In 2023, the European Union passed a ruling that from February 2027 on, portable electronic devices will be required to have replaceable batteries. In an effort to counter the planned obsolescence of modern tech, the law means if you want to sell electronics in the EU, you have to let customers switch out the battery. And that means the Switch 2 would be in a spot of bother come this time next year. However, a report by Japanese site Nikkei, via Nintendo Everything, suggests that Nintendo has plans to release a new version of the portable console that complies with this requirement.
This is all part of the Right to Repair movement that’s been gaining steam in Europe over the last five years, and the legislation is a big step forward for that. It does, sadly, not include mobile phones and tablets, but it will catch Nintendo’s brand new hybrid console in its net. Hence the reporting from Nikkei that (via machine translation) “the company will modify the console’s specifications to allow consumers to easily replace the battery.” The site adds that something similar could then spread to both Japan and the United States, “if consumer awareness of the right to repair increases.”
This won’t just affect the Switch 2 itself, but also all Joy-Cons as well, meaning batteries that have been worn down by constant repeated charging, or damaged by being charged without being depleted, would no longer be something players just have to put up with. We’re all used to recognizing that our devices don’t seem to last as long as when they were new, but we grudgingly accept it—the EU plan is to end such thinking, and make sure anyone can replace the battery at any time. The specifications of the legislation say that it must be a simple process, and that devices are not allowed to use software that interferes with that process.
Another massive advantage of this new rule is that it means you can just carry a replacement battery for devices wherever you go, and indeed better versions from third-party companies. I remember always carrying at least one spare battery for my Nintendo DS, easily swapped in on a long flight, and buying better (albeit bulkier) batteries for early mobile phones to replace the crappy ones they’d shipped with. Perhaps charging blocks have made this less of a necessity today, but it’s still a way to go from 0 to 100-percent battery in an instance!
While this legislation only applies in the EU, it’s very possible that Nintendo could extend the option elsewhere. It is, after all, a lot cheaper to only manufacture one model of a device, and given the EU version is enforced, it could make sense to move over to that model entirely.
