A few months ago, Brazil’s Justice Ministry ordered the suspension of Apple’s iPhone sales in the country for failing to include chargers with every purchase and forcing its customers to buy chargers separately. Brazil even fined Apple twice and ordered the tech giant to ship iPhones with chargers in the country if they wanted to sell their devices. This verdict came around the time Apple started shipping its latest iPhone 14 series.
Brazil’s Justice Ministry had previously ordered Apple to sell iPhones with chargers and stop selling iPhones pending compliance. Apple appealed the ruling and continued to sell iPhones, believing they could continue selling iPhones since the matter was under appeal.
Apple appealed the decision, believing they could continue selling iPhones while the matter was under review. The Federal District Consumer Protection Agency decided to seize iPhones from carriers and Apple premium resellers in an operation called Discharge.
As Brazilian website Tecnoblog found out, PROCON-DF is forcing Apple to comply with a local law that dictates that smartphones must be shipped with the charger that comes with them.
After the operation, Apple Brazil asked the government to allow 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 confiscated iPhones.
Previously, in Sao Paulo, the largest city in Brazil, PROCON-SP Apple fined for missing charger in iPhone boxalthough it had not confiscated any model sold.
Apple said it’s confident of winning the lawsuit and that customers are “aware of the different ways to charge and connect their devices.” Apple still says removing the charger is part of its goal to become carbon neutral by 2030.
Since Brazil’s FCC-like agency has approved all iPhone models since the iPhone 12 without a charger, technically the company isn’t breaking any rule.
However, it is interesting to note that while Apple has removed the USB-C cable to charge the Siri Remote on the new Apple TV 4K in the US, the Brazilian offering still includes the cable as Apple is likely trying to fix more issues with to avoid the local authority .
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