Apple unveiled its iPhone 12 series in October 2020 with a set of new improvements. However, our biggest fears were confirmed when the company confirmed that it is no longer shipping its smartphones with bundled chargers. Sadly, this is becoming a trend now with many other smartphone makers starting to leave the charging brick behind. Apple states that this is an ecological-friendly move to reduce electronic waste. However, not many customers are happy with this change since they will need to purchase a costlier charging brick separately. Even several months later, Apple is still getting backlash from this change. Today, a Brazilian regulator decided to apply a fine of almost $2 million in the Cupertino-based company.
Apple will need to pay almost $2 million due to the lack of a charger in the iPhone 12 series packages
Apple was fined by Brazillian’s Procon-SP for practices that violate the country’s Consumer Protection Code. The fine of BRL 10,546,442.48 ($1914888.87) was announced last Friday 19 and will be applied through an administrative process. Worth noting that the company still has the right to defend itself. According to Procon-SP, some reasons led to the application of the fine. The first was the sale of iPhones without a power adapter in the retail box. The consumer protection agency had already notified Apple on the matter in October 2020, asking for explanations. At the time, the company simply ignored it.
iPhone 11 lack of water-resistance is also a complaint in Brazil
Another reason that led to the fine was related to the iPhone 11 Pro. The company advertising claims that it is water-resistant but, in practice, it is not quite like that. According to Procon-SP, consumers complained that they had water-related problems that Apple did not want to repair.
Procon-SP questioned Apple, who “reported that water resistance would not be a permanent condition of the device, and could decrease over time; and that to avoid liquid damage consumers should stop swimming or showering with their smartphones and use it in conditions of extreme humidity “, says the organ.
Besides, Procon-SP received complaints from consumers who had problems with their device functions after updating the operating system. On this matter, Apple also did not respond to the agency.
Finally, the agency also found unfair terms in the warranty term for Apple products and learned of a case in which the company refused to fix a problem in a device purchased abroad within the period established by law. In the face of infractions, the company was fined.
“Apple needs to understand that in Brazil there are solid consumer protection laws and institutions. It needs to respect these laws and these institutions,” said Fernando Capez, executive director of Procon-SP. The report contacted Apple, which has yet to respond.
We’re pretty sure that Apple will not simply accept this fine on its iPhone 12 family and will appeal to the decision in the coming days.
