It looks like we’re about to witness a change in the design of future handheld consoles. Newly passed Regulations of the European Union has stated that a device’s portable battery will need to be “removable and easily replaceable by the end user” by 2027, something devices like the Switch don’t currently offer.
This is set out as one of several activities to improve sustainability rules around the production, use and disposal of batteries (thanks, over necessary). The The document is 366 pages long going into detail on what these requirements will involve, note that the battery will only be considered “easily removable” when the end user can replace it without requiring any specialized tools any:
Any natural or legal entity that markets products incorporating portable batteries must ensure that such batteries can be easily removed and replaced by the end user at any time during the life of the product. Products. That obligation applies only to the battery as a whole and not to individual cells or other components contained within that battery.
The end user must consider the portable battery as easily removable as it can be removed from the product using commercially available tools that do not require the use of specialized tools, unless provided free of charge with the product, proprietary tools, heat energy, or solvents to disassemble the product.
Any natural or legal person that markets products that incorporate portable batteries must ensure that such products are accompanied by instructions and safety information regarding the use, removal and replacement of batteries. Those instructions and such safety information will be made available permanently online, on a publicly available website, in a manner understandable to the end user.
So what does this mean for future Nintendo consoles? The law will go into effect in 2027 and will likely only affect new devices, so we don’t think the easily removable battery requirement won’t affect any Switch successors. (we will sure have in our hands then, right?). However, any console released in the EU after that date will be subject to these rules, so we could see a design change for any handsets that follow. successor to the Switch – whatever that may be.
Of course, there’s plenty of room for regulation to be tweaked and distorted over the next four years, so don’t expect that replacing the battery on the ‘Switch 3’ will be as simple as hitting some AA on the back of your Game Boy’s Friend. That said, it should maybe it’s much easier to swap out old batteries than it is today — like removing a Phillips-head screwdriver and removing the battery pack in the Wii U GamePad, for example — that will hopefully ease your beloved shipping needs. you as a result either hand over the console to a Nintendo-certified professional or purchase a replacement.
If you want to read more about this, be sure to check out the full report by the Council of the European Union This (The topic of easy-to-replace batteries starts on page 127). Be warned, though, it’s a chunky read.
