A year after the new EU repairability rules came into force, are our smartphones and laptops becoming easier to repair? This is what I discovered
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Making it easier to repair an old smartphone or laptop, rather than buy a new one, has long been a goal of tech enthusiasts, and the EU took a big step towards making it a reality in June 2025 with the introduction of its “Eco-design” requirements.
European Commission rules require manufacturers of smartphones and certain tablets to meet new obligations covering spare parts, repair information and the fundamental design of their devices. Laptops are not covered by these particular rules, although other EU regulations apply to them.
More than a year later, there are some real signs of improvement, but also lingering questions about the difficulty and cost of repairs.
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So how much has really changed? Are smartphones easier to repair and are laptops heading in the same direction? To understand the EU’s push on reparability, TechRadar spoke to three experts.
The reparations revolution in Europe
EU rules stop short of imposing anything too drastic. Apple doesn’t have to turn the iPhone into a 10/10 on iFixit’s repairability scale, or turn it into something resembling a Fairphone.
Instead, much of the focus is on spare parts: manufacturers must offer specific replacement components, including displays and batteries, for at least seven years after a model is no longer available on the EU market.
Manufacturers must also deliver parts within five business days for the first five years, increasing to 10 days for the remaining two, while also providing repair documentation and access to necessary software tools.
Batteries must also meet minimum durability standards.
For consumers, perhaps the most visible change will be an AE repairability rating on the new EU energy labels, based on factors such as difficulty of disassembly and replacement parts.
The EU has also introduced a separate Right to Repair Directive, which member states were required to implement by July 2026, adding protections for certain products, although laptops are not yet covered.
The changes could also have implications beyond Europe. “The regulation clearly influenced products sold outside Europe, because few vendors design a separate phone for a region,” says Francisco Jerónimo of IDC.
Solving the repair problem
In June 2026, the European Consumer Organization (BEUC) carried out research on the availability of spare parts and repair instructions across Europe, comparing smartphones to battery-powered vacuum cleaners.
“The new eco-design standards for smartphones have improved consumer access to spare parts and repair instructions,” says Silvia Barlassina, the group’s eco-design project coordinator. “However, given that the rules have only been in effect for a year and a half, it is too early to assess whether they have led to an increase in consumer repairs.”
Of course, getting replacement parts is only half the battle. Thomas Opsomer, EU policy specialist at repair advocacy group iFixit, is less convinced that the rules have changed the way smartphones are repaired.
“As a result, the regulation did not really change the current design of smartphones, which requires heating to release the adhesive from the screen and be able to access the inside of the phone for any type of repair, a procedure that is quite daunting for most users.”
A recent iFixit teardown of the iPhone 18 Pro shows that, despite a screwed-in battery tray and modular cameras, accessing the battery still requires removing the glued screen.
In fact, iFixit says it damaged the plastic screen frame on three of the four phones it opened, although it warned that more testing was needed to establish whether this was a widespread problem.
Physical repairs are not the only problem. In a separate investigation from September 2026, Right to Repair Europe and iFixit examined 2,334 smartphone model records in the official EU product database and found widespread gaps in the availability of repair instructions and spare parts prices.
“We found that 80% of the models on the market were not compliant, which is not the same as 80% of the units sold,” says Opsomer. “We’ve seen dramatic improvements in the availability of self-repair instructions from major manufacturers, who were previously quite reluctant to share them.”
Many of the shortcomings are concentrated in cheaper, lesser-known smartphone brands, Opsomer adds, potentially leaving budget-conscious consumers particularly exposed.
There have also been advances in part matching, software checks that can restrict the use of replacement components. Manufacturers like Apple must now allow users and independent repairers to restore the functionality of replacement parts, “removing a major barrier to self-repair and independent repair,” Opsomer says.
The €400 question
New smartphones are expensive and prices are rising further as demand from AI data centers drives up the cost of components such as memory chips, even for giants like Apple.
With replacement parts becoming easier to find, repairing a smartphone can be expected to be substantially cheaper than buying a new one. Unfortunately, reality is not so simple.
“On a high-end device that we examined in our recent market analysis, the cost of replacing the screen exceeds 400 euros,” says Barlassina. “Compared to the original average selling price of the device, this represents approximately 30% of the total cost.”
Research cited in the European Commission’s impact assessment suggests that consumers are typically willing to spend around 20% of a product’s purchase price on repairs. Unfortunately, BEUC’s figure of more than 400 euros, meanwhile, only covers the replacement component, before labor and other expenses.
The new EU AE repairability labels take into account factors such as the difficulty of disassembly and the tools required, but not the cost of spare parts or repair services. This, says Barlassina, “can give an incomplete picture to consumers.”
The cost of repairing individual devices illustrates the problem. Samsung’s Irish repair pricing page recommends €267 for an out-of-warranty screen repair on the Galaxy S26 Ultra, including a replacement battery, although additional work could increase the charge.
Meanwhile, Fairphone’s replacement screen for the Fairphone 6 costs just €89.95, while a replacement battery costs €39.95. Both are parts-only prices, and Fairphone designs them to be replaced at home.
“The economics of repair are key,” says Opsomer. “When their phone breaks, users consciously or unconsciously make a balance between repair costs and the perceived residual value of their phone, which is reduced by incessant messages extolling the virtues of the latest and greatest model.”
Laptops are opening
Laptops were not covered by the June 2025 EU smartphone ecodesign rules, but some manufacturers have made substantial improvements anyway.
In particular, iFixit gave the Lenovo ThinkPad T14 Gen 7 a provisional repairability score of 10/10, praising its affordable battery, replaceable USB-C ports, keyboard, RAM, and storage. iFixit had also consulted with Lenovo on its design.
Even Apple is leaning into repairability with the MacBook Neo, which earned a score of 6/10 from iFixit, the highest score for a MacBook in about 14 years. The Neo uses a screw-in battery rather than a glued-in one, although its RAM and storage remain soldered.
But are these examples part of an industry-wide shift or are they still exceptions?
“We see a shift toward repairability in smartphones and laptops, but not to the extent that I would call it a broader industrial shift,” Jeronimo says. “There are clear signs of movement, and Apple and Lenovo are two good examples.”
There is also a business case for repairability. Jerónimo points out that consumers who pay more for their devices increasingly expect them to last longer, giving manufacturers another reason to make repairs easier.
“A repairable device tends to maintain its value longer, which means a higher residual value when the consumer trades it in for a new one,” he says.
There are still some things to do
More replacement parts and better repair manuals are all well and good, but are consumers really making repairability a priority?
According to IDC research, consumers currently keep their smartphones for an average of 3.5 to 4.5 years.
“Consumers are keeping phones longer, but repairability is not what drives them,” Jerónimo says. “In a 2025 IDC consumer survey, battery life, connectivity, price, and build quality ranked high among purchasing criteria.”
Governments are also looking for ways to make repairs more attractive. Under the EU’s Right to Repair Directive, member states must introduce at least one measure that encourages repairs, potentially including financial incentives such as repair vouchers.
Member states have until July 2029 to notify the Commission of the measures they have taken, although they can introduce them earlier. “Of these options, financial incentives would be by far the most effective,” says Opsomer.
More than a year after EU repairability rules came into force, things are slowly improving. Enthusiasts who want to keep their smartphones and laptops forever (or at least several more years) have more options than before.
The challenge now is to make repair a realistic option for everyone else.
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