Aamir Siddiqui / Android Authority
TL;DR
- The EU is requiring smartphone manufacturers to make their devices’ batteries easier to replace by 2025.
- To comply, Apple may stop using foil and adhesive strips to keep iPhone batteries in place.
- The alternative could be a metallic casing that pops out when it detects a small jolt of electricity.
Last year, the EU passed a law forcing phone manufacturers to adopt user-replaceable batteries by 2025. To comply, Apple may retire the use of foil and adhesive strips in favor of a new metallic casing that would keep the iPhone’s battery in place. The new mechanism could be adopted by at least one iPhone 16 model later this year.
As reported by The Information, Apple may soon stop gluing its batteries to the iPhone’s chassis. Instead, it could encase them in metal to make them more accessible. Users would then be able to pop the batteries out by administering a small electric jolt.
“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.”
While Apple may stop gluing the batteries themselves, users may still find it difficult to replace them on their own. After all, the company relies on many screws and adhesives to stabilize the display and keep liquids and dust out.
Beyond potentially testing the change with at least one iPhone 16 model this fall, the entire iPhone 17 lineup is expected to adopt the new battery casing next year.
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