The European Union might force Apple to design an iPhone with a removable battery

The European Union has taken industry-changing measures before: the one that comes to mind is the reduction of hazardous substances (RoHS). It obliged electronics companies to design products differently, and worked out quite well. If the new proposed battery directive was to be adopted, it will likely require batteries to be easily replaceable, by popping a cover or by removing a few screws. Obviously, that’s not the case with the iPhone. The goal of the directive is to improve the recycling of batteries and making them easy to access is one step. I guess that Apple could always offer to recycle batteries for free, if it came to that… [via New electronics, Apple insider, Cnet, ]