zlacker

> Snark aside and how most phones/etc are put together these days, I see issues in the general population of replacing the battery if it requires opening the case.

Every phone (before the advent of eSims) used to come with a simple sim-opening tool that made it trivial to open the sim tray. I find it baffling to think that phone manufacturers would find it so difficult to add some teeny screws or other fasteners that could be easily opened with a 2 cent tool that would come with the phone.

>>hn_thr+(OP)
It adds to the cost of goods and probably the manufacturing process. Yes, you used to be able to replace batteries easily. Most are long, thin & flat to go with slimmer phones. Possible, for sure, but we will see.

>>jmspri+s2
Apple is one of the most advanced consumer electronics companies on the planet. I may question its utility, but their VR headset is one of the most amazing feats of consumer product engineering I've ever seen. So excuse my scepticism if "replaceable battery" is somehow beyond their engineering and product design prowess.

>>hn_thr+J9
I don't doubt they would be able to do so. I think the choice of doing so, maintaining esthetics, and making it such that a layman can do it while not making tradeoffs they don't want to probably play into it.

>>jmspri+3h
Yes, it's difficult to maintain the 'giant pile of scrooge mcduck gold' aesthetic in the apple corporate vaults if users aren't railroaded into buying a new phone every few years.

>>jmspri+3h
And keeping the phone as water resistant