iPhone 12 sales temporarily stopped in France

This week, Apple revealed the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro, however, only a few hours later, France announced a temporary stop on iPhone 12 sales in the country.

France’s radiation watchdog (ANFR) released a public statement highlighting that iPhone 12 violates radiation levels, bringing this to Apple’s attention and calling for a halt on sales for iPhone 12 and provide a solution.

“The French National Frequencies Agency (ANFR) is instructing Apple to withdraw the iPhone 12 from the French market as of September 12, 2023, after the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) limit for this model was exceeded,” the French agency wrote in a statement. “ANFR enjoins Apple to implement all available means to rapidly remedy this malfunction. Failing this, Apple will be required to recall any units already sold.”

According to TechCruch, this is not a big deal for a business as Apple can “roll out a software update to fix the issue”.

It has been noted that France’s junior minister for telecommunications Jean-Noël Barrot giving an interview to Le Parisien regarding the matter is “interesting”.

According to Next INpact, it is not new for ANFR to identify a device with a concern regarding radiation levels. It could be that the French minister is “using this opportunity to start a media campaign”.

Moreover, as TechCrunch highlighted, Apple told Reuters and the AFP that the iPhone 12 has been deemed as compliant by international regulators. Also, it has “independent third-party lab results that show that it complies with all SAR standards around the world. The company plans to both contest the ANFR’s results and engage with the agency to find a way forward.”