It will be a pretty major redesign of the chasis and body to accommodate a removable battery and the cover, so I think it would make little economical sense to maintain two designs for every phone sold here.
I’m wondering how ‘user replaceable’ is defined. Will we get backs that just pop off, or do they just need to be easier to replace? (No glue or proprietary tools required)
I think it’ll depend on how expensive it is to maintain the existing features under the new EU law. My understanding is that the phones are thinner (maybe lighter) and more easily waterproofed because of the current design. If it costs more to keep those features with a replaceable battery, they might split the market rather than try to charge higher prices in the other markets. They might even just drop those features in the EU rather than raise prices.
It’s definitely going to be interesting to see what they do.
It will be a pretty major redesign of the chasis and body to accommodate a removable battery and the cover, so I think it would make little economical sense to maintain two designs for every phone sold here.
I’m wondering how ‘user replaceable’ is defined. Will we get backs that just pop off, or do they just need to be easier to replace? (No glue or proprietary tools required)
I think it’ll depend on how expensive it is to maintain the existing features under the new EU law. My understanding is that the phones are thinner (maybe lighter) and more easily waterproofed because of the current design. If it costs more to keep those features with a replaceable battery, they might split the market rather than try to charge higher prices in the other markets. They might even just drop those features in the EU rather than raise prices.
It’s definitely going to be interesting to see what they do.