Apple Ordered to Stop Selling iPhones Without Charger in Brazil [Updated]

The Justice Ministry in Brazil today ordered Apple to stop selling iPhones without a charger in the box, reports Reuters. Brazilian officials say that Apple is giving customers an incomplete product when the power adapter is not included with the purchase, a move the government claims is a "deliberate discriminatory practice against consumers."

iphone 12 no charger earpods
Apple has been fined 12.275 million reais (~$2.34 million) for selling iPhones without chargers, and Brazilian officials are forcing the company to cease offering any iPhone that does not come with a power adapter, including the ‌iPhone‌ 12 and newer.

The Brazilian state of São Paulo previously fined Apple close to $2 million for not providing a charger with modern iPhones, which the São Paulo consumer protection agency said was a violation of Consumer Law Code. Apple also lost a 2022 lawsuit in the country after a customer who did not receive a charger sued.

Apple has told Brazilian officials that not including a power adapter with the ‌iPhone‌ offers environmental benefits and cuts down on waste, but Brazil has thus far rejected this argument.

Apple stopped providing chargers with iPhones starting with the 2020 launch of the iPhone 12 lineup. In most countries, Apple no longer ships iPhones with EarPods or a power adapter, including just a USB-C to Lightning charging cable. Apple says that most customers already have power adapters on hand to charge with, and has told customers that removing these accessories is part of its effort to "reach [its] environmental goals."

The Justice Ministry's order comes one day ahead of Apple's iPhone 14 announcement, which will see the debut of updated ‌iPhone 14‌ and ‌iPhone 14‌ Pro models.

Update 1:40 p.m.: In a statement to Bloomberg, Apple says it will appeal the ruling:

"At Apple, we consider our impact on people and the planet in everything we do," the company said in an emailed statement. "Power adapters represented our largest use of zinc and plastic and eliminating them from the box helped cut over 2 million metric tons of carbon emissions -- equivalent to removing 500,000 cars from the road per year." [...]

"We've already won a number of court decisions in Brazil on this topic and are confident our customers are aware of the various options to charge and connect their devices," the Cupertino, California-based company said.

Tag: Brazil

Top Rated Comments

WiiDSmoker Avatar
20 months ago
Good. I’m all for cutting down on waste but we all know it’s straight up a money grab. If it weren’t, Apple would allow people to get a free charger per new iPhone if truly needed.
Score: 174 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Herrpod Avatar
20 months ago
Good of them to see through the BS of “better for the environment”. It’s better for Apples bottom line to not include it. They do it for no other reason.
Score: 67 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Crow_Servo Avatar
20 months ago
Okay, now go after Samsung too. They both do it.
Score: 66 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheYayAreaLiving ?️ Avatar
20 months ago
This should have been done in the U.S. too. So many people out there buy iPhones and they have no idea they have to buy and pay for the charger separately. Or Apple could have provided a free charger if needed.

Think of going to Mcdonalds and ordering a ? Big mac. But you don't get any buns and cheese. You have to ask for the buns and cheese to be included for some extra $.
Score: 55 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ArkSingularity Avatar
20 months ago

Good. I’m all for cutting down on waste but we all know it’s straight up a money grab. If it weren’t, Apple would allow people to get a free charger per new iPhone if truly needed.
I'm not even convinced it actually cut down waste. They switched the included cable to USB-C -> Lightning rather than USB-A, and many people don't have extra USB-C charging bricks lying around. That resulted in a lot of people now having to buy separate chargers with their iPhones, and those of course came in their own packaging and generated more waste (and emissions from transportation) than just packaging it with the phone would have.

I'm not even quite sure why they did it. The charger can't have been expensive to manufacture and there isn't exactly a huge opportunity cost to it either (not everyone is going to buy the official Apple branded charger). It just doesn't make much sense to me.
Score: 55 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheYayAreaLiving ?️ Avatar
20 months ago

I thought that when this started, but then would you have to prove somehow you did need one, which there is no way to prove. Everyone would get one if it were free. It was more obviously a money grab because the phone price stayed the say or increased.
The fact Apple did not even drop the price of the iPhone by $29 US dollars tells you it was for a money grab. At least lower the price of the iPhone since they eliminated the charger but they didn't do that. The prices stayed the same or in other cases, it increased whoppingly.
Score: 51 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

reset password request iphone

Warning: Apple Users Targeted in Phishing Attack Involving Rapid Password Reset Requests

Tuesday March 26, 2024 4:34 pm PDT by
Phishing attacks taking advantage of Apple's password reset feature have become increasingly common, according to a report from KrebsOnSecurity. Multiple Apple users have been targeted in an attack that bombards them with an endless stream of notifications or multi-factor authentication (MFA) messages in an attempt to cause panic so they'll respond favorably to social engineering. An...
Generic iOS 18 Feature Purple

iOS 18: What to Expect From 'Biggest' Update in iPhone's History

Wednesday March 27, 2024 11:10 am PDT by
At least some Apple software engineers continue to believe that iOS 18 will be the "biggest" update in the iPhone's history, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Below, we recap rumored features and changes for the iPhone. "The iOS 18 update is expected to be the most ambitious overhaul of the iPhone's software in its history, according to people working on the upgrade," wrote Gurman, in a r...
maxresdefault

Apple Announces WWDC 2024 Event for June 10 to 14

Tuesday March 26, 2024 10:02 am PDT by
Apple today announced that its 35th annual Worldwide Developers Conference is set to take place from Monday, June 10 to Friday, June 14. As with WWDC events since 2020, WWDC 2024 will be an online event that is open to all developers at no cost. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. WWDC 2024 will include online sessions and labs so that developers can learn about new...
apple maps 3d feature

Apple Maps May Gain Custom Routes With iOS 18

Tuesday March 26, 2024 3:10 pm PDT by
Apple may be planning to add support for "custom routes" in Apple Maps in iOS 18, according to code reviewed by MacRumors. Apple Maps does not currently offer a way to input self-selected routes, with Maps users limited to Apple's pre-selected options, but that may change in iOS 18. Apple has pushed an iOS 18 file to its maps backend labeled "CustomRouteCreation." While not much is revealed...
General iOS 17 Feature Orange Purple

Apple Releases Revised Versions of iOS 17.4.1 and iPadOS 17.4.1 With Updated Build Number

Wednesday March 27, 2024 5:59 am PDT by
Apple on late Tuesday released revised versions of iOS 17.4.1 and iPadOS 17.4.1 with an updated build number of 21E237, according to MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris. The updates previously had a build number of 21E236. The revised updates are available for all iPhone and iPad models that are compatible with iOS 17 and iPadOS 17, but they can only be installed via the Finder app on macOS...
maxresdefault

Apple to Launch New iPad Pro and iPad Air Models in May

Thursday March 28, 2024 11:07 am PDT by
Apple will introduce new iPad Pro and iPad Air models in early May, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman previously suggested the new iPads would come out in March, and then April, but the timeline has been pushed back once again. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Apple is working on updates to both the iPad Pro and iPad Air models. The iPad Pro models will...
applephilschiller

Apple's Phil Schiller Works 80 Hours a Week Overseeing App Store

Wednesday March 27, 2024 2:03 pm PDT by
With the App Store and app ecosystem undergoing major changes in the European Union, The Wall Street Journal today shared a profile on App Store chief Phil Schiller, who is responsible for the App Store. Though Schiller transitioned from marketing chief to "Apple Fellow" in 2020 to take a step back from Apple and spend more time on personal projects and friends, he is reportedly working...