Making it easier to repair an old smartphone or laptop, rather than buying a new one, has long been a goal of tech enthusiasts, and the EU took a big step towards making that a reality in June 2025 with the introduction of its “Ecodesign” requirements.
The European Commission’s 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 aren’t 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 actually changed? Are smartphones easier to repair, and are laptops heading in the same direction? To make sense of the EU’s repairability push, TechRadar spoke to three experts.
Europe’s repair revolution
The EU’s rules stop short of mandating anything too drastic. Apple does not have to make the iPhone 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 make specified replacement components, including screens and batteries, available for at least seven years after a model stops being available on the EU market.
Manufacturers must also deliver parts within five working days for the first five years, rising to 10 days for the remaining two, while providing repair documentation and access to necessary software tools.
Batteries must meet minimum durability standards, too.
For consumers, perhaps the most visible change is an A–E repairability rating on the EU’s new energy labels, based on factors such as disassembly difficulty and replacement parts.
The EU has also introduced a separate Right to Repair Directive, which member states had to implement by July 2026, adding protections for certain products, although laptops aren’t yet covered.
The changes could have implications beyond Europe, too. “The regulation clearly influenced products sold outside Europe, because few vendors engineer a separate phone for one region,” says IDC’s Francisco Jeronimo.
Cracking the repair problem
In June 2026, the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) carried out an investigation into the availability of spare parts and repair instructions across Europe, comparing smartphones with battery-powered vacuum cleaners.
“The new Ecodesign rules for smartphones have improved consumers’ access to spare parts and repair instructions,” says Silvia Barlassina, the group’s ecodesign project coordinator. “However, as the rules have been in force for only a year and a half, it is too early to assess whether they have led to an increase in consumer repairs.”
Of course, getting hold of replacement parts is only half the battle. Thomas Opsomer, an EU policy specialist at repair advocacy group iFixit, is less convinced that the rules have changed how smartphones are actually repaired.
“As a result, the regulation did not really change the current mainstream smartphone design, which is one that requires heating to release the screen adhesive in order to get access to the inside of the phone for any type of repair – a procedure that is quite daunting to 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-down display.
In fact, iFixit says it damaged the plastic display frame in three of the four phones it opened, although it cautioned that further testing was needed to establish whether this was a widespread problem.
Physical repairs aren’t the only problem. In a separate September 2026 investigation, Right to Repair Europe and iFixit examined 2,334 smartphone-model records in the EU’s official product database, finding widespread gaps in the availability of repair instructions and spare-part prices.
“We found 80% of models on the market to be non-compliant, which is not the same as 80% of units sold,” says Opsomer. “We have seen dramatic improvements in the availability of instructions for self-repair from the leading manufacturers, who were previously quite reluctant to share those.”
Many of the shortcomings are instead concentrated among cheaper, lesser-known smartphone brands, Opsomer adds, potentially leaving budget-conscious consumers particularly exposed.
There has also been progress on parts pairing, the software checks that can restrict the use of replacement components. Manufacturers such as Apple must now allow users and independent repairers to restore the functionality of replacement parts, “removing a significant barrier to self-repair and independent repair,” says Opsomer.
The €400 question
New smartphones are expensive – and prices are being pushed even higher as demand from AI data centres drives up the cost of components like memory chips, even for giants like Apple.
With replacement parts becoming easier to find, you might expect repairing a smartphone to be substantially cheaper than buying a new one. Unfortunately, the reality isn’t quite so straightforward.
“For one high end device we examined in our recent market check, the cost of replacing the display exceeds €400,” says Barlassina. “When compared to the average original retail price of the device, this represents roughly 30% of the total cost.”
Research cited in the European Commission’s impact assessment suggests consumers are typically willing to spend around 20% of a product’s purchase price on repairs. Damningly, BEUC’s €400-plus figure, meanwhile, only covers the replacement component, before labour and other expenses.
The EU’s new A–E repairability labels account for factors like disassembly difficulty and the tools required, but crucially not the cost of replacement parts or repair services. This, Barlassina says, “can give an incomplete picture to consumers.”
The cost of fixing individual devices illustrates the problem. Samsung‘s Irish repair pricing page lists a recommended €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 display for the Fairphone 6 costs just €89.95, while a replacement battery costs €39.95. Both are parts-only prices, with Fairphone designing them to be replaced at home.
“The economics of repair are key,” says Opsomer. “When their phone breaks, users consciously or unconsciously make a tradeoff between the repair costs and the perceived residual value of their phone, which is lowered by incessant messaging extolling the virtues of the latest and greatest model.”
Laptops are opening up
Laptops weren’t covered by the EU’s June 2025 smartphone Ecodesign rules, but some manufacturers have made substantial improvements anyway.
Notably, iFixit gave the Lenovo ThinkPad T14 Gen 7 a provisional 10/10 repairability score, praising its accessible 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 got a 6/10 score from iFixit, the highest MacBook score in around 14 years. The Neo uses a screwed-in battery rather than a glued-down one, although its RAM and storage remain soldered.
But are these examples part of an industry-wide shift, or still the exceptions?
“We see a shift towards repairability in smartphones and laptops, but not to the extent that I would call it a broader industry shift,” says Jeronimo. “There are clear signs of movement, and Apple and Lenovo are two good examples.”
There’s a commercial argument for repairability, too. Jeronimo points out that consumers paying more for their devices increasingly expect them to last longer, giving manufacturers another reason to make repairs easier.
“A repairable device tends to hold its value for longer, which means a higher residual value when the consumer trades it in for a new one,” he says.
Still some fixing to do
More replacement parts and better repair manuals are all well and good, but are consumers actually making repairability a priority?
According to IDC’s research, consumers are now keeping smartphones for around 3.5 to 4.5 years on average.
“Consumers are keeping phones longer, but repairability is not what drives it,” says Jeronimo. “In a 2025 IDC consumer survey, battery life, connectivity, price and build quality ranked highest among the purchase criteria.”
Governments are also looking at ways to make repairs more attractive. Under the EU’s Right to Repair Directive, member states must introduce at least one measure encouraging repairs, potentially including financial incentives such as repair vouchers.
Member states have until July 2029 to notify the Commission of the measures they’ve taken, although they can introduce them sooner. “Among these options, financial incentives would be by far the most effective,” says Opsomer.
More than a year after the EU’s 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 making repair a realistic choice for everyone else.
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