Comment by yapyap
2 days ago
I hope the better batteries, when they genuinely are deemed to be better, are used in phones and stuff instead of using batteries that’ll go bad in a few years on purpose to drive up sales of new phones.
Even people who can deal with the slower speeds after a few years of owning a phone get driven crazy by having to charge it often, I’d say it’s a big driver if not the biggest to buy a new phone.
We already have longer lasting chemistries, lithium iron phosphate. They are also an order of magnitude less likely to go into thermal runaway. However, they are seldom used probably because they are somewhat less energy dense and consumers prioritize size and runtime over battery life and safety. I don't think it is a ploy to drive up sales.
Consumers prefer larger tablets to phones, hence Apple abandoning the already large “mini” line after the iphone13
Apple have grown too big for their own good. The "mini" line sold a few million devices, but that's too little for the current Apple assholery.
You could also just exchange the battery instead of getting a new phone. Of course producers made that more difficult over the years. By 2027 mobile phones sold in the EU are mandated to have a replaceable battery.