Apple said on Friday that it will issue a software update for iPhone 12 users in France to resolve a row of regulators ordering the suspension of sales of the phone due to violations of exposure limits of radiation.
The French government welcomed the move and said the software update could be tested quickly and should allow sales of the relatively old model, launched in 2020, to continue.
Belgium, which said on Thursday it would review potential health risks linked to the iPhone 12 after the French suspension, also welcomed the move but said it would continue its own review of the phone and other models.
Apple Says iPhone 12 Meets Radiation Rules, Defies Findings From French Watchdog
Researchers have conducted several studies over the past two decades to assess the health risks of mobile phones. According to the World Health Organization, no adverse health effects have been established.
“We will issue a software update for users in France to accommodate the protocol used by French regulators. We expect the iPhone 12 to continue to be available in France,” Apple said in a statement.
Apple, however, continues to contest the French radiation findings, saying that the iPhone has been certified by several international bodies that comply with global standards.
“This is related to a specific testing protocol used by French regulators and is not a safety concern,” it said.
French Digital Affairs Minister Jean Noel Barrot, who has been in frequent contact with Apple over the past few days, welcomed the software update.
“The ANFR (French regulator) is preparing to quickly test this update,” his ministry said in a statement, adding that it should bring the model into compliance with European standards and allow France to lift the suspension of sale.
Apple regularly provides software updates for its phones and computers, usually to fix security issues. They can focus on a particular model or a region, and sometimes Apple issues such updates several times a month.
The Agence Nationale des Frequences (ANFR) said on Tuesday that the iPhone 12’s Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) – a measure of the rate of radiofrequency energy absorbed by the body from a piece of equipment – was higher than allowed. legal, prompting the suspension of sales. .
Industry experts say there are no safety risks because regulatory limits, based on the risk of burns or heatstroke from phone radiation, are set far below the level at which scientists have found evidence of damage
“Ultimately I suspect the whole incident will be quickly forgotten,” said Ben Wood, principal analyst at CCS Insight, stressing that the iPhone 12 is an older model.
Apple launched the iPhone 15 on Tuesday and the iPhone 12 is not available to buy from Apple directly. It can, however, be purchased from third parties who have inventory or sell old phones.
A bigger issue than the suspension of sales will be a potential recall, which is threatened in France if Apple refuses to make a software update.
Apple’s revenues totaled about $95 billion in Europe last year, making the region the second largest behind America. Some estimates say that it sold more than 50 million iPhones last year in Europe.
The US company does not break down its sales by country or model.
(Reporting by Elizabeth Pineau and Tassilo Hummel; additional reporting by Dominique Vidalon and Supantha Mukherjee; writing by Ingrid Melander; editing by Mark Potter)
Photo: The Apple logo adorns the front of a retail store. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File)
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