In a press release published Tuesday, September 12, the National Frequency Agency (ANFR) asked stores and online stores to temporarily stop selling the iPhone 12. According to it, this Apple smartphone emits too powerful waves , higher than the European standard in force.
Like other mobiles, this smartphone is capable of detecting the immediate proximity of the human body thanks to its movement and proximity sensors. This allows it to reduce its wave emissions and, theoretically, to pass the ANFR tests without any problems. However, according to the agency, this system is not perfectly reliable: “We have noted that the iPhone 12 does not always detect the immediate presence of the body,” explains Gilles Brégant, director general of ANFR, contacted Wednesday by Le Monde . This is the origin of the problem. »
Apple told Agence France-Presse that it disputed the agency’s conclusions. The manufacturer assures that it has provided it with the results of independent studies, carried out in the laboratory by third parties, proving that its devices comply with the standards. The brand nevertheless says it wants to continue discussions with the authorities.
“We have no element that makes us think otherwise,” judges Gilles Brégant. ANFR, which regularly examines the emissions of different smartphone models, collected copies of the iPhone 12 in stores from November 2021 – a little over a year after its release in October 2020 – before realizing his tests a few months later.
She then noted that the limit values ??of electromagnetic waves emitted and absorbed by the human body were exceeded. Since then, the problem has not been corrected: it is therefore likely that all iPhone 12s are affected, with the exception of the iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 12 pro, for which tests have not revealed any excesses.
During its study, ANFR ordered two types of tests from the German laboratory Cetecom Advanced. The first consists of measuring the absorption of waves by the trunk of the human body. It corresponds to the scenario where you carry a mobile in a bag or a suit, five millimeters from the body. These tests did not reveal any excess of the authorized thresholds in Europe.
The second test, on the other hand, which measures absorption by the limbs (legs, arms, hands, etc.), revealed values ??exceeding the set limits. This test evaluates, for example, the wave emissions towards the hand holding the mobile, or the thigh against which it is pressed when putting it in your pocket. The specific absorption rate (SAR), expressed in watt per kilo, rose to 5.74 W/kg, while the maximum authorized threshold is 4 W/kg.
Below this threshold, according to the National Health Security Agency (ANSES), no negative effects on health are observed. With a peak observed at 5.74, the risks remain minimal, according to the minister responsible for digital transition and telecommunications, Jean-Noël Barrot, who estimated Tuesday in the columns of Le Parisien that this 44% excess was “very slight “. A danger all the more limited since the tests in the European Union, recalls ANSES, are carried out on mobiles pushed to their maximum power for the entire duration of the test, which does not correspond to their actual use.
If Apple corrects this problem within a few weeks, this excess should not have any noticeable effect on health. “It’s not a serious and immediate risk,” says Gilles Brégant. But if the Apple brand refuses, the most cautious users may consider changing their mobile. Faced with the impossibility, for the moment, of verifying the total absence of effects on health, ANSES recommends preferring mobiles that emit the least waves and reducing children’s exposure.
Problems of exceeding the emissions threshold can generally be resolved remotely by the manufacturer, with a simple software update. This operation is very simple for users, most iPhone owners perform it regularly. In the case of the iPhone 12, it is possible that this update will however be difficult to develop, since it is linked to its ability to automatically detect human proximity.
For Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, the rule is the same for everyone, including the digital giants. The ANFR assures that “the tests are the same for everyone” and that they “are standardized and reproducible”.
Exceeding emission thresholds are generally taken seriously by manufacturers. Over the past three years, around twenty defective mobiles in France have received corrective updates, notably from Samsung, Motorola, Xiaomi and Sony. These corrections often arrive in less than a year.
With Apple, however, “the exchanges stretched over an unusually long period. At this time, Apple has still not given us any indication of how it intends to resolve this problem,” regrets the ANFR. Is it this situation that pushed the agency to publicly announce the blockage of the distribution of the iPhone 12 on Tuesday, in the middle of Apple’s conference announcing the iPhone 15? “This timing is a coincidence,” evades Giles Brégant.
If Apple has not taken action in the next fortnight, the ANFR could go so far as to demand the recall of all iPhone 12s on the French market. “Consumers would then possibly be compensated by a refund or a voucher,” explains the ANFR. We have done this for other brands in the past. But we are hopeful that it will not come to that. »
