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.
Phones are really at the point where there’s not really much point being thinner - hell most people put protective cases on phones anyway that dramatically increase the thickness, I know I do!
If they could instead build the added protection a case gives you into the phone, on top of a headphone jack and a microSD slot I’d be set - we need a Panasonic toughphone or something.
BRING BACK THE STRENGTH OF THE NOKIA 3310 - I WANT A SMARTPHONE AS INDESTRUCTIBLE AS THAT!