A few days before the release of the iPhone 14, the Brazilian Ministry of Justice ordered the suspension of iPhone sales in the country. The government understood that Apple not including the power adapter with the device was harming consumers. Apple appealed the decision and could keep selling iPhones as Justice still hasn’t decided which part is correct.
With this blurry zone of Apple being able to sell iPhones, although it technically couldn’t, the Federal District-base consumer protection regulator decided to seize iPhones from carriers and Apple Premium Resellers in operation called Discharge.
As discovered by the Brazilian website Tecnoblog, PROCON-DF is forcing Apple to comply with a local law that requires smartphones to be shipped with the charger in the box.
After the operation, Apple Brazil requested the government to keep allowing iPhone sales until the final dispute, in which Apple said it would continue to sell iPhones in Brazil. This is the first time a Brazilian watchdog has seized iPhones.
Previously, in São Paulo, the largest city in Brazil, PROCON-SP fined Apple due to the lack of the charger in the iPhone’s box, although it hasn’t seized any model being sold.
To MacMagazine, Apple said it’s confident it will win the legal dispute and that customers “are aware of the various options for charging and connecting their devices.” Apple still says that removing the charger is part of the goal to become carbon-neutral by 2030.
In addition, since Brazilian’s FCC-like agency approved all iPhone models since the iPhone 12 without the charger, the company is technically not breaking any rule.
That said, it’s interesting to note that while Apple removed the USB-C cable to charge the Siri Remote of the new Apple TV 4K in the US, Brazil’s offering still has the cable, as Apple is likely trying to avoid more problems with the local authority.
BGR will keep an eye on the development of this story and will report back.
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