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European Commission regulators have proposed that smartphones and tablets sold there offer 15 different types of spare parts for at least five years, as part of a broad effort to reduce their environmental impact.
A draft regulation on “eco-design requirements for mobile phones, cordless phones and tablets” published on August 31 notes that phones and tablets are “often replaced prematurely by users” and “not used or recycled sufficiently” (i.e. -s ) at the end of their lives. The cost is the energy and new materials mined from the earth for new phones and the unrecycled materials found in homes. Extending the lifespan of smartphones by five years – from their current typical life of two to three years – would be like taking 5 million cars off the road, according to the commission’s findings.
The most notable proposed fix (listed in Annex II) is that phone manufacturers and sellers must have “professional repairers” available for five years after the date a phone is removed from the market. These repairers will have access to components such as the battery, display, cameras, charging ports, mechanical buttons, microphones, speakers, and hinge assemblies (including foldable phones and tablets).
Phone companies also have a choice: either provide replacement batteries and back covers to phone owners, or design batteries that meet minimum standards. These include 83 percent of its rated capacity after 500 full charge cycles and then 80 percent after 1,000 full charge cycles. Apple, for example, currently claims that its iPhones are designed to retain 80 percent capacity after 500 charge cycles.
Smartphone buyers also have access to screens, SIM and memory card trays, microphones, charging ports and hinges under the proposed regulations. And repair instructions for all these components must be available for seven years after the last day of marketing of devices, with relatively open systems for registration and access to professional repairers. The repair instructions should also be quite extensive, including extended views, board and wiring diagrams if required, and access to the software required to authorize any locked components.
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There is much more to the proposed regulations, both repairability and reliability. Of particular note is the requirement that companies provide security updates for at least five years, “functionality updates” for three years, and both of those offered two to four months after the public release of security patches or “an update of the same operating system … on any other product of the same brand.” For Android vendors, this would be a seismic shift in software support.
Europe’s smartphone regulations have moved forward in recent years, with initiatives like France’s repairability rating and EU-wide adoption of USB-C by 2024. But the Commission’s draft regulation would go beyond even the most aggressive goals of US law. corrective action. Repair bills introduced at the state and federal level typically require manufacturers to supply only the same parts, tools, and manuals that they would provide to their repair technicians or licensed shops. Apple, Samsung and Google have recently tried to offer more parts and repair options, but nowhere near the scope of the Commission’s proposed regulations.
Comments on the proposals will be collected between now and September 28. A version of these proposals is due to be approved in the fourth quarter of 2022, and most of them are written to take effect 12 months after approval.
It’s still too early to comment, but manufacturers aren’t thrilled with mandatory repair issues.
Tech trade group Digital Europe told the Financial Times that “potential overproduction, subsequent storage and destruction of parts” would lead to waste and higher prices for customers.
Xiaomi’s branch in the Netherlands submitted comments on the broader goals of the EC initiative in January 2021. A spokesperson wrote that while acknowledging the importance of software updates, “Operating system support is often dependent on third parties who may sometimes do not provide software versions that are compatible with all maintained versions of the operating system.”
Xiaomi also stated that the repair “must be done within our authorized repair network and use genuine parts” to ensure “quality and reliability”. Providing parts and repair manuals to “third-party professional repairers whose level of technical skill, repair time and cost, and success rate” are unknown would “create serious risks to consumers in terms of quality, safety and security “.
title: “Eu Regulators Want 5 Years Of Smartphone Replacements Much Better Batteries Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-03” author: “James Crandall”
Getty Images
European Commission regulators have proposed that smartphones and tablets sold there offer 15 different types of spare parts for at least five years, as part of a broad effort to reduce their environmental impact.
A draft regulation on “eco-design requirements for mobile phones, cordless phones and tablets” published on August 31 notes that phones and tablets are “often replaced prematurely by users” and “not used or recycled sufficiently” (i.e. -s ) at the end of their lives. The cost is the energy and new materials mined from the earth for new phones and the unrecycled materials found in homes. Extending the lifespan of smartphones by five years – from their current typical life of two to three years – would be like taking 5 million cars off the road, according to the commission’s findings.
The most notable proposed fix (listed in Annex II) is that phone manufacturers and sellers must have “professional repairers” available for five years after the date a phone is removed from the market. These repairers will have access to components such as the battery, display, cameras, charging ports, mechanical buttons, microphones, speakers, and hinge assemblies (including foldable phones and tablets).
Phone companies also have a choice: either provide replacement batteries and back covers to phone owners, or design batteries that meet minimum standards. These include 83 percent of its rated capacity after 500 full charge cycles and then 80 percent after 1,000 full charge cycles. Apple, for example, currently claims that its iPhones are designed to retain 80 percent capacity after 500 charge cycles.
Smartphone buyers also have access to screens, SIM and memory card trays, microphones, charging ports and hinges under the proposed regulations. And repair instructions for all these components must be available for seven years after the last day of marketing of devices, with relatively open systems for registration and access to professional repairers. The repair instructions should also be quite extensive, including extended views, board and wiring diagrams if required, and access to the software required to authorize any locked components.
Advertising
There is much more to the proposed regulations, both repairability and reliability. Of particular note is the requirement that companies provide security updates for at least five years, “functionality updates” for three years, and both of those offered two to four months after the public release of security patches or “an update of the same operating system … on any other product of the same brand.” For Android vendors, this would be a seismic shift in software support.
Europe’s smartphone regulations have moved forward in recent years, with initiatives like France’s repairability rating and EU-wide adoption of USB-C by 2024. But the Commission’s draft regulation would go beyond even the most aggressive goals of US law. corrective action. Repair bills introduced at the state and federal level typically require manufacturers to supply only the same parts, tools, and manuals that they would provide to their repair technicians or licensed shops. Apple, Samsung and Google have recently tried to offer more parts and repair options, but nowhere near the scope of the Commission’s proposed regulations.
Comments on the proposals will be collected between now and September 28. A version of these proposals is due to be approved in the fourth quarter of 2022, and most of them are written to take effect 12 months after approval.
It’s still too early to comment, but manufacturers aren’t thrilled with mandatory repair issues.
Tech trade group Digital Europe told the Financial Times that “potential overproduction, subsequent storage and destruction of parts” would lead to waste and higher prices for customers.
Xiaomi’s branch in the Netherlands submitted comments on the broader goals of the EC initiative in January 2021. A spokesperson wrote that while acknowledging the importance of software updates, “Operating system support is often dependent on third parties who may sometimes do not provide software versions that are compatible with all maintained versions of the operating system.”
Xiaomi also stated that the repair “must be done within our authorized repair network and use genuine parts” to ensure “quality and reliability”. Providing parts and repair manuals to “third-party professional repairers whose level of technical skill, repair time and cost, and success rate” are unknown would “create serious risks to consumers in terms of quality, safety and security “.
title: “Eu Regulators Want 5 Years Of Smartphone Replacements Much Better Batteries Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-10-29” author: “Robert Knoedler”
Getty Images
European Commission regulators have proposed that smartphones and tablets sold there offer 15 different types of spare parts for at least five years, as part of a broad effort to reduce their environmental impact.
A draft regulation on “eco-design requirements for mobile phones, cordless phones and tablets” published on August 31 notes that phones and tablets are “often replaced prematurely by users” and “not used or recycled sufficiently” (i.e. -s ) at the end of their lives. The cost is the energy and new materials mined from the earth for new phones and the unrecycled materials found in homes. Extending the lifespan of smartphones by five years – from their current typical life of two to three years – would be like taking 5 million cars off the road, according to the commission’s findings.
The most notable proposed fix (listed in Annex II) is that phone manufacturers and sellers must have “professional repairers” available for five years after the date a phone is removed from the market. These repairers will have access to components such as the battery, display, cameras, charging ports, mechanical buttons, microphones, speakers, and hinge assemblies (including foldable phones and tablets).
Phone companies also have a choice: either provide replacement batteries and back covers to phone owners, or design batteries that meet minimum standards. These include 83 percent of its rated capacity after 500 full charge cycles and then 80 percent after 1,000 full charge cycles. Apple, for example, currently claims that its iPhones are designed to retain 80 percent capacity after 500 charge cycles.
Smartphone buyers also have access to screens, SIM and memory card trays, microphones, charging ports and hinges under the proposed regulations. And repair instructions for all these components must be available for seven years after the last day of marketing of devices, with relatively open systems for registration and access to professional repairers. The repair instructions should also be quite extensive, including extended views, board and wiring diagrams if required, and access to the software required to authorize any locked components.
Advertising
There is much more to the proposed regulations, both repairability and reliability. Of particular note is the requirement that companies provide security updates for at least five years, “functionality updates” for three years, and both of those offered two to four months after the public release of security patches or “an update of the same operating system … on any other product of the same brand.” For Android vendors, this would be a seismic shift in software support.
Europe’s smartphone regulations have moved forward in recent years, with initiatives like France’s repairability rating and EU-wide adoption of USB-C by 2024. But the Commission’s draft regulation would go beyond even the most aggressive goals of US law. corrective action. Repair bills introduced at the state and federal level typically require manufacturers to supply only the same parts, tools, and manuals that they would provide to their repair technicians or licensed shops. Apple, Samsung and Google have recently tried to offer more parts and repair options, but nowhere near the scope of the Commission’s proposed regulations.
Comments on the proposals will be collected between now and September 28. A version of these proposals is due to be approved in the fourth quarter of 2022, and most of them are written to take effect 12 months after approval.
It’s still too early to comment, but manufacturers aren’t thrilled with mandatory repair issues.
Tech trade group Digital Europe told the Financial Times that “potential overproduction, subsequent storage and destruction of parts” would lead to waste and higher prices for customers.
Xiaomi’s branch in the Netherlands submitted comments on the broader goals of the EC initiative in January 2021. A spokesperson wrote that while acknowledging the importance of software updates, “Operating system support is often dependent on third parties who may sometimes do not provide software versions that are compatible with all maintained versions of the operating system.”
Xiaomi also stated that the repair “must be done within our authorized repair network and use genuine parts” to ensure “quality and reliability”. Providing parts and repair manuals to “third-party professional repairers whose level of technical skill, repair time and cost, and success rate” are unknown would “create serious risks to consumers in terms of quality, safety and security “.
title: “Eu Regulators Want 5 Years Of Smartphone Replacements Much Better Batteries Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-21” author: “Karyn Lopez”
Getty Images
European Commission regulators have proposed that smartphones and tablets sold there offer 15 different types of spare parts for at least five years, as part of a broad effort to reduce their environmental impact.
A draft regulation on “eco-design requirements for mobile phones, cordless phones and tablets” published on August 31 notes that phones and tablets are “often replaced prematurely by users” and “not used or recycled sufficiently” (i.e. -s ) at the end of their lives. The cost is the energy and new materials mined from the earth for new phones and the unrecycled materials found in homes. Extending the lifespan of smartphones by five years – from their current typical life of two to three years – would be like taking 5 million cars off the road, according to the commission’s findings.
The most notable proposed fix (listed in Annex II) is that phone manufacturers and sellers must have “professional repairers” available for five years after the date a phone is removed from the market. These repairers will have access to components such as the battery, display, cameras, charging ports, mechanical buttons, microphones, speakers, and hinge assemblies (including foldable phones and tablets).
Phone companies also have a choice: either provide replacement batteries and back covers to phone owners, or design batteries that meet minimum standards. These include 83 percent of its rated capacity after 500 full charge cycles and then 80 percent after 1,000 full charge cycles. Apple, for example, currently claims that its iPhones are designed to retain 80 percent capacity after 500 charge cycles.
Smartphone buyers also have access to screens, SIM and memory card trays, microphones, charging ports and hinges under the proposed regulations. And repair instructions for all these components must be available for seven years after the last day of marketing of devices, with relatively open systems for registration and access to professional repairers. The repair instructions should also be quite extensive, including extended views, board and wiring diagrams if required, and access to the software required to authorize any locked components.
Advertising
There is much more to the proposed regulations, both repairability and reliability. Of particular note is the requirement that companies provide security updates for at least five years, “functionality updates” for three years, and both of those offered two to four months after the public release of security patches or “an update of the same operating system … on any other product of the same brand.” For Android vendors, this would be a seismic shift in software support.
Europe’s smartphone regulations have moved forward in recent years, with initiatives like France’s repairability rating and EU-wide adoption of USB-C by 2024. But the Commission’s draft regulation would go beyond even the most aggressive goals of US law. corrective action. Repair bills introduced at the state and federal level typically require manufacturers to supply only the same parts, tools, and manuals that they would provide to their repair technicians or licensed shops. Apple, Samsung and Google have recently tried to offer more parts and repair options, but nowhere near the scope of the Commission’s proposed regulations.
Comments on the proposals will be collected between now and September 28. A version of these proposals is due to be approved in the fourth quarter of 2022, and most of them are written to take effect 12 months after approval.
It’s still too early to comment, but manufacturers aren’t thrilled with mandatory repair issues.
Tech trade group Digital Europe told the Financial Times that “potential overproduction, subsequent storage and destruction of parts” would lead to waste and higher prices for customers.
Xiaomi’s branch in the Netherlands submitted comments on the broader goals of the EC initiative in January 2021. A spokesperson wrote that while acknowledging the importance of software updates, “Operating system support is often dependent on third parties who may sometimes do not provide software versions that are compatible with all maintained versions of the operating system.”
Xiaomi also stated that the repair “must be done within our authorized repair network and use genuine parts” to ensure “quality and reliability”. Providing parts and repair manuals to “third-party professional repairers whose level of technical skill, repair time and cost, and success rate” are unknown would “create serious risks to consumers in terms of quality, safety and security “.
