Apple is in trouble in Brazil over iPhone chargers – again.
According to Reuters, a Brazilian court fined Apple 100 million reais ($19 million) for not including a charger with iPhones sold in Brazil.
While Apple maintains that its decision to ship iPhones without chargers is about reducing carbon emissions, the Brazilian court’s reasoning is that the company « imposes on the consumer a required purchase of charger adaptors that were previously supplied along with the product. »
Under the court’s decision, Apple will also have to ship chargers with new iPhones sold in Brazil, though Apple said it will appeal the decision.
In September, a Brazilian court ordered Apple to halt iPhone sales in the country for this same reason, and imposed a fine of $2.3 million.
According to 9to5Mac, Apple’s iPhone 14 and 14 Pro, which became available for pre-order in Brazil last week, will ship without a charger, at least for now.
This entire issue could’ve been avoided if Apple had switched to USB-C on its iPhones (instead of the proprietary Lightning port), which is something Brazil and the European Union (among other regions) have been pushing for for a while. It hasn’t happened with the iPhone 14 line of devices, but reports say that Apple is at least considering making the switch in time for the iPhone 15 launch next year.
