Apple will update the operating system of the iPhone 12 in France after that country ordered the halt to sales of the product due to strong emission of magnetic waves, the American giant reported this Friday.
“We will release a software update for French users to comply with the protocol used by French regulators,” an Apple spokesperson said in a statement. After discussions and at the request of the ANFR (Frequency Authority), the manufacturer Apple assured the French Prime Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, as AFP learned, that it would carry out an update to the iPhone 12 in the coming days. “We hope that the iPhone 12 will continue to be available in France,” Apple added.
The French agency ANFR declared on Tuesday a temporary withdrawal from the French market due to excessive wave emissions.
Specifically, the iPhone 12 exceeds the legal limit for the energy that the human body can absorb while holding the phone in the hand by 1.74 watts per kilogram (W/kg).
In many similar cases, manufacturers update their device before the device is recalled. However, this was not the case for Apple, which faced this sanctions procedure for the first time. The company initially questioned the agency’s conclusions and ensured that the iPhone 12 met the standards defined worldwide.
The manufacturer has two weeks to propose corrective measures. To this end, the ANFR is preparing to “quickly test this update to ultimately make the model compatible,” explained the French minister.
Nevertheless, the American manufacturer criticized “the specific testing protocol used by French regulators” and denies “any safety issues” but will continue with the update.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “There is currently no evidence that exposure to low-intensity electromagnetic fields is dangerous to human health.”
