German govt. wants smartphone makers to offer 7 years of updates, repairs

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If Germany has its way, it wants smartphone makers to update software and offer spare parts for seven years. It's part of a new environmental responsibility proposal from the German government to the European Union. Germany's Ministry of Economics also wants spare parts to be available "at a reasonable price."

This proposal exceeds the demands of the EU Commission, which wants these companies to offer five years of updates and repairs for smartphones and six years of spare parts for tablets.

Industrial association DigitalEurope, which represents Apple, Samsung, and Huawei, thinks the proposals go too far. It suggests three years of security updates and function updates for two years, which is the status quo if you think about it. Some manufacturers are better at keeping up with security updates than others.

DigitalEurope wants manufacturers to only provide displays and batteries for spare parts since other parts (like cameras, mics, speakers, and connectors) rarely need to be replaced.

As 9to5Mac pointed out, it will require the European Union to decide how smartphone makers will have to act in the block, and the big tech companies will decide whether to follow this proposal or not. We don't know where this proposal will go for now, but we'll make sure to update you with any news.