France halts iPhone 12 sales due to radiation exposure levels | Apple

Apple faces a sales ban and possible recall of its iPhone 12 in France, with the US company disputing a report that the smartphone exceeds radio frequency exposure limits set by the national regulator.

Apple said on Wednesday that its iPhone 12 was certified by several international bodies as meeting global radiation standards, disputing tests by French watchdog ANFR that found the model emitted more electromagnetic waves than could be absorbed by the body than allowed.

The watchdog said it found the phone’s specific absorption rate (SAR) – a measure of the rate of radio frequency energy absorbed by the body from equipment – was 5.74 watts per kilogram during tests simulating the phone being held in the hand or kept in a pocket. The European standard for SAR is 4.0 watts per kilogram in these tests. The regulator noted that the handset complied with several other SAR tests it conducted as part of its recent testing of 141 phones.

ANFR announced on Tuesday that it would send agents to Apple stores and other distributors to verify that the model, launched in October 2020 and recently removed from the company’s product line, was no longer sold . The watchdog said it expected Apple to “deploy all available means to end non-compliance” and that inaction would result in the recall of iPhone 12 handsets already sold to consumers.

Apple said it was engaging with the regulator and had presented multiple results from internal and independent labs showing the devices complied with all SAR regulations and global safety standards. The company publishes the SAR values ​​of its devices on its site, including for the iPhone 12.

Regulators in a number of countries impose various limits on the amount of electromagnetic radiation that cell phones can emit in order to prevent adverse health effects. Handsets are tested for compliance by artificially tuning them to their maximum broadcast power for the various radios they contain with the output measured in numerous tests to simulate being held in a hand or pants pocket, in a bag or jacket and up to the head to pick it up. calls. The results show the upper limit that the phone can reach under its most severe operating conditions and are not representative of typical use.

The World Health Organization states on its website that, after numerous studies, “no adverse health effects have been established to be due to cell phone use.”

Jean-Noël Barrot, France’s digital economy minister, said a software update would be enough to resolve the phone’s radiation issues. He told the daily Le Parisien in an interview on Tuesday: “Apple should respond within two weeks. If they fail to do so, I am prepared to order a recall of all iPhone 12s in circulation. The rule is the same for everyone, including the digital giants.”

The ANFR said: “If Apple chooses to update its phones, this will need to be verified by the ANFR.” The French watchdog will now pass its findings on to regulators in other EU member states, which “could have a snowball effect”, Barrot said.

Apple does not break down its sales by country or model, although reported revenue and analyst estimates place Europe as the company’s second-largest sales region behind the Americas.

News of the sales ban came as Apple announced its latest iPhone 15 models, which adopted the universal USB-C charging connector replacing the company’s proprietary Lightning connectors. This is a change imposed by the new common European regulation on chargers that came into force at the end of the year, which makes USB-C the common connector for all consumer electronic devices, leaving the ‘iPhone one of the last holdouts.

The EU hopes the universal standard will save consumers money and e-waste generated by the need to buy separate chargers and cables for different electronic devices.