Apple to Curb iPhone 12 Radiation With EU-Wide Software Update

[mansplains]

You would be surprised how many people still use one. And I don’t blame them. It’s still a capable phone. It has 5G and MagSafe, as well as a retina OLED screen.

I couldn’t wait to be rid of my 12 Pro, horrible battery with 5G after 11 Pro. 13 Pro fixed it thankfully later on… but I hear ya!

 

[kemal]

Did Apple disable the high power mode on all phones produced for the EU since the 12?

 

[UliBaer]

End of August 2025 the most used iPhone model is the iPhone 13:

iPhone Models Market Share in 2025 | TelemetryDeck

🧡 Helping developers improve their apps with immediate, accurate and private analytics.

telemetrydeck.com

 

[NightFox]

Any smartphone is dangerous per se.

People should be aware and not carry them in their pockets with constant wifi, bluetooth and cellular on since all of them are types of electromagnetic radiation, it is not as ionizing as gamma rays for sure but it still can penetrate or heat human tissue to certain extent, cannot be good.

Ideally Apple’s must make a sleep mode or a gentle reminder for user to turn off the phone at night and not keep it near hear, not fall asleep with it and so on.

For same reason it is better to rely on wifi connectivity instead of cellular, wifi is kinda more controlled and doesn’t connect to various towers all-around

And did you know that even at distances of up to 100 metres, the electro-magnetic radiation in the 380-750nm range emitted from the front of an iPhone is still strong enough to stimulate easily measurable neural activity? Truly terrifying.

 

[neuropsychguy]

A toaster emits more radiation than an iPhone 12. Does the EU plan to ban toasters next?

Humans also emit much more radiation than iPhones. Do we ban people?

/Human radiation is infrared (heat) and about 100 W for a resting adult. Cell phones are radiofrequency (microwave) and maybe hit 2 W with poor signal with the antenna at max power but most of the time are much lower than that.

 

[Hammerd]

It passed the initial tests. I believe between then and 2023 Apple introduced a signal boosting feature (I need to verify that). Then in 2023, France’s Agence Nationale des Fréquences (ANFR) said Apple must stop or suspend sales of the iPhone 12 because their testing found that, when held against the body (0 mm distance, or "limb-SAR"), the device registered a SAR of 5.74 W/kg, exceeding the EU limit of 4 W/kg. Although the iPhone 12 passed other SAR tests (e.g., at 5 mm distance from the body), the “limb” test failure was enough to prompt regulatory action in France. This testing method is not something most other countries use, by the way.

What Apple does is have an “off-body detection” feature, which allows increased radio power when the device is stationary (e.g., on a table). The problem is that how ANFR tests, the phone senses that it's not being held close to a body and keeps the boosted signal. This means that ANFR’s test conditions did not reflect real world conditions (which isn't uncommon for many test conditions by agencies and companies). In other words, France’s protocol doesn’t permit that power boost (which helps with cell signal). It requires that transmit power stay within limb‑SAR limits even when off-body.

An analogy might be like this. France sets a country-wide limit on all speakers to never play louder than 55 dB (anything <70 should be completely safe for continuous, lifelong exposure). If someone is 30 meters away, the speaker has to be no louder than 55 dB. If someone has their ear on the speaker -- no louder than 55 dB.

That's essentially what ANFR is requiring with cell phone (non-ionizing) radiation -- a set completely safe level regardless of distance. Apple is objecting to that method but following the regulation; there was only so much Apple could do so it disabled that boosting feature in France. Now they are disabling it in the EU to keep things simpler.

A note about cell phones and health risks. The idea behind these tests and regulations is a possible link with brain cancer and potentially other health risks. However, even with the "failed" levels, we know the device’s elevated output remains well below levels associated with potential health harm. One of the claims that has poppoed up over the years is that cell phone use is associated with brain cancers. There have been some peer reviewed publications showing this but the bulk of published research and the best research shows no link. Even more, over the past 25 years there's been a huge increase in cell phone use but no clear increase in brain cancers: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412024005695

I want to thank you for the detailed explanation.
The EU is definitely making a mistake and should revise it’s methodology.
In my inner-self I knew that it probably was about being extra-cautions, which is valid when data lacks. It’s not the case anymore.

 

[Plutonius]

Every design change decision has tradeoffs.

I wonder what effect this will have on wi-fi, bluetooth, and cell connections ?

 

[cogitodexter]

And did you know that even at distances of up to 100 metres, the electro-magnetic radiation emitted in the 380-750nm range from the front of an iPhone is still strong enough to stimulate easily measurable neural activity? Truly terrifying.

Are people telling us that a smartphone that can only produce a handful of watts of radio waves is going to mess with your brain, while you're also bathed in electromagnetic radiation from TV signals, High Voltage power lines, alternating current from your household electrical supply, the RFID scanners used at supermarkets, *everyone else's* mobile phones? It's a wonder their brain hasn't oozed out of their ears yet..

Or perhaps it has...

I grew up in a scientific household, with a father who worked for much of his career within inches of linear accelerators. Let me tell you, those things can kick out a proper jolt of radiation, including the ionising sort. He made it to 92 years old, brains fully intact and firing on all cylinders up until the day he passed (from congenital heart disease).

 

[surferfb]

Thanks to @neuropsychguy for the full explanation. That makes perfect sense, both as to why France demanded the change and also why Apple disagrees.

 

[Pezimak]

Phones do not emit ionizing radiation (the bad radiation). Your toaster, pet, car, and light bulbs emit radiation. An FM radio station will put out 100,000 watts.

True I guess, it is more to do with the microwaves.

 

[Digital Dude]

Good, the 12 people that use iPhone 12 will now be safer.

Guess I’m one of those…☢️

 

[NightFox]

Are people telling us that a smartphone that can only produce a handful of watts of radio waves is going to mess with your brain, while you're also bathed in electromagnetic radiation from TV signals, High Voltage power lines, alternating current from your household electrical supply, the RFID scanners used at supermarkets, *everyone else's* mobile phones? It's a wonder their brain hasn't oozed out of their ears yet..

Or perhaps it has...

I grew up in a scientific household, with a father who worked for much of his career within inches of linear accelerators. Let me tell you, those things can kick out a proper jolt of radiation, including the ionising sort. He made it to 92 years old, brains fully intact and firing on all cylinders up until the day he passed (from congenital heart disease).

I think it's a classic example of "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing" given credibility and amplified by the Internet echo chamber.

 

[BC2009]

Weird that they'd only just do this now, after the phone has been on the market for almost 5 years.

If the radiation levels from the iPhone 12 really are dangerous, then the damage has already been done.

It is a good thing the government is there to protect its citizens.

we can always count on the EU for regulations. Just surprised they standardized on USB-C before it was obsolete.

 

[theluggage]

An FM radio station will put out 100,000 watts.

...and if you climb up the transmitter mast you will probably fry your nadgers.
Your microwave oven will cook your food in minutes with only 700W - which is a similar wavelength to mobile phone signals, too.

A toaster emits more radiation than an iPhone 12. Does the EU plan to ban toasters next?

If you walk around with your toaster held to your ear you'd be looking at some serious burns. Fortunately, that's not the typical use-case for a toaster.

Are people telling us that a smartphone that can only produce a handful of watts of radio waves is going to mess with your brain, while you're also bathed in electromagnetic radiation from TV signals, High Voltage power lines, alternating current from your household electrical supply, the RFID scanners used at supermarkets, *everyone else's* mobile phones? It's a wonder their brain hasn't oozed out of their ears yet..

Three words: "Inverse square law". The amount of radiation you receive from a mobile phone 6' away is a tiny fraction of what you will get from a mobile phone 2" away from your brain.

Also - frequency/wavelength matters. Mobile phones/Wifi/Bluetooth use frequencies in the same ball-park as microwave ovens, which can heat up anything containing water - like your brain. 50-60Hz House wiring, not so much.

AFAIK there's no firm proof that mobile phones cause harm, but there are also plenty of good reasons to be cautious when you're going to hold the transmitter an inch from your noggin which are unlikely to apply to your WiFi hub or the TV transmitter down the road (unless you're planning to climb the tower).

OTOH, at least mobile phones weren't invented by Thomas Midgley so we may be safe

Unfortunately, there's a lot of B.S. about things like "WiFi sensitivity" around, and confusion about ionising radiation/radioactivity, too.

He made it to 92 years old, brains fully intact and firing on all cylinders up until the day he passed (from congenital heart disease).

My gran used anecdotal evidence 30 times a day and she lived to be 92.

 

[zarmanto]

I wonder what effect this will have on wi-fi, bluetooth, and cell connections ?

This issue only affects cellular connections; WiFi and Bluetooth transmission levels are measured in milliwatts -- around 100 milliwatts, or 0.1 watts. In contrast, iPhone 12 cellular transmissions (as noted by @neuropsychguy) can supposedly top out at just under 6 watts when boosted, if you measure the power output while in direct physical contact with the device. (That's what the "limb-SAR" test measures.)

What's more, the applicable French (and now, EU) laws are based entirely on pseudoscience and fringe use cases. If you google queries like "What is the maximum transmission power of a cell phone in watts?" with variants applying to LTE or 5G or iPhones and so on, over and over you're going to see responses that suggest that cellphones top out around only 2 watts. Proximity clearly has some influence on this measurement discrepancy, but I suspect another significant factor is that it's extremely rare for a cell phone to approach the 4 watt restriction noted in the French laws -- even in the limb-SAR test -- as it almost certainly requires a situation where the cellular antenna is pushing very hard to acquire and maintain a signal, due to distance from the tower or interference of some sort.

Thus, it seems very likely that the only time you'd ever see this nearly 6 watt result is in a very narrowly defined testing scenario, designed specifically to elicit such results -- the epitome of a fringe case.

 

[Chidoro]

Good, the 12 people that use iPhone 12 will now be safer.

Perhaps more than that

 

[tennisproha]

Weird that they'd only just do this now, after the phone has been on the market for almost 5 years.

If the radiation levels from the iPhone 12 really are dangerous, then the damage has already been done.

These are low levels of non-ionizing radiation, same as emitted from a radio. Both levels are safe.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

I want to thank you for the detailed explanation.
The EU is definitely making a mistake and should revise it’s methodology.
In my inner-self I knew that it probably was about being extra-cautions, which is valid when data lacks. It’s not the case anymore.

I’m sure they sided with France just because it’s not possible to side with Apple even when they’re right. So, folks with iPhone 12’s in the EU will wonder why their phone is reporting lower bars than normal when used as a speakerphone at home or in the car.

 

[locoboi187]

Phones do not emit ionizing radiation (the bad radiation). Your toaster, pet, car, and light bulbs emit radiation. An FM radio station will put out 100,000 watts.

Depends if it’s near your balls constantly or not, aka your pant pockets.

 

[Falhófnir]

Not just the 12, iPhones have always had higher SAR values than many competing phones, not sure what Apple is doing that makes it that way, but it is something I noticed years back!

 

[verdi1987]

Good, the 12 people that use iPhone 12 will now be safer.

iPhone 12 models represent 8.4% of iPhones in use. https://telemetrydeck.com/survey/apple/iPhone/models/

 

[verdi1987]

The EU is such a joke. This is yet another example.

A toaster emits more radiation than an iPhone 12. Does the EU plan to ban toasters next?

Maybe if a toaster runs 24 hours a day next to your body.

 

[segfaultdotorg]

Weird that they'd only just do this now, after the phone has been on the market for almost 5 years.

If the radiation levels from the iPhone 12 really are dangerous, then the damage has already been done.

These are contraband anyway since Europe banned the Lightning connector and mandated USB-C, in a very consumer-unfriendly move. They caused hundreds of millions of devices and cables to be put in the landfill.

 

[Reason077]

These are contraband anyway since Europe banned the Lightning connector and mandated USB-C

Please don’t tell the authorities! I’m still using a Lightning iPhone but the brown-shirted EU cable inspection teams haven’t caught up with me yet. The key is to stay calm and confident when they stop and question you. Any sign of nervousness and they could demand to inspect your devices and cables, and that could mean instant arrest.

Also, when questioned, be sure to have your lines ready about how much you love the “cookie law” and the wonderful endless pop-ups it brings to the EU web experience.

 

[carestudio]

Oops. my mom in law is still using 12...