Brazilian iPhone buyers might get a charger in the box after all

News
By Oliver Haslam
published

Apple iPhone 12 box
Apple iPhone 12 box (Image credit: Apple)

What you need to know

  • Apple might be forced to ship new iPhones with a charger when they're sold in Brazil.
  • Apple stopped putting chargers in the boxes when it announced iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro in October.

Apple might be forced to put a wall charger into the box of every iPhone it sells in Brazil after a consumer protection agency declared it to be an "essential" component.

Public agency Procon-SP first reached out to Apple in October to get clarification on the reason for removing the power adapter from iPhone boxes and the predictable response doesn't hold much weight for the Brazilians. Apple says that it can reduce the amount of waste created by chargers that are never used while also reducing the size of packaging that needs to be transported.

That's an argument that some haven't bought, and a press release by Procon-SP is having none of it, either.

Procon-SP understands that when buying a new device, the consumer expects that not only the iPhone will perform better, but also the power adapter (faster and safer charging the device); remembering that the device is an essential part for the use of the product.Apple does not demonstrate in its response that the use of old adapters cannot compromise the charging process and safety of the procedure, nor that the use of third-party chargers will not be used as a refusal for eventual repair of the product during the legal or contractual warranty.

Fernando Capez, executive director of Procon-SP, now says that Apple will be "reviewed" and if it's found to break local consumer protection law, it'll b defined.

Oliver Haslam
Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too.

Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.