France halts iPhone 12 sales over radiation levels

Comments

• lustrum@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  Fair play to France. It’s above legal levels, properly threatening tech giants is what they need to comply.

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  • DontMakeItTim@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Frances is notable for being very strict about cell phone radiation. They require every phone sold to include a headset with mic, not for hand free driving, but because the government says that talking on the phone normally exposes your head to dangerous levels of radiation.

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  • otter@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    As for why

    EMR radiation isn’t the type that can cause cancer (which happens when the radiation wavelength is low enough to ‘ionize’ genetic material), but it can heat up tissue the same way a microwave might. With tissue heating, standards are likely set based on the risks / concerns that a country’s health authority thought were reasonable enough. This might also vary depending on different parts of the body.

    If they set a standard and a malfunction is causing the phone to exceed that limit, it’s worth stopping sales so that it can be fixed.

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    • Ullallulloo@civilloquy.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      Has there been any cause of RF leading to burns or fever? The idea that a cell phone could transfer enough energy to make even the slightest difference seems insane to me. I can’t imagine it’s physically possible for the health risk to be any worse than raising your thermostat by 1° would be.

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• MossyFeathers@pawb.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  This is literally like if France said, “your flashlight is too bright; it’s causing cancer and must be stopped”. The use of the term, “radiation” in this context is disingenuous because they’re basically saying, “the wifi is too strong”. Technically visible light is the same kind of radiation as microwaves, radiowaves, wifi and x-rays. The reason why x-rays are considered harmful and wifi/microwaves/radio/visible light isn’t is because x-rays are much higher energy than the others, and are able to ionize materials they come into contact with. This can cause cancer. You know what doesn’t cause cancer? Wifi. Unless you’re shitting out enough microwave radiation (also not cancer-causing) to cook an egg, it’s pretty harmless. This is the kinda shit anti-vax Facebook moms get upset about. They hear “radiation” and their knee jerks so hard it shatters their jaw.

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  • Taleya@aussie.zone ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    ‘Here is a hard limit. Don’t exceed it’

    Apple alone out of every mobile phone manufacturer, including themsleves as this is a single model in question exceeds

    You: YOUR LIMIT IS BAD

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    • MossyFeathers@pawb.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      My point is that the limit is goofy. Other manufacturers may not exceed it, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s goofy to begin with.

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• Zardoz@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  A Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) of 5.2 W/kg technically does exceed limits and device manufacturers agree to meet regulations. However, SAR values are not constant and can vary with real-world usage. Phones often operate at lower power levels, reducing actual SAR exposure.

  A weak microwave, for theoretical comparison, would likely put out hundreds of Watts per kg.

  People are way more likely to get heat damage from the battery than the radio waves from a cellphone

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• gregorum@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  Next step: France bands the Sun

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• garretble@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  Me browsing this on a 12Pro:

  “Phew”

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• iMike@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  I bought iPhone 12 when it came out but returned it due to having yellow screen issues which have never been fixed. I bought 11 pro instead as it actually takes better pictures than the 12. I knew something was wrong with that phone 😅

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  • balder1991@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    Ever since I saw camera reviews online I crossed the 12 out from my options. The 11 (and 13) pictures were considered better and more color accurate in most blind test reviews.

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• autotldr@lemmings.world [bot] ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  This is the best summary I could come up with:

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  On Tuesday, the French watchdog which governs radio frequencies also told the tech giant to fix existing phones.

  The ANFR has advised Apple that if it cannot resolve the issue via a software update, it must recall every iPhone 12 ever sold in the country.

  But the World Health Organization has previously sought to allay fears about radiation emitted by mobile phones.

  Apple told the BBC it was contesting the ANFR’s review, and said it had provided the regulator with lab results from the tech giant itself and third parties which show the device is compliant with all the relevant rules.

  France’s digital minister Jean-Noel Barrot told French newspaper Le Parisien the decision was due to radiation levels above the acceptable threshold, according to Reuters.

  It comes as the Chinese foreign ministry issued a rebuttal against media reports which claimed government agencies had told staff to stop using iPhones.

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  The original article contains 477 words, the summary contains 149 words. Saved 69%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!

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• ultratiem@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  Did my 12 mini turn into a rare collectors item over there???

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