Brazil Fines Apple $19 Million for Continuing to Sell iPhones Without Charger

A Brazilian court today levied a $19 million "social damages" fine (100 million reais) against Apple for selling iPhones without a charger, reports Reuters. The Sao Paulo state court said that Apple must offer battery chargers with iPhones that are sold in the country, providing a decision in a lawsuit brought about by the Brazilian association of borrowers, consumers, and taxpayers (AMBCC).

iphone 12 no charger earpods
Apple has said that it stopped offering chargers with iPhone purchases in order to cut down on carbon emissions. The company has argued that many customers already have chargers available, and it continues to sell chargers on a standalone basis.

The court presiding over the case did not look favorably on Apple's environmental explanation. "It is evident that, under the justification of a 'green initiative,' the defendant imposes on the consumer a required purchase of charger adapters that were previously supplied along with the product," read the ruling.

In addition to the fine, Apple is expected to sell iPhones with chargers and also provide chargers to all Brazilians who purchased their products after October 13, 2020, according to Brazilian news site Estadão. Apple ceased providing chargers with iPhones when it launched the ‌iPhone‌ 12 models in 2020. In most countries, Apple no longer ships iPhones with EarPods or a power adapter, offering just a USB-C to Lightning cable.

Back in September, the Brazilian Justice Ministry ordered Apple to stop selling iPhones without a charger and also levied a fine of $2.34 million, claiming that Apple was giving customers an incomplete product.

Apple has not complied with that order as it is appealing the ruling, with the company also planning to appeal today's Sao Paulo decision.

Tag: Brazil

Popular Stories

Generic iOS 19 Feature Mock Light

iOS 19 Leak Reveals All-New Design

Friday January 17, 2025 2:42 pm PST by
iOS 19 is still around six months away from being announced, but a new leak has allegedly revealed a completely redesigned Camera app. Based on footage it obtained, YouTube channel Front Page Tech shared a video showing what the new Camera app will apparently look like, with the key change being translucent menus for camera controls. Overall, the design of these menus looks similar to...
2024 App Store Awards

Apple Explains Why It Removed TikTok From the App Store in the U.S.

Sunday January 19, 2025 6:58 am PST by
Apple on late Saturday removed TikTok from the App Store in the U.S., and it has now explained why it was required to take this action. Last year, the U.S. passed a law that required Chinese company ByteDance to divest its ownership of TikTok due to potential national security risks, or else the platform would be banned. That law went into effect today, and companies like Apple and Google...
2024 iPhone Boxes Feature

Apple Changes Trade-In Values for iPhones, iPads, Macs, and More

Thursday January 16, 2025 6:45 am PST by
Apple today adjusted estimated trade-in values for select iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch models in the U.S., according to its website. Some values increased, while others decreased. The changes were not too significant, with most values rising or dropping by $5 to $50. We have outlined some examples below: Device New Value Old Value iPhone 15 Pro Max Up to $630 U ...
Generic iOS 18

Everything New in iOS 18.3 Beta 3

Thursday January 16, 2025 12:39 pm PST by
Apple provided the third beta of iOS 18.3 to developers today, and while the betas have so far been light on new features, the third beta makes some major changes to Notification Summaries and also tweaks a few other features. Notification Summary Changes Apple made multiple changes to Notification Summaries in response to complaints about inaccurate summaries of news headlines. For...
iOS 19 Roundup Feature

iOS 19 Rumored to Be Compatible With These iPhones

Saturday January 18, 2025 10:28 am PST by
iOS 19 will not drop support for any iPhone models, according to French website iPhoneSoft.fr. The report cited a source who said iOS 19 will be compatible with any iPhone that can run iOS 18, which would mean the following models: iPhone 16 iPhone 16 Plus iPhone 16 Pro iPhone 16 Pro Max iPhone 15 iPhone 15 Plus iPhone 15 Pro iPhone 15 Pro Max iPhone 14 iPhon...
iPhone SE Dynamic Island Majin Bu

iPhone SE 4 Leak Shows Dynamic Island, Casts Doubt on Rumored 'iPhone 16E' Name

Monday January 20, 2025 9:01 am PST by
A new iPhone SE is widely rumored to launch this year, and the device has potentially been confirmed today by known leaker Evan Blass. In a private social media post, Blass shared an image of what appears to be source code mentioning an iPhone SE (4th Gen), which casts doubt on the alternative "iPhone 16E" name rumored for the device. However, the name in the source code could be a...
airtag 4 pack blue

AirTag 2 Launching This Year With These 3 New Features

Sunday January 19, 2025 8:11 am PST by
After a four-year wait, a new AirTag is finally expected to launch in 2025. Below, we recap rumored upgrades for the accessory. A few months ago, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple was aiming to release the AirTag 2 around the middle of 2025. While he did not offer a more specific timeframe, that means the AirTag 2 could be announced by the end of June. The original AirTag was announced...
iPad Pro vs iPhone 17 Air Feature

Here's How Thin the iPhone 17 Air Might Be

Friday January 17, 2025 3:38 pm PST by
For the last several months, we've been hearing rumors about a redesigned version of the iPhone 17 that Apple might call the iPhone 17 "Air," or something along those lines. It's going to replace the iPhone 17 Plus as Apple's fourth iPhone option, and it will be offered alongside the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max. We know the iPhone 17 Air is going to be super slim, but...

Top Rated Comments

TheYayAreaLiving ?️ Avatar
30 months ago
Chump change for Apple. Apple already made double the amount of profit without inputting the Apple charger on iPhones and charging $19 for a 5W Apple Charger in today's era.

Brazil- Did you know Samsung is selling Android devices without including a charger as well. Go after Samsung ➡️➡️➡️
Score: 36 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Fyrus Avatar
30 months ago
Funny how these topics show exactly how many fanboy are still on MacRumors.

It’s simple: a country has laws, you want to sell your stuff in that country? You follow their laws.

It’s that simple.
Score: 30 Votes (Like | Disagree)
RalfTheDog Avatar
30 months ago
Just put a basket full of chargers on a table and if a person is buying an iPhone and wants one, just grab one. It's not that hard.
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
atomic.flip Avatar
30 months ago

I mean, using that logic, you can argue that any accessory should be included. Where do you stop? Should a case be included? Headphones? How about Macs that are sold without Final Cut Pro X? I mean, without FCPX you can't do pro-video on the mac!

Apple should be able to sell each item a la carte. Just want the phone? Why pay for a charger too -- need just a charger, why pay for anything other than a charger? Bundling unneeded hardware is just wasteful.

This is just silly...
I think it’s silly for consumers to be ok with their vendors eliminating goods and services than maintaining and even increasing the price of what is being sold. They should knock 30 bucks off the cost of the phones for not including a charger.
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BC2009 Avatar
30 months ago
I am sure changing the packaging and providing the chargers will cost more than the fine.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mrkevinfinnerty Avatar
30 months ago

Apply could at least make it clear when ordering that if you need/want to add a charger, that's an option for extra $'s. Maybe they do? I don't recall seeing it when I ordered my 14Pro.
They kind of do. There is a section that shows what is included in the box and then when you go through the checkout flow it gives you the option of adding cases/power bricks/magsafe etc
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)