The consumer protection agency in the state of São Paulo fined Apple $ 2 million for failing to include chargers in iPhone 12 cases, according to 9to5 Mac. Procon-SP says that Apple was involved in “misleading advertising, selling a device without the charger and unfair terms”.
Apple announced in October that the iPhone 12 would not come with chargers or headphones in its cases, citing environmental concerns. By including only a USB-C cable for Lightning with the iPhone 12 and other new models, Apple said it would be able to reduce the raw material for each iPhone it sells, in addition to reducing the size of phone cases. Critics suggested the move had more to do with allowing Apple to cut shipping costs, and environmental experts said the impact on the environment was likely to be minimal.
Procon said it asked Apple if the company would reduce the price of the iPhone 12, as there were no chargers included, and received no response. The agency also accused the company of not helping customers who had “problems with some functions” on their iPhones after the updates. An agency spokesman said Apple “needs to respect these laws and institutions”.
The fine does not appear to be particularly worrying for Apple, which had $ 111.4 billion in revenue in the first quarter of 2021 (this total includes 2020 year-end sales of iPhone 12 models).
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Saturday The Verge.