European regulators are preparing to require replaceable batteries in all smartphones and portable gadgets sold across EU member states from February 2027, a change that would affect every major manufacturer including Apple and Samsung.
The deadline is now less than 12 months away and forms part of the EU’s broader push to make consumer electronics last longer and cut down on the roughly five million tonnes of electronic waste thrown away across the continent each year.
That doesn’t mean phones need to go back to fully modular designs or have instantly swappable batteries. But devices will need to be made in a way that lets users remove and replace the battery with only basic skills, which sets a lower bar than the modular phones that briefly had their moment around a decade ago.
Alongside that design requirement, manufacturers will also need to make replacement batteries easy to get hold of for every device they sell, and keep those parts available for at least five years after the product’s original release date. That means the obligation continues well beyond the initial sale.
Some manufacturers have already begun adapting their phone and tablet designs ahead of the February 2027 enforcement date, according to The Olive Press, although the full scale of the changes across the industry probably won’t be clear until products built under the new rules start reaching consumers.
The regulation doesn’t just cover phones. It applies more broadly to portable gadgets, with gaming handhelds also expected to fall within its scope. That could have implications for devices such as Nintendo’s Switch 2, which is expected to launch in a form that meets the new battery access requirements.
The February 2027 deadline is part of the same regulatory framework that already requires manufacturers selling devices in the EU to provide at least five years of software update support, a rule introduced to discourage early obsolescence across the smartphone market.
Pricing and availability for compliant devices will vary by manufacturer, with the first products required to meet the new standard expected to appear on shelves from early 2027.
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