They didn't bother making a non-USB C iPhone for the US because it was easier to have one model. Could easily be the same. Plus the it's hard to argue they couldn't do it when they have done it in the EU.

I mean, it would still be possible to get an iPhone with a removable battery.

This would require them to sacrifice significant economies of scale. With past EU legislation like this what has mostly happened is most devices are pretty much the same for the entire world, but some region-specific devices won't be compliant because they were never intended for sale in the EU in the first place

Never used an iphone so a bit out of the loop on what would be negative about it?

FWIW they’re definitely improving in that regard, probably because they know legislation like this is coming.

The iPhone 16 replaced the frustrating glue strips with a special adhesive that unsticks with an electric current, and the MacBook Neo is apparently really easy to get into for simple repairs.

Still a long way to go, but it’s encouraging.

At least it was screws, often the keyboard is now attached using "plastic rivets" where the plastic was intentionally melted around the holes. Makes replacement of just the keyboard almost impossible.

The s5 was also water resistant, same rating as every other water resistant galaxy since. Used to have 2 batteries and a separate battery charger so I could just hot swap. I don't think I ever actually plugged the phone into a charger.

What would also work is waterproofing the phone except of the battery case and use a waterproof connector between the battery and the phone.

I like the idea, and I suspect gaskets will be the solution they go with, with the back cover applying pressure to the gasket to create a seal. but the EU regulation specifically says that no expertise should be required and you should be able to do it with commercial, standard tools (i.e screwdriver). I don't think they could make single-use gaskets where you have to purchase additional gaskets from the OEM. I suppose they could come with the battery itself, which the EU requires OEMs to sell for 5 years.

So what your saying is I could have a water cooled phone just like a pc

Not sure, is the battery waterproof? If I drop my phone in a sink of water, and it's IP68 rated, would this mean I need to replace my battery immediately?

I don't like the idea personally, because the replaceable battery version would be priced up, and likely not given the flagship experience. The point of this law is to prevent ewaste from 2 year old batteries performing badly, and standardising replaceable batteries is the way to stop that. OEMs would just find ways to convince users to buy the phones with no replaceable batteries because they make more money long-term that way. I don't trust corporations lol.