France’s National Frequency Agency (Agence Nationale des Frequencies, or ANFR) has ordered Apple Corporation to temporarily withdraw its model iPhone 12 from the French market due to concerns about the device exceeding the regulatory specific absorption rate (SAR) limits established by the Commission of the European Union (EU).
According to a press release posted to the ANFR website, the request was based on random SAR testing conducted by the Agency on 141 different models of phones, including the iPhone 12. That testing showed that at least 2 of the iPhone 12 samples tested exhibited SAR values of 5.74 watts per kilogram, in excess of the 4.0 watts per kilogram limit for phones being held in the hand or kept in a trouser pocket (the so-called “limb” SAR limit).
However, the phones were found compliant with the EU’s “trunk” SAR limit, which is the SAR levels emitted from a phone carried in a jacket pocket or bag.
In addition to ordering Apple to remove iPhone 12 models from the market, it has also instructed the company to take corrective action to bring previously sold iPhone 12s into compliance with the established limits or to recall them.
Read the ANFR press release on its order to withdraw the iPhone 12 from the market in France.
