With the launch of the new iPhone 12 series models, Apple changed its policy of in-box contents and confirmed that it won’t be offering chargers and EarPods with the new iPhone purchase from now onwards.
So, not only just the newly launched iPhone 12 models, but all the iPhones getting sold after the launch of iPhone 12 will only include the Lightning cable in the box. This is for all the regions, except France.
But it now seems that the company will be forced to include a charger with the purchase of an iPhone in Brazil as well. The Brazilian state of Sao Paulo has ruled that Apple must provide the new iPhone units with a charger to the buyers of the country.
It appears that the decision was taken by the court and confirmed by Procon-SP, the consumer protection agency of Sao Paulo. The agency had notified Apple in October to explain why it removed the power adapter from the iPhone retail box.
Apple responded that most users already have a charger lying at their home and that removing the power brick will help reduce carbon emissions. However, the Procon-SP thought Apple’s justification isn’t convincing enough to allow it to sell the iPhone without the charger.
It added that a charger is an important part of the product usage and not including it with the main product goes against the standards of the Brazilian Consumer Defense Code. Further, it added that Apple has not provided any evidence to justify its decision to remove chargers from the box to help the environment.
As of now, the order is applicable only to iPhone sales in the Sao Paulo state. But the National Consumer Secretary of Brazil is mulling to enforce this order country-wide.
Earlier this year, in a similar situation, Apple was forced to include EarPods in the box for every iPhone in France due to legal obligations.
