On January 1, 2026, Google filed a patent (via Hypertxt.ai) for an interesting smartphone battery design that skips glue and opts for a more mechanical way of locking the battery inside a phone using a rigid metal chassis. That new design should technically allow a normal user, like me, to dislodge the battery from the phone without puncturing it or damaging it, and replace it with a new one.
Although this is still a patent, and patents have a tendency to remain theoretical hogwash, there’s actually a reason why this particular one might end up in an actual product like the Pixel 12: the European Union’s battery regulation. And if it does, then Google might have finally figured out how to fix one of the Pixel’s biggest battery complaints.