Apple plans iPhone 12 software update to address French Radiation issue

Apple will issue a software update for the iPhone 12 “in the coming days” in response to a request from France’s ANFR regulator, the country’s digital minister Jean-Noel Barrot said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. The French government also welcomed the company’s move and said that the software update would be swiftly tested. “The ANFR (French regulator) is preparing to quickly test this update,” the French Digital Affairs ministry said in a statement. The ministry added that this should bring the model into compliance with European standards and allow France to lift the sale suspension. This means that once the update clears the test, Apple should be able to resume the sales of iPhone 12 in the country.

Earlier this week, the Agence Nationale des Frequences (ANFR) said that the iPhone 12’s Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) – a measure of the rate of radiofrequency energy absorbed by the body from a piece of equipment – was higher than legally allowed.