Screws and gaskets are just as compact (see literally any wristwatch), but slightly more expensive. This, and probably some planned obsolescence, is the only reason why phones are glued together.

>Screws and gaskets are just as compact (see literally any wristwatch)

No, obviously screws require significantly more space.

>This, and probably some planned obsolescence, is the only reason why phones are glued together.

Seals are reversible and can be easily replaced by any half way competent repair shop.

Phones have been using screws for years, it’ll be okay, we can handle screws and phones, we have the tech to accomplish this with minimal increase in size.

You realy think the screws are the weakest link in the chain towards thinner phones? Because if they are not, your remarks on thinner seals are irrelevant.

If Jaeger-LeCoultre managed to screw together a cm-sized watch in 1929, Apple should be able to manage it with a ten times larger iPhone.

the assumption being that if apple did not, then apple could not. this assumption seems flimsy. it also implies that the only correct approach would be screws and gaskets. and assumes that larger is easier.

goodness.

> quite likely many complaints will be had about phones failing at their advertised rating.

They already often do and manufacturers usually deny warranty due to water ingress which is really ridiculous on a supposedly waterproof phone.

At least this way it's easier to check and clean.

Also, the circuit boards themselves can be conformal coated leading to it not being such a big deal when water gets in.

>They already often do

Now imagine if the seal is being held down by a plastic clip and can be primed open by the tiniest amount of force.

It doesn't really matter. In practive it's only usable as minor rain protection anyway. I'm not bringing my phone into the shower.

And like people have mentioned, the most rugged phones do have replaceable batteries. I used to have an Xcover for hiking and it never had any issues with water ingress either.

Y'know, Nokia phones (before the whole smartphone fad) were famous for being solid. That is to say, the joke was that if you dropped your phone off a skyscraper you'd just have to pick it up and it'd just work. And as far as I recall they required precisely zero equipment in order to take the battery out.

Yes, but they had no ingress protection. The components just survived the water. Totally not applicable to modern phones.

This is a cop out, there are many devices that have replaceable batteries and are used in harsher environments.

Apple is a multibillion dollar company they can afford to take some minor hits here and there to their profit margins to make this work.