The flip-flop between Apple and the French government relating to iPhone shipments to the country has taken another turn. Back in September 2021, Apple agreed to bundle earbuds into the iPhone package for the country due to lack of compliance with a specific French law.

The law specified that all handsets sold in France must have an accessory that can limit the user’s exposure of his head to radioelectric emissions when using the phone. Apple had already left out the earbuds as part of the package for the iPhone 12 in 2020. The company had to navigate through the issue by packing the iPhone 12 models for France in a separate box that included the earphones as required. However, a change in the extant law now specifically states that manufacturers of smartphones are no longer required to give headphones/hands-free kits in France.

Apple will start selling its iPhones in France without the earbuds from January 24, as a response to the changes in the law which was quite controversial. Resellers of smartphones in France have already stopped bundling the earphones into the box since January 17. The iPhone package will only have a Lightning to USB-C cable as an accessory. It is obviously a misreading of the radiation exposure risk in using smartphones by the French government that has led to the flip-flop. Indeed, there is no significant radiation exposure risk while using your smartphone, and using a headset/ earphone does not mitigate the exposure.

Although Apple has faced biting criticism for leaving out key accessories from its iPhone package, on the claims of environmental sustainability, and the French enforcement of the rule could have assuaged some of the bitter customers, albeit, its enforcement was for a short period.

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(source)

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