I absolutely despise that Apple made non-replaceable batteries the norm, and most of us have begun to accept this as "the way things have always been". Every cell phone I had before the iPhone came out had an easily replaceable battery before we all became a slave to Ives' "Preciousssss" demands for minimalism.
Edit: Folks seem to be misunderstanding why I brought up Apple. I in no way think they are now worse than any other phone manufacturer when it comes to irreplaceable batteries. But AFAIK the iPhone was the first phone to have a glued-in battery, and that has since become the norm. They have essentially helped lead the way in convincing consumers that replacing the battery shouldn't be an easy, user-accessible operation.
Also who in the world needs all this replacement batteries anyway? I'm still rocking a 13 Pro purchased when new, I have no plans to upgrade and my battery is bloody fine. I still end every day with a good 40% charge at minimum and I'm an app developer, so I'm on my phone for a good solid portion of every day. And prior to this one I had an X which not only didn't have any major battery issues but my wife still used it for another year after I bought my 13, and then, near the tail end of her ownership, STARTED having some battery problems. At the end of year 4 of service as a daily driver.
>who in the world needs all this replacement batteries anyway
>I'm still rocking a 13 Pro purchased when new
Congratulations, your phone with a whopping 2-years of age still has a good battery. (Though I'm not sure losing 60% a day is really great imo...)
Try living in a world where a $300 phone is a big expense, and now it barely lasts a day when it used to last a week.
1: Some people have phones that are just fine, but have a dying battery. Replacing an otherwise perfectly functional phone just because the battery is going is massive e-waste.
2: Not everyone can afford constantly replacing their ever-more-expensive phones just because the battery died. Even if they can, it's a really wasteful use of money.
Consumers should have the choice. They can get a product with some compromises, but a replaceable battery - or a potentially more durable, more waterproof phone without one.
Of course they don't bother because the demand is a vocal minority. Most people don't care. But the e-waste effects everyone so something does need to be done.
Well again, I spend a lot of my day with my phone on and being used to do my job. And I also use it plenty for bathroom breaks, screwing around between tasks, the usual stuff. In my mind, running like that for 16 hours per day and still having 2/5th's in the tank is pretty good.
> Try living in a world where a $300 phone is a big expense, and now it barely lasts a day when it used to last a week.
I have never owned any smartphone that lasted even close to a week. When I was younger, my droid would occasionally go a couple of days between charges, if I was particularly busy and therefore not using it. I don't think I've owned a phone I haven't charged overnight since... gotta be like 2011?
> 1: Some people have phones that are just fine, but have a dying battery. Replacing an otherwise perfectly functional phone just because the battery is going is massive e-waste.
But again that's what my question is getting at and what I'm trying to understand: how are people frying out their batteries like they are?
Your assumption that phones would only be used for 2 years is pretty weird on an article about using phones for 8 years.