Apple bans selling iPhone without charger in Brazil

The Brazilian government has ruled that Apple can no longer sell iPhone products without a bundled charger in Brazil.

Brazil’s Ministry of Justice and Public Security has suspended the sale of any iPhone without chargers in the country from the iPhone 12 onwards, and imposed a BRL 12.2 million (about £2 million) fine on Apple.

Like an official news post reads (via machine translation): “Apple has been sued for selling smartphones, starting with the iPhone 12, without a proper wall outlet charger.”

A Brazilian lawmaker accused Apple of selling an “incomplete product” or a product “devoid of essential functions” and of “discriminating against the consumer.”

Apple’s argument that it’s doing this for environmental reasons didn’t sit well with the Brazilian government, as “the company’s decision to sell devices without a charger ended up shifting the burden to the consumer.” It also argued that moving to a universal USB-C charging standard would be the best way to reduce environmental impact, if that were indeed Apple’s goal.

Brazil’s Ministry of Justice and Public Security is threatening “even more severe penalties” if Apple persists in its violations.

Today Apple is going to introduce a line of four new iPhones. None of the iPhone 14 line is expected to come with bundled chargers, nor are they expected to flag a company that will move to a standard USB-C connector.

Presumably, sales of the iPhone 14 family will not continue in Brazil without major Apple intervention.