Apple told staff to keep mum on iPhone 12 radiation issue queries from customers: Report

Apple has told its tech support staff to stay silent if they are asked about the issue of iPhone 12 radiation in France, reported Bloomberg. France has already banned the sale of iPhone 12 after a regulator said that the smartphone breached European standards of radiation exposure.

Bloomberg report said that the tech giant told staff to say that they had nothing to share on this matter in case customers ask about the radiation issue. It was also reported that Apple instructed employees to reject return or exchange requests for devices bought over two weeks ago. The employees were reportedly told to tell customers that products undergo rigorous testing, if a customer asks about safety of the phones.

The sale of iPhone 12 was banned in France after Agence Nationale des Frequences (ANFR), the radiation watchdog, said earlier this week that the smartphone's Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) was higher than legally allowed.

SAR is a measure of the rate of radiofrequency absorbed by the body of a smartphone user while using the equipment.

The ANFR said that if Apple didn't resolve the issue, it would be forced to order recall of these smartphones.

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Apple initially disputed the conclusions drawn by the watchdog and said that iPhone 12 was certified by multiple international bodies as being compliant with global radiation standards.

However, on Friday (September 15) Apple appeared to relent as it announced that it would release a software update to address the radiation issue.

The announcement was met with a positive reaction from the French government. It said that the software update will be swiftly tested and if the issue is sorted, sales of the model would be allowed to continue. 

"The ANFR (French regulator) is preparing to quickly test this update," said France's Digital Affairs Ministry. Jean Noel Barrot, the Digital Affairs Minister has been in contact with Apple over past few days over the radiation issue.

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iPhone 12 is a relatively old model. It was launched in 2020.

"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," Apple said in a statement.

However, the company continued to assert that the issue raised was not a safety concern.

"This is related to a specific testing protocol used by French regulators and not a safety concern," it said.

Apple launched iPhone 15 just this week. iPhone 12 is now not available for purchase from Apple directly but it can be bought from third parties.

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