In 2020, Apple stopped including chargers in the sale of its iPhones, arguing that it was to take care of the environment. This caused controversy and one of the countries that took action on the matter was Brazil, because as of this Tuesday, it prohibited Apple from continuing to sell the iPhone without a charger and imposed a fine of 12.2 million reais – approximately two to three million dollars – for damages to consumers.
This decision was approved by the Department of Consumer Protection and Defense, which means the revocation of the sales permit for the iPhone 12 and 13 that do not have the charger included.
According to the agency, Apple violates the rights of consumers by selling the “incomplete” product, considering that the charger is essential for the proper functioning of the phone.
This order must be complied with immediately as it is a final decision; otherwise, the fine will be increased daily, according to the text published by the Official Gazette of the Union.
A millionaire savings for Apple?
A 64gb iPhone 12 costs 17,999 pesos and the box only includes the lightning cable to Usb-C. But to be able to connect the cable and charge the device it has a cost of 549 pesos.
Not including these adapters in its new iPhones saved Apple approximately $27 per device, representing .
This because Apple did not reduce the final costs of its devices, despite the fact that it eliminated the adapter.
However, although Apple announced that this measure was a movement to reduce the carbon footprint, since material was saved in packaging and alluding to the reuse of chargers by recurring iPhone users, this added to the company of Cuppertino nearly $300 million from separate accessory sales.
On the other hand, this is not the only controversy of the apple company. In June this year, with which all smartphones should be equipped with a USB-C port by autumn 2024.
According to data presented by the block, half of the chargers sold with smartphones in 2018 had a USB micro-B connector, while 29% had USB-C and the remaining 21% had the Lightning connector.
This includes iPhones, which must now have the universal connector.
