-removable battery (via TechRadar).
Yes, please. Long story short, I have an iPhone 8 now, ordered from Decluttr.* It's in pretty good shape, but the battery is at 81%. "Only" $49 to fix at Apple, but you know what would be great?
The only downsides afaict are...
- The phones could be 2mm thicker in every direction.
- Batteries might not be waterproof.
What do you want to make a bet that, like the "universal charger" EU mandate that Apple skirted by offering a USB-C to Lightning adapter, they'll just say the battery cases they sell match the letter of the law. /sigh
* Longer story: Was waiting on SE 2, in large part because of my hatred of FaceID. Someone was promised an iPhone 8, it was ordered, they did not do the things needed to receive said 8, and I suddenly started thinking: You know, this iPhone is half the price of the SE 2 I'd want ($222 vs $450), has TouchID, and is as fast as an iPhone X. That's just two generations behind. Let's keep it and pocket some cash.
Jury's still out. I kinda miss portrait mode, believe it or not, and I wonder how impressive the CPU diff and camera improvements would be. But as in most cases, you don't miss what you haven't seen.
So far, my only regret is this battery.
Unexpected boon: The Speck CandyShell Card case for the 6S (which I still had from a few years ago) fits the 8 if you Dremel the camera hole a little. Doesn't look super great, but it works.
