Apple will update its iPhone 12
in France after fears about radiation, the country's digital minister says.
Jean-Noel Barrot said Apple
would deliver a software update for users in the country in the coming days.
Sales of iPhone 12 were
halted in France after a regulator detected too much electromagnetic radiation.
Apple was told to fix the issue.
The firm said the new
update would only apply to users in France, where it said a specific testing
protocol existed.
The American tech giant
suggested the radiation findings were a result of that testing regime, and that
it was "not a safety concern".
The planned update raises
questions over Apple's plans for iPhone 12, which was released just three years
ago, in other countries.
Mr Barrot said that the
radio frequency regulator (ANFR) would test the new update to check its
compliance before iPhone 12 is allowed back on sale in the country.
The World Health
Organization has previously sought to allay fears about radiation emitted by
mobile phones.
It says on its website
there is no evidence to conclude that exposure to low level electromagnetic
fields is harmful to humans.
In a statement sent to AFP
news agency, Apple said the radiation finding in France was "related to a
specific testing protocol used by French regulators and not a safety
concern".
It said the iPhone 12
complied with emissions rules worldwide, but it would "issue a software
update for users in France to accommodate the protocol used by French
regulators".
The ANFR previously told
Apple that if it could not resolve the issue via a software update, it would
have to recall every iPhone 12 sold in the country.
The regulator found iPhone
12's Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) to be above what is legally
allowed in France.
The iPhone 12 smartphone
was first released in September 2020 and it is still sold worldwide.
Apple told BBC News earlier
this week it was contesting the ANFR's review.
It said it had provided the
regulator with lab results from both itself and third parties, which it said
showed the device was compliant with all the relevant rules.
But Mr Barrot gave Apple a
two-week deadline, and said he believed there could be "a snowball
effect" as France shared its findings with other regulators across the
European Union (EU).
Regulators from Belgium,
the Netherlands and Germany said on Thursday they
were now also looking into the issue.
Germany's BNetzA network
agency told the BBC the French investigation could lead to measures that would
apply to all EU members states.
The UK and US have not
announced any action following the French ban.
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