Apple Fined $2 Million in Brazil for Selling iPhones Without Chargers

Apple has been slapped with a near $2 million fine in the Brazilian state of São Paulo over violations of the Consumer Law Code due to the lack of a charger in the box for newer iPhones, Brazilian tech news outlet Tilt reports.

iphone 11 pro charger
Procon-SP, São Paulo's consumer protection agency, decided to fine Apple following intense scrutiny over the decision to remove the power adapter from the boxes of iPhones. With the iPhone 12, Apple removed the power adapter from the box, saying that doing so will reduce carbon emissions and the use of rare-earth metals.

In December, the Brazilian agency informed Apple that selling an ‌iPhone‌ in the country without a charger in the box is a violation of the Consumer Defense Code. Apple responded to the agency's concerns by saying that most customers already have spare adapters and that providing another one in the box is unneeded.

Fernando Capez, Procon-SP's executive director, offered a stern warning to Apple following the fine, saying that it needs to respect and understand Brazilian consumer law and institutions. Alongside the lack of a charger, Apple is also being fined for misleading customers about the water resistance in iPhones.

Since the ‌iPhone‌ 7, iPhones have been water-resistant to different specifications. The more recent ‌iPhone‌ 12 series, for example, is certified for water submersion of up to 6 meters for as long as 30 minutes.

Procon-SP claims that Apple refused to repair devices for customers who had suffered water damage with their "water-resistant" iPhones, even though they're under warranty. Other charges brought forward to Apple are claims that it deliberately slows down older phones with iOS updates to encourage customers to purchase newer models.

Apple will have a chance to appeal to the $2 million fine. We've reached out to Apple for comment and will update this article if we hear back.

Tag: Brazil

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in Three Months With These 12 New Features

Saturday June 14, 2025 5:45 pm PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of June 2025:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X through iPhone 14 Pro have a...
apple watch ultra 2 new black

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Finally Coming After Two-Year Hiatus

Monday June 16, 2025 8:45 am PDT by
Apple will finally deliver the Apple Watch Ultra 3 sometime this year, according to analyst Jeff Pu of GF Securities Hong Kong (via @jukanlosreve). The analyst expects both the Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 3 to arrive this year (likely alongside the new iPhone 17 lineup, if previous launches are anything to go by), according to his latest product roadmap shared with...
apple watch ultra snow

6 Features Coming to the Apple Watch Ultra 3

Tuesday February 25, 2025 9:00 am PST by
The Apple Watch Ultra 3 is expected to launch later this year, arriving two years after the previous model with a series of improvements. While no noticeable design changes are expected for the third generation since the company tends to stick with the same Apple Watch design through three generations before changing it, there are a series of internal upgrades on the way. By the time the ...
terminal macos tahoe

Apple's Terminal App Gets Colorful Redesign in macOS Tahoe

Monday June 16, 2025 4:12 am PDT by
Apple's Terminal app is getting a visual refresh in macOS Tahoe, and it's the first notable design update since the command-line tool debuted. The updated Terminal will support 24-bit color and Powerline fonts, according to Apple's State of the Platforms presentation at WWDC25. The app will also adopt the new Liquid Glass aesthetic with redesigned themes that align with macOS 26's broader...
Logitech Logo Feature

Logitech Announces Two New Accessories for WWDC

Friday June 13, 2025 7:22 am PDT by
Alongside WWDC this week, Logitech announced notable new accessories for the iPad and Apple Vision Pro. The Logitech Muse is a spatially-tracked stylus developed for use with the Apple Vision Pro. Introduced during the WWDC 2025 keynote address, Muse is intended to support the next generation of spatial computing workflows enabled by visionOS 26. The device incorporates six degrees of...
iPadOS 26 App Windowing

Apple Explains Why iPads Don't Just Run macOS

Friday June 13, 2025 7:46 am PDT by
iPadOS 26 allows iPads to function much more like Macs, with a new app windowing system, a swipe-down menu bar at the top of the screen, and more. However, Apple has stopped short of allowing iPads to run macOS, and it has now explained why. In an interview this week with Swiss tech journalist Rafael Zeier, Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi said that iPadOS 26's new Mac-like ...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday June 12, 2025 8:58 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...

Top Rated Comments

contacos Avatar
56 months ago
„Adapter not needed“

- includes a usb-c to lightning cable ??‍♂️??‍♂️

if anything, they make more electronic waste by including a cable that doesn’t work with the adapters most people Apple claims to already have ?
Score: 96 Votes (Like | Disagree)
obamtl Avatar
56 months ago
I laud Apple’s desire to protect the environment. Making the iPhone box smaller is a good thing, and reducing unused charger bricks is a good thing. BUT if the environment were all that they were concerned about, then they can ask customers when buying an iPhone IF they want a charger, and include a charger in a smaller separate box for free, thus reducing the shipping volume all the same. It’s charging for the charger many will need that’s unacceptable, and I’m glad Brazil’s held them to account for that.
Score: 71 Votes (Like | Disagree)
adrianlondon Avatar
56 months ago
"Apple responded to the agency's concerns by saying that most customers already have spare adapters and that providing another one in the box is unneeded."

If that were the only reason then they'd allow people to add one to their order for free.
Score: 68 Votes (Like | Disagree)
contacos Avatar
56 months ago

"Apple responded to the agency's concerns by saying that most customers already have spare adapters and that providing another one in the box is unneeded."

If that were the only reason then they'd allow people to add one to their order for free.
especially since the included cable doesn’t even work with those adapters people supposedly already have. Such marketing PR BS from Apple. They just want to sell MagSafe accessories
Score: 54 Votes (Like | Disagree)
NIKKG Avatar
56 months ago
Good, they should fine them even more for being so greedy.
Score: 47 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Suckfest 9001 Avatar
56 months ago
Once again, this is great news. I’m glad some countries are at least realizing what a dumb move this is fuelled entirely by financial motivation and nothing to do with environmental impact.

They changed the charger the same time they got rid of it from the box. Tell me more about how we’re supposed to use our existing USBC bricks that we got with our iPhone….?

They sell charger bricks separately in a ton of packaging and at exorbitant prices and they just got called out for it.

Bravo, next country now please.
Score: 43 Votes (Like | Disagree)