Apple Developing New Way To Make iPhone Batteries Easier To Replace (9to5mac.com) 48
According to a report from The Information, Apple is developing a new "electrically induced adhesive debonding" technology that would make iPhone batteries easier to replace. 9to5Mac reports: Currently, replacing an iPhone battery requires using tweezers to remove the existing battery, which is held in place by adhesive strips. Then, you must use a "specialized machine and tray" to press the new battery into place. The new process uses metal instead of foil to cover the battery, as The Information explains: "The new technology --- known as electrically induced adhesive debonding -- involves encasing the battery in metal, rather than foil as it is currently. That would allow people to dislodge the battery from the chassis by administering a small jolt of electricity to the battery, the people said. Consumers still have to pry open the iPhone themselves, which is not an easy process because of the adhesives and screws that keep the iPhone's screen sealed in place."
Even with this change, however, Apple will still recommend that iPhone users visit a professional to replace their battery. If Apple's development of this new bonding technology goes according to plan, it could debut it with at least one iPhone 16 model this year. According to the report, it would then expand to all versions of the iPhone 17 next year.
Even with this change, however, Apple will still recommend that iPhone users visit a professional to replace their battery. If Apple's development of this new bonding technology goes according to plan, it could debut it with at least one iPhone 16 model this year. According to the report, it would then expand to all versions of the iPhone 17 next year.
My 10-year-old LG (Score:5, Informative)
There is no technical or engineering reason why you shouldn't be able to just pop the back off your phone and switch out the battery. Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying to you and they think you're an idiot
Re: My 10-year-old LG (Score:1)
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An OS that doesn't lag and stutter?
Battery life not a problem (Score:2)
These phones are like the old 1980s dos computers, my dad says.
- Only run one program ...)
- No TSRs (Don't run any background programs if you can)
- Turn off all of the extras (notifications, phone home, background data synch,
- Don't clutter the hard disk with useless programs (don't install dozens of use 1 time year apps)
- Shut it down when you are not using it (Reboot the phone regularly)
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I love my LG G4. It had a replaceable battery, a headphone jack and an IR blaster. What more could you ask for?
A motherboard that doesn't die in a significant proportion of the phones. And a manufacturer with some integrity that does a recall or gives an extended warranty. For a while mine only worked when it was ice cold, long enough for me to put it in my freezer and use USB to extract some data, but after that it quickly died the true death. The phone was a lemon, and should have been subject to some kind of mandatory repair, but laws like that probably only exist in Europe.
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I've never seen a smartphone with a motherboard dead of non-violent causes, and I still have some from ~ 2010 in working order.
At most, I've replaced the batteries.
How do you kill the motherboards without a hammer or something?
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How do you kill the motherboards without a hammer or something?
With normal every day activities like putting it in a microwave or taking it with you on a deep sea diving trip.
Re:My 10-year-old LG (Score:5, Informative)
This is just signaling to European Union regulators in a desperate bid to keep them from passing laws requiring batteries to be used to replaceable. They will drag their feeds until you pass that law.
The EU already did pass a law. Catch is, there's exemptions for batteries that aren't likely to need replacement during the lifespan of the device. From a MacRunors article: [macrumors.com]
Apple may be exempt from the EU's legislation requiring consumer-friendly battery replacement if its devices meet certain criteria, such as retaining 83% of their capacity after 500 full charges and 80% after 1,000 full charges. The iPhone 15 meets the criteria for 1,000 charges, but earlier models do not meet the 500-charge requirement.
If I had to take a guess at Apple's reasoning behind the change, it probably has more to do with saving themselves money rather than appeasing end users or the EU. If you've ever tried replacing an iPhone battery yourself, those damn adhesive strips rarely come off in one piece, and Apple's official method of continuing the repair once the adhesive strips break is time consuming and likely to result in a damaged phone. The hacker approach, however, is to drain the battery of any residual charge, warm the back of the phone with a hair dryer, and then just pry the battery up using a plastic gift card or old expired credit card. Of course, far be it for Apple to adopt a repair procedure from a YouTube video.
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Even if they meet the 80% after 1000 cycles criteria, the EU will still expect them to offer cost effective battery replacements when a phone fails to live up to that metric. There will likely be some EU standard test too, not just what Apple claims which is likely to be extremely optimistic.
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Well...,having just had my dive computer flood, as a direct result of changing the easily changeable battery....I gotta say, I have no interest in my phone having one.
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My point was that if seals fail on something like a dive computer, a type of life support equipment, they can certainly fail on consumer tech like a phone. They certainly have on my previous three phones. Given the cost of phones, I'd prefer to see no design chances that give them another liquid fail point.
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Though, if a phone fails because the user changed the battery and failed to re-seal the phone properly, that means a denied warranty claim, and the new phone purchase. So in theory, Apple should be encour
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Sure. Which, I understand, and as a shareholder, I'm not entirely opposed to.
As a consumer, I'd prefer a liquid proof phone and really don't care about the battery being easily replaceable. The battery in my dive computer is easily replaceable. Now I have a dead dive computer.
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As an engineer with experience in this area, the key to retaining waterproofness is to replace the gaskets. Swap the battery, and then swap out the rubber that stops water getting in. Even if it looks okay, replace it.
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Yep. And the kit I used comes with a new gasket, silicone lubricant and some plastic piece. I used all the new pieces, worked diligently and carefully, and still managed to fuck it up. Somehow.
People who think that making the phone battery easily replaceable is the be all, end all of phone battery replacement philosophy are delusional. Lots and lots of people who replace their own battery will end up with liquid damaged phones and then want to complain loudly about how it's all the manufacturers fault. Guar
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Your Timex isn't rated to survive being worn in the shower after the batteries are changed, unless it's pressure tested and recertified by an authorized professional.
Re: My 10-year-old LG (Score:3)
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(Yeah, obviously not the best, but: it was available in a dual SIM version that also had a uSD card slot, had an IR transmitter, etcetera)
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So (Score:1)
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No battery: (Score:2)
Remove the battery completely and make the CASE become the battery!
Users can have larger batteries if they like or less if they want more crap in the case. Also it could make changing batteries as easy as changing the case.
They can then better control the case market because now they must be batteries and cases...
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I have yet to see an iPhone user without a case on their phone. They can't make a phone that is more slick and thin than one without any battery at all! market without a case.
Market the cases separately. How is this adding more visible lines?
LiFePO4 (Score:3)
Or they could like make the phone 1mm thicker and use LiFePO4 cell which would get close to 10 years.
They must be _real_ geniuses there! (Score:3)
May I suggest licencing what the Fairphone uses? Or my old Moto? Or maybe even my now historic Blackberry?
New EU regulations (Score:2)
Apple's probably trying to comply with new upcoming EU regulations that require all small electronics to have user-replaceable batteries by 2028. Interesting how legislation spurs innovation.
Data point (Score:5, Informative)
As of the iPhone 7, removing the battery required removing the glued-on case, not trivial, but not difficult, and then removing the adhesive strips.
If you are lucky and know the trick, removing the adhesive strips wasn't terribly difficult. There is a tab you can lift with tweezers and pulling it longitudinally pops it off cleanly. If you do it wrong, you need a small 3d-printable tool to cut through the adhesive with fishing line.
If I were me, I'd prefer they make it easier to open the cases far more than making the battery have some zappy whiz-bang tech to pull the battery.
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It sounds like Not Invented Here syndrome, because there has been a solution to this for years already. Just use an adhesive that weakens when stretched. Most non-Apple phones have that, you just pull a tab and the battery comes out easily.
Re: Data point (Score:2)
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In addition to your well made point, I'd like to point out that as an older person who is adept with technical shit, a lit magnifying glass and perhaps multiple tweezers in a vice are requirements and should be labeled as such. Once I bought an iFixit replacement battery and did my darndest to follow the directions but those parts are sooooo small! Needless to say the project failed, I lost money and had to buy a replacement.
Fuck Apple (Score:2, Troll)
The solution is simple. Screws to take the back of the phone off and an O-ring to seal it.
Apple's just being Apple and trying to comply as maliciously and grudgingly as possible.
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Or they could just attach it to the back. (Score:3)
The whole reason removing the iPhone's battery is a pain in the a** to begin with (and the MacBook Pro doubly so) is because they attached the battery to the top case instead of the bottom case. All it would take is making the wires a little longer so you can disconnect them after you pull the bottom case off, and now you're dealing with a battery attached to a metal back and nothing else. Take it outside. If it catches fire, step back and let it burn or hose it down. No big deal either way.
Right to repair (Score:3)
some genius's (Score:3)
Re: some genius's (Score:2)
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I never bring my phone into the shower. I cannot even remember if my phones ever got wet. They are making a simple baterry replacement hard because of an event with 0.00000000001% probability?
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quite the conundrum this is (Score:1)
replicable batteries (Score:1)
Are they retarded? (Score:2)
Good engineer does some research before trying to reinvent the wheel.