The biggest pet peeve of buying a smartphone nowadays is not getting a charger with it and having to fork out extra money if you want one. Samsung and Apple said they don’t ship chargers anymore because of “environmental concerns”. But one South American country had enough of this and decided to do something about it.
In a news report by Engadget, the Brazilian Ministry of Justice has issued a decree prohibiting Apple from selling iPhones without chargers there. It also ordered the cancellation of the iPhone 12’s registration with the nation’s national telecoms agency Anatel and slammed the tech giant with a penalty of 12.275 million Brazilian reals (RM10.52 million).
With the release of the iPhone 12 in 2020, Apple discontinued including chargers with its smartphones. The company cited environmental concerns, the ability to distribute iPhones more efficiently, and the ability to reduce the use of raw materials as reasons.
Brazilian officials, however, are not convinced and claim that there are alternative actions that might have been made to protect the environment, such as making iPhones compatible with USB-C charging. Selling electronics without a charger is considered to be a deliberate act of discrimination against consumers.
However, Brazilians can still buy iPhones there as Apple has yet to remove its more recent iPhone models off its Brazilian site. Apple is planning to file an appeal and they say:
We have already won several court rulings in Brazil on this matter and we are confident that our customers are aware of the various options for charging and connecting their devices.
Apple spokesperson
Are you okay with smartphones not coming with a charger nowadays?
