Apple stopped shipping in-box chargers with the iPhone 12 series for environmental reasons. This means that the retail boxes of iPhones 12 and later series only consist of the smartphone and lightning to USB Type-C cable. Users have to buy chargers separately. The change did not go well in many markets. For example, the Brazilian Ministry of Justice imposed a million dollar fine on Apple along with suspending iPhone sales in the country. The country has now seized hundreds of iPhones from retail stores.
As reported by Tecnoblog, Brazil’s Federal District-based consumer protection regulator has seized iPhones from authorized Apple resellers and carries stories in Brazil’s capital city Brasilia. Why? Because the Cupertino-based company does not sell chargers with iPhones.
The operation, according to the report is named “Operation Discharge” and is aimed to force Apple to comply with local law that requires smartphone makers to ship chargers in the box.
As mentioned above, Apple dropped chargers with the iPhone 12 series. It has also updated iPhone 11 with a new, more compact box without the charger.
What is Apple’s response?
According to the report, Apple Brazil requested the government to allow sales of iPhones in the country. It filed a writ of mandamus to ensure iPhones are sold in Brazil.
As per a report by MacMagazine, Judge Diego Câmara Alves has allowed the company to continue selling iPhones in Brazil until a final ruling. The judge believes that the company is not violating any consumer rights and claims that the Brazilian regulator is “abusing its power” with such a decision.
Apple, on the other hand, says that it is confident it will win the legal dispute and that customers “are aware of the various options for charging and connecting their devices.”
In a related news, the European Union has approved a law earlier this year which mandates a USB Type-C port for a whole range of electronic devices such as mobile phones, tablets, and headphones. After this, Apple will be forced to drop its outdated lightning port on its iPhones for the USB-C one already used by many of its Android competitors. Meanwhile, India is also planning to adopt USB-C type as a common charging port for smart devices.
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