Apple slapped with a $19 million fine in Brazil for not selling iPhones with a charger

Apple keeps on losing court battles in Brazil over its decision to stop shipping iPhones with a charger. The São Paulo state court has ruled against the tech giant and slapped it with a 100 million real ($19 million) fine in a lawsuit filed by the Brazilian Consumers’ Association, a group of borrowers, consumers and taxpayers. In addition, the court has ordered Apple to supply all customers in Brazil who purchased the iPhone 12 or 13 over the past couple of years with a charger, as well as to start including them with all new purchases. Apple, as you’d expect, told the news organization that it will appeal the decision. 

According to Barron’s, the judge in charge of the case called the non-inclusion of chargers in phone purchases an “abusive practice” that “requires consumers to purchase a second product in order for the first to work.” Apple has been at odds with Brazilian authorities over the issue for a while now. In 2021, São Paulo consumer protection agency Procon-SP fined Apple around $2 million for removing the power adapter from the iPhone 12, telling the company that it was in violation of Brazil’s Consumer Defense Code.

This September, the country’s Ministry of Justice issued an order that bans Apple from selling iPhones that don’t come with a charger. It also fined the company another $2.38 million and ordered the cancelation of iPhone 12’s registration with Brazil’s national telecoms agency. The tech giant is also appealing that decision. 

Apple stopped bundling its iPhones with power adapters back in 2020 with the release of iPhone 12. The company cited environmental concerns for removing chargers with every purchase of the device and claimed that the decision will save 861,000 tons of copper, zinc and tin. The Brazilian Ministry of Justice remained unmoved by that reasoning, telling Apple that it could help the environment in other ways, such as giving its devices USB-C support. In Europe, Apple has a couple of years to do just that after the European Parliament voted to make USB-C the common charging standard in the EU. Mobile devices like the iPhone sold in the region will have to come with USB-C charging posts by the end of 2024.