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

Popular Stories

streaming black friday 2025

Black Friday Streaming Deals Include Big Savings on Disney+, Hulu, Apple TV, and More

Monday November 24, 2025 8:03 am PST by
We've been focusing on deals on physical products over the past few weeks, but Black Friday is also a great time of year to purchase a streaming membership. Some of the biggest services have great discounts for new and select returning members this week, including Disney+, Hulu, Paramount+, Peacock, and more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a...
Apple Foldable Thumb

Foldable iPhone to Debut These Three Breakthrough Features

Tuesday November 25, 2025 7:09 am PST by
Apple's first foldable iPhone is expected to launch alongside the iPhone 18 Pro models in fall 2026, and it's shaping up to include three standout features that could set it apart from the competition. The book-style foldable will reportedly feature an industry-first 24-megapixel under-display camera built into the inner display, according to a recent JP Morgan equity research report. That...
General Black Friday Deals 25 Red

Apple Black Friday Deals Available Now on AirPods, iPads, Accessories, and More

Friday November 21, 2025 8:48 am PST by
We're only a few days away from Black Friday, which will take place on Friday, November 28 in 2025. As always, this will be the best time of the year to shop for great deals, including popular Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. In this article, the majority of the discounts will be found on Amazon. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When...
General Apps Messages Redux

Singapore Orders Changes to iMessage by December

Tuesday November 25, 2025 6:39 am PST by
Singapore has ordered Apple to block or filter messages on iMessage that impersonate government agencies, requiring the company to implement new anti-spoofing protections by December as part of efforts to curb rising online scams, the Straits Times reports. Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said that it had issued an Implementation Directive to Apple under the Online Criminal Harms...
maxresdefault

The MacRumors Show: iPhone 18 Pro Looks Like a Huge Upgrade

Friday November 21, 2025 9:10 am PST by
On this week's episode of The MacRumors Show, we talk through all of the new features and improvements expected to come to next year's iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max models. Subscribe to The MacRumors Show YouTube channel for more videos Apple's next-generation iPhones are less than ten months away and we already have a good idea about what to expect based on corroborated leaks, rumors,...
iOS 26

iOS 26.2 Adds These New Features to Your iPhone

Thursday November 20, 2025 10:50 am PST by
iOS 26.2 is currently in beta testing. The upcoming update includes a handful of new features and changes on the iPhone, including a new Liquid Glass slider for the Lock Screen's clock, offline lyrics for Apple Music, and more. In a recent press release, Apple confirmed that iOS 26.2 will be released to all users in December, but it did not provide a specific release date. Keep reading...
iOS 26 on Three iPhones

iOS 27 Will Reportedly Have Two Key Upgrades

Sunday November 23, 2025 8:48 am PST by
iOS 27 will reportedly have two major elements: quality improvements and new AI features. In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that iOS 27 will be similar to Mac OS X Snow Leopard, in the sense that Apple is focused on improving "quality and underlying performance" over adding new features. Gurman said there is one exception to this rule, though, as he expects...
apple news banner

Apple News Loses CNN

Monday November 24, 2025 7:56 am PST by
American multinational news company CNN has abruptly pulled its content from Apple News, Semafor reports. CNN quietly removed its stories from Apple News over the weekend and there is no longer a feed from the network to subscribe to in the app. This effectively ends its distribution agreement with Apple while the two sides negotiate new terms. Discussions are apparently ongoing and CNN's...
iPhone Pocket Short

iPhone Pocket is Now Completely Sold Out Worldwide

Tuesday November 25, 2025 7:16 am PST by
Apple recently teamed up with Japanese fashion brand ISSEY MIYAKE to create the iPhone Pocket, a limited-edition knitted accessory designed to carry an iPhone. However, it is now completely sold out in all countries where it was released. iPhone Pocket became available to order on Apple's online store starting Friday, November 14, in the United States, France, China, Italy, Japan, Singapore, ...

Top Rated Comments

WiiDSmoker Avatar
42 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
42 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
42 months ago
Okay, now go after Samsung too. They both do it.
Score: 66 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheYayAreaLiving ?️ Avatar
42 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
42 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
42 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)