Born to die – as fast as possible
The smartphone is built to be scrapped after 2–3 years. Here we look at why this happens, and what we must demand of the tech giants.
A modern smartphone holds more computing power than Apollo 11 did in 1969. Even so, it is made to be scrapped within 2–3 years. This is no accident, but a strategy for endless growth without taking responsibility for the environmental consequences.
By building products that are hard to repair, the tech giants have created a resource madness that benefits a few companies and does irreparable damage to the planet.
Physical barriers are designed into modern devices to prevent repair. Some examples:
- Lithium batteries are glued in place, making them practically impossible to replace, and they risk exploding if pried out.
- Proprietary, tamper-proof screws (such as Apple's pentalobe screws) designed specifically to lock out standard consumer tools.
- Several components (such as a screen or a camera) are cryptographically serialised to a specific motherboard. Even if you swap a genuine screen from one identical iPhone to another, the software detects the unauthorised serial number and disables features such as Face ID or battery health indicators.
- A company cannot claim to be saving the planet with a recycled chassis while aggressively blocking software updates or replacement batteries that would double the device's lifespan.
Attempts at accountability, and laws for ethical production, are fought by the tech giants with scare tactics. For years, lobbyists have argued to lawmakers that letting consumers repair their own electronics would lead to widespread cyber security hacks, lithium battery fires and threats to intellectual property.
One example of the madness came when Microsoft ended support for Windows 10 in October 2025 and around 400 million PCs had to be replaced – not because they were old, but because overnight they became a security risk. The result was an even larger mountain of electronic and toxic waste.
Another fact is that the carbon cost of extracting, refining and producing raw materials accounts for around 80 % of a mobile phone's carbon footprint. And that is before the consumer has even switched it on.
Fortunately, positive things are happening
The EU's right to repair directives came into force on 31 July 2026. Similar laws are on the way in the USA.
We also see local initiatives all over the world. The rise of the «Right to Repair» movement – from independent repair shop owners fighting to survive, to local farming cooperatives hacking John Deere tractors with Ukrainian software to fix their own equipment.
According to the EU, phones and PCs must be built to last at least 7 years, but there is a long way to go. Tech companies exploit loopholes in the law: they comply by making spare parts available, but the prices are so high that it is still cheaper to buy a new phone than to buy the parts. If consumers cannot open a phone, modify it or repair it, they never own it – they merely subscribe to it.
What we must demand:
We demand a complete overhaul of ecodesign laws. Repair must be decoupled from the manufacturer's control. We must require standardised, modular parts and open, simple repair manuals.
As we see, for example, with Fairphone. All parts can be replaced, ensuring a long lifespan. We must demand that our preferred phone manufacturers follow the same principles.