iPhone 12: the French frequency agency validates the update proposed by Apple

Europe 1 with AFP // Photo credit: Jakub Porzycki / NurPhoto / NurPhoto via AFP 13:20 pm, September 29, 2023

The French Frequency Agency (ANFR), responsible for controlling the level of radio wave emissions by electronic devices, has validated the update proposed by Apple to lower the power of the iPhone 12, whose marketing had been suspended, according to a statement.

Standards finally met

"The tests confirm that this software evolution allows this device to respect the limit value of SAR localized 'limb' (which corresponds to the energy absorbed by the human body when the phone is held in the hand, editor's note), and therefore to comply with the standards in force," said the agency. "It is now up to Apple to distribute this software update to all iPhone 12 users," she continues, after which the ban on the marketing of the device can be lifted.

In detail, the value of the SAR "member", which reached 5.74 Watts per kilogram in the previous tests, has been reduced to 3.94 W/kg, just below the limit value of 4 W/kg. On the evening of September 13, while Apple celebrated the presentation of its new model, the iPhone 15, ANFR and the Minister of Digital Jean-Noël Barrot had surprised the world of telecoms and many users by announcing the suspension in France of the marketing of this device released in 2020 and already at the end of its career, except for resale.

A first for Apple

ANFR regularly lowers the transmission power of smartphones. But it was a first for Apple. After defending the validity of its own measures, the American group had finally complied with the demands of the French agency by announcing to prepare an update.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), "there is currently no indication that exposure to low-level electromagnetic fields is dangerous to human health" and this, "despite much research".