Procon-SP, the state consumer protection agency in Sao Paulo, Brazil announced that it is requiring Apple to include a charger with iPhone 12 models if customers request for them.
During the launch of the iPhone 12 family at Apple's "Hi, Speed" event on October 13, company officials explained every new iPhone 12 box will no longer include charging bricks or adapters to help the environment. They said that many Apple fans who buy a new set of iPhones already have chargers they got from their old iPhones so they no longer require another charger. While Apple has good reasons for not including the charger, the idea did not sit well with some customers and as it turned out, an entire country. Sao Paulo, Brazil's state consumer protection agency, Procon-SP, announced it is requiring Apple to include a charger with iPhone 12 models to customers who request them.
In a press release Wednesday, Procon-SP revealed that it asked Apple earlier in 2020 why it is no longer including charging accessories with the new iPhones. According to Sao Paulo, Brazil's state consumer protection agency, the Cupertino tech giant answered that since most customers already have charging bricks, they no longer require a new one. Apple also told the regulator that removing the bricks would help minimize carbon emissions. Apparently, the consumer protection agency was not satisfied with Apple's answer, which now resulted in a policy requiring the company to bundle the charging bricks with iPhone 12 models.
According to the press release of Procon-SP, it stated that the charging brick is "a necessary component" of using an iPhone 12 or any other electronic product. Sao Paulo, Brazil's state consumer protection agency also said that Apple would be in violation of the Brazilian Consumer Defense Code if it does not include a charger with devices it sells. The regulator added that the Cupertino tech giant was not able to prove sufficiently the environmental gains it will make in not including the charger with every iPhone 12 box.
Limited to Sao Paulo for now but the goal is to expand to all Brazilian regions. No timeline for the expansion yet.#iPhone12https://t.co/Ka9BsHNBao — Ajit Singh (@ajitsingh0902) December 3, 2020
Procon-SP noted that Apple did not make it very clear in its marketing and promotions that the new iPhone 12 boxes will no longer have charging bricks inside. At present, Sao Paulo, Brazil's state consumer protection agency's policy on requiring Apple to include chargers only covers the state of Sao Paulo, the country's National Consumer Secretary is reportedly considering the same move at the federal level. The decision of Brazil regulators is similar to what happened in France where Apple was also forced to include EarPods in its new iPhone 12 models.
Because of the decision of French regulators, the packaging of the iPhone 12 in that country is different from those in the US. This is because the company had to put the new handset into another box that allows the bundling of the EarPods. With the policy move of Procon-SP, Sao Paulo, Brazil's state consumer protection agency, the Cupertino company may also duplicate the solution it had in France. If it does not, it might face harsh sanctions from the regulator who already warned Apple that it may be in violation of the law if it insists on not including the charging bricks in the iPhone 12 box.
