Apple To Issue Update In France To Resolve iPhone 12 Sales Ban

Apple has responded quickly to a decision by the French authorities to block sales of the iPhone 12 over radition levels.

Last week France’s radiation watchdog, the Agence Nationale des Frequences (ANFR) had announced that the iPhone 12 emits more electromagnetic waves susceptible to be absorbed by the body than permitted.

Apple however disputed the tests by the watchdog and pointed out that its iPhone 12 was certified by multiple international bodies as compliant with global radiation standards.

Apple update

Indeed the company publishes the SAR values of its devices on its website, including for the iPhone 12.

But after the French sales ban on the iPhone 12 last week, it emerged that regulators from Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany were now also looking into the issue.

Apple reacted on Friday and told CNN that the radiation finding in France was “related to a specific testing protocol used by French regulators and not a safety concern.”

“Since it was introduced in 2020, iPhone 12 has been certified and recognized as meeting or exceeding all applicable SAR regulations and standards around the world,” Apple said.

It said the iPhone 12 complied with emissions rules worldwide, but it would “issue a software update for users in France to accommodate the protocol used by French regulators.”

“We will issue a software update for users in France to accommodate the protocol used by French regulators. We look forward to iPhone 12 continuing to be available in France,” an Apple spokesperson told CNN.

The update will only be able to user iPhone 12 users in France.

Radiation saga

The issue of radiation and mobile phones has been ongoing for years now.

Campaigners have long argued that radiation emitted from mobile phones or mobile networks pose health risks, despite years of evidence to the contrary.

Indeed, a number of studies have found no evidence to suggest that mobile phone use is linked to tumours, and that the arrival of smart grids, mobile networks, or smart meters in people’s homes, carries a cancer risk.

More recently radiation campaigners switched their focus to 5G signals and mobile base stations.

In March 2020 international radiation experts at ICNIRP based in Germany, the international body in charge of setting limits on exposure to radiation, declared that 5G was safe for human health.

Prior to that the UK communications regulator Ofcom carried out safety tests in the UK of 5G base stations and found that there is no danger to the public posed by electromagnetic energy (EME) levels.

The news of the French sales ban came as Apple announced its latest iPhone 15 models last week, which adopted the universal USB-C charging connector replacing the firm’s proprietary Lightning connectors.