France orders Apple to remove iPhone 12 from market over radiation concern

A French regulator has demanded that Apple remove its three-year-old iPhone 12 from the French market because tests showed electromagnetic radiation above permissible levels.

The French agency in charge of telecommunications regulation—ANFR ordered that the iPhone model “no longer (be) offered for sale in all distribution channels in France” again.

The ANFR recently tested 141 phones in a laboratory to determine how much electromagnetic radiation the body absorbs during the operation of the phone.

It was found that the iPhone 12 exceeded the limit for direct body contact, for example, in the hand or the pocket.

Instead of the maximum permitted four watts per kilogramme, it was 5.74 watts per kilogramme.

The authorities want to check a possible update from Apple.

The limit value of two watts per kilogram for radiation values at a distance of five millimetres from the body, however, was complied with by the iPhone 12, wrote the ANFR.

It applies to situations in which a phone is carried in a jacket or pocket, for example.