It had been in the works for a while, but now it has formally been adopted. From the article:
The regulation provides that by 2027 portable batteries incorporated into appliances should be removable and replaceable by the end-user, leaving sufficient time for operators to adapt the design of their products to this requirement.
You can replace the battery in an iphone with a hair dryer and basic hand tools. It only takes like 15 minutes. I’m not sure what this legislation is going to result in besides making phones less waterproof and dust proof.
15 minutes maybe for an experienced technician but easily hours for someone who isn’t used to device repair which is not reasonable.
Source: iFixit iPhone 13 battery replacement
You’ve been duped if you honestly think devices can only reach IP68 resistance when they have sealed batteries.
My current phone has a headphone jack and removable sim card tray with removable storage that you can take out easily with your fingernail, and it’s IP68 and just as thin if not thinner than current gen iphones.
I tried that and lost the ability to use Apple Pay. Plus I miss the old days of carrying two or three batteries and being able to hotswap them when needed.