I was very surprised and a bit sad when I learned that lithium batteries are actually standardized around the 18650 form factor and we don't accommodate people being able to replace them anyway.
We don't accommodate it because various makes of batteries have wildly different characteristics and applications, but all of them have a bad safety profile. For us, it's fine. For the general public, not so much.
Some are in that 18650 form factor but a lot are not.
I am unsure what this article is actually trying to say, given it is simultaneously trying to claim that AirPods (the only product they talk about) only live as long as their batteries before needing to be thrown out, but also acknowledges that is a completely false statement and the batteries can be replaced. It even (a rarity for this kind of "I must attack Apple over non-user-replaceable batteries" post) acknowledges that AirPods likely wouldn't be possible if the batteries were user replaceable. Non-user-replaceable batteries are a fundamental part of having remotely useable battery life in modern devices, as the connection mechanisms, and the housing changes all result in a substantial reduction in battery capacity.
*many modern devices, I guess this should say - obviously plenty of devices exist that aren't space constrained - there isn't any space pressure on the 12v battery in an ICE car :D