Good news everybody!
Last Thursday, the EU passed new rules aimed at making smartphones 
and tablets 
longer-lasting and easier to repair! 
Here are some of the highlights:
- spare parts and repair information must be available for at least 7 years (after the product has been taken off the market) and be available to professional repairers and end users
- software updates must be available for at least 5 years
- batteries must remain at least 80% of their original capacity after undergoing 800 charging cycles
- a new EU repair index will be introduced to help consumers asses the repairability of a device at the point of purchase
Coming into force by June 2025, these new rules could usher in a new era of repairability, making smartphone and tablet repair a more viable option for people in the EU and potentially beyond.
As ever, there are some holes and areas where the legislation could have been stronger. For example, the repair index won’t take the price of spare parts into account, part-pairing is dealt with poorly and there’s a potential loophole for certain types of products that need to meet waterproofness or durability requirements.
But overall this is a huge step forward and a phenomenal achievement for the European Right to Repair Campaign, which has been pushing for this for a long time.
The campaign itself has more details: