The authority also calls on Apple to “take all available means to quickly resolve this malfunction” for units already sold, otherwise the device will have to be recalled, according to a press release sent to AFP on Tuesday evening.
“I trust the company’s sense of responsibility to comply with our rules. My mission is to earn them respect. If this is not the case, I am ready to order the recall of the iPhone 12 in circulation,” said French Digital Affairs Minister Jean-Noël Barrot in an interview with Le Parisien.
He specified that “a simple software update is required” for the smartphone to be compliant. Apple has 15 days to comply.
Specifically, according to the French authority, the iPhone 12 exceeds the legal limit by 1.74 W per kilogram (W/kg), which corresponds to the energy that the human body can absorb when the phone is held upright.
Contacted by AFP, Apple assured that the iPhone 12 is certified as compliant with the standards defined by numerous international organizations around the world.
The Californian giant said it provided the ANFR with the results of independent third-party laboratory studies to prove its devices meet standards. He plans to challenge the agency’s findings.
The ANFR regularly reduces the transmission power of smartphones. Most often, after a formal notification, manufacturers plan to update their devices in order to prevent them from being withdrawn from the market. But this is a first for Apple.
According to Jean-Noël Barrot, the withdrawal request could even be extended to the European market.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “there is currently no evidence that exposure to low-intensity electromagnetic fields is dangerous to human health,” “despite extensive research.”
Apple unveiled its new iPhone 15 smartphone range on Tuesday evening, which will feature a universal USB-C charging port to comply with European regulations.