Apple has announced that it will issue a software update for the iPhone 12 to address a radiation issue which caused France to ban sales of the three-year-old phone. After France decided to ban sales of the device, Belgium also said it would be investigating the radiation issue.
In a statement obtained by Reuters, Apple said:
‘We will issue a software update for users in France to accommodate the protocol used by French regulators. We look forward to iPhone 12 continuing to be available in France.’
The French government has said that it welcomes the development and said once the update has been issued and tested by the government, it will re-allow the sales of the iPhone 12. The iPhone 12 is quite old now as it was released in 2020. It is no longer listed on the Apple website but can still be found in Apple refurb shop on its website and from third-party retailers.
Apple argued against the French ban saying that its phone was certified by multiple international standards bodies. It said that French regulators had used a specific testing protocol and that there were no safety issues with its phone; nevertheless, it is going to issue an update to lower the amount of radiation emitted by the phone.
Luckily, the radiation issue is something Apple can fix just by issuing a software update so users will be able to hold onto their existing iPhone 12 and just update them when the update is ready. If the issue couldn’t be solved with a software update, it could have meant anything from product recalls to a ban remaining in place on sales of the iPhone 12, but with the software update, this is not the case.
Regulators around the world check mobile devices to ensure they are emitting radiation below safe levels to help protect consumers. As long as radiation is kept below these levels, devices don’t pose a risk to users.
Source: Reuters