France halts iPhone 12 sales over radiation levels (www.bbc.co.uk)
from fne8w2ah@lemmy.world to technology@lemmy.world on 13 Sep 2023 18:56
https://lemmy.world/post/4998518

#technology

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autotldr@lemmings.world on 13 Sep 2023 19:00 next collapse

This is the best summary I could come up with:


On Tuesday, the French watchdog which governs radio frequencies also told the tech giant to fix existing phones.

The ANFR has advised Apple that if it cannot resolve the issue via a software update, it must recall every iPhone 12 ever sold in the country.

But the World Health Organization has previously sought to allay fears about radiation emitted by mobile phones.

Apple told the BBC it was contesting the ANFR’s review, and said it had provided the regulator with lab results from the tech giant itself and third parties which show the device is compliant with all the relevant rules.

France’s digital minister Jean-Noel Barrot told French newspaper Le Parisien the decision was due to radiation levels above the acceptable threshold, according to Reuters.

It comes as the Chinese foreign ministry issued a rebuttal against media reports which claimed government agencies had told staff to stop using iPhones.


The original article contains 477 words, the summary contains 149 words. Saved 69%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!

SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world on 13 Sep 2023 19:04 next collapse

It took them three years after release to determine this? Were there no FCC-equivalent filings well before then?

revs@feddit.uk on 13 Sep 2023 19:08 next collapse

They tested on release (it passed), they then re-tested recently (it failed)

orclev@lemmy.world on 13 Sep 2023 21:29 collapse

I’m far more likely to believe they screwed up the retest than I am that France suddenly found something everyone else missed. Also 4 watts is nothing. I’d maybe start to get a little worried if it was putting out 40 watts, although even that much is still pretty minimal.

michaelrose@lemmy.ml on 13 Sep 2023 19:50 collapse

It produces zero radiation like a nuclear reactor and only a little more energy than WiFi. This energy’s only effect is to heat adjacent tissue but much less than the actual heat produced.

SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world on 13 Sep 2023 19:56 collapse

They just like using the weasel word “radiation” to make boomers & older gen Xers scared.

artair@pawb.social on 13 Sep 2023 22:14 collapse

I’m Gen X and I’ve been in Information Technology for twenty-eight years. My generation was there at the dawn of personal computing. Yes, there are less technically-savvy people in every generational group, but “older Gen Xers” might consider what you’ve said to be… hmm, what’s the right term? Oh, yes. “Bullshit stereotyping based on age” is the term I’m grasping for here.

I’m well aware of the ELF (Extremely Low-Frequency Radiation) panic. This actually started in the 1970s and rose to national prominence around the late 90s, when it was covered to death by every news outlet. And it was just as silly then as it is now. France is just being France.

And that has little or nothing to do with which generational group you call home.

SaltySalamander@kbin.social on 13 Sep 2023 23:18 collapse

Motecuhzoma@lemmy.world on 13 Sep 2023 19:30 next collapse

I’m sure Apple, who just released the iPhone 15 and was discontinuing the 12 anyway, will be devastated by this

michaelrose@lemmy.ml on 13 Sep 2023 19:46 collapse

Title is irresponsible. It produces no ionizing radiation which is what the layman understands by the word radiation.

It produces 1.75 watts per kg over the standard. There is no reason to believe this has any effect whatsoever. it’s not clear that the standard is based on anything meaningful whatsoever