Apple, on Wednesday said its iPhone 12 model was certified by multiple international bodies as compliant with global radiation standards.
This comes after France ordered it to stop selling the phone on the grounds that it breaches European exposure limits.
The Agence Nationale des Fréquences radiation regulator told Apple on Tuesday, to stop the sales of iPhone 12 in France after tests which it said showed the phone’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 legally allowed.
The ANFR said it would send agents to Apple stores and other distributors to check the model was no longer being sold.
The agency, which manages France’s radio frequencies and periodically tests phones to check human exposure to electromagnetic waves, said it expected Apple “to deploy all available means to put an end to the non-compliance.”
A failure to act would result in the recall of iPhone 12s already sold to consumers, it added.
Apple however said it had provided ANFR with multiple Apple and independent third-party lab results proving its compliance with all applicable SAR regulations and standards in the world.
It said it was contesting the results of AFNR’s review and would continue to engage with the agency to show it is compliant.
The AFNR said accredited labs had found absorption of electromagnetic energy by the body at 5.74 watts per kilogram during tests simulating when the phone was being held in the hand or kept in a trouser pocket. The European standard is a specific absorption rate of 4.0 watts per kilogram.
ANFR added the tests showed the phone complied with so-called body-SAR standards when it was in a jacket pocket or bag.
France’s junior minister for the digital economy, Jean-Noel Barrot, said a software update would be sufficient to fix the radiation issues linked to the phone which the U.S. company has been selling since 2020.
He said in an interview on Tuesday “Apple is expected to respond within two weeks. If they fail to do so, I am prepared to order a recall of all iPhones 12 in circulation. The rule is the same for everyone, including the digital giants.”
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