Apple Inc. said today that it will update software on the iPhone 12 in France to address an issue discovered by the country’s government that it may emit high levels of electromagnetic radiation.

At the same time, other countries in the European Union have signaled investigations into the phone’s emissions. According to a report from Reuters, France suspended sales of the iPhone 12 earlier this week after the French watchdog Agence Nationale des Fréquences told Apple that the phone was emitting what it believed to be dangerous levels of radiation.

Researchers around the world, including those from the World Health Organization, have been studying radiation from mobile phones for years and found no correlation with health risks to date.

However, France’s regulator said on Tuesday that tests conducted on the iPhone 12’s Specific Absorption Rate, or SAR, which is a measure of how much radio frequency energy is absorbed by a person’s body from a device, had exceeded what was previously allowed. It should be noted that the radiation warning generated by French regulators comes from tests different from those carried out by other countries, which has created cause for attention.

The regulator said the radiation levels were not present in 2020 when the iPhone 12 launched, but may have become problematic with successive software updates changing how the mobile phone operated. The AFNR requested that Apple update the device or that the company would have to recall every iPhone 12 ever sold in the country.

“We will issue a software update for users in France to accommodate the protocol used by French regulators,” Apple said in a statement. “This is related to a specific testing protocol used by French regulators and not a safety concern. We look forward to iPhone 12 continuing to be available in France.”

France said that it welcomed the update and would test it when it’s available and will release the iPhone 12 back to market if it meets the SAR standards set forth by regulations.

The issue discovered by French regulators appears to have caught the attention of other EU countries. The Dutch Authority for Digital Infrastructure said that it would conduct its own investigation, which would be complete in two weeks, and would remain in contact with both German and French authorities on the matter.

Reuters also reported that Belgium said that it intended to review potential health risks linked to the increased radiation emissions and Italy is set to ask Apple to update the software according to a government source.

Photo: Pixabay