Smartphone
French regulators threaten to recall the iPhone 12
With the iPhone 12, the limit for direct physical contact – for example in the hand or in the pocket – is said to have been exceeded. photo
© Zacharie Scheurer/dpa
Trouble for Apple in France: An authority is threatening to recall the iPhone 12 because of excessive radiation levels. The group should make improvements via an update.
A French regulator is threatening to recall the three-year-old iPhone 12 from Apple because tests showed electromagnetic radiation above the limits.
The Agence Nationale des Frequences (ANFR) ordered that devices of the model must be removed from sales channels. If Apple does not correct the values with an update “as quickly as possible,” the devices in circulation in France would also have to be recalled.
There was initially no reaction from Apple to the French authority’s move. The company presented the next generation of its smartphone – the iPhone 15 – on Tuesday.
According to the announcement, the ANFR recently had 141 telephones examined in a laboratory to determine how much electromagnetic radiation the body absorbs during their operation. It was found that the limit for direct physical contact – for example in the hand or in the pocket – was exceeded with the iPhone 12. Instead of the maximum permitted 4 watts per kilogram, it was 5.74 watts per kilogram. The authority wants to control a possible update from Apple.
However, the iPhone 12 complied with the limit of two watts per kilogram for radiation levels at a distance of five millimeters from the body, wrote the ANFR. It applies to situations in which a phone is carried in a jacket or bag, for example.