A Brazilian judge has ruled that US tech giant Apple engaged in an “abusive and illegal” practice by selling new iPhones without power adapters.
In a decision dated 12 April, regional judge Vanderlei Caires Pinheiro from Goias state in central Brazil ordered the company to pay compensation of of $1,069 (GHS8,066) to a customer who made a complaint.
In his ruling posted on a legal website, the judge said that the adapter is essential for the normal functioning of the iPhone, and found that the manufacturer is violating local consumer law by removing it from the boxes. The decision could prove costly for the company if it is forced to compensate more Brazilian consumers, or start including accessories in products sold locally.
Apple declined to comment, in reply to an e-mail sent to its press office by Bloomberg.
The company didn’t include headphones or a charging adapter when it launched a new range of iPhones in 2020, saying that this would be better for the environment. But Pinheiro rejected this argument.
“The claim that such a measure seeks to reduce the impacts of environmental issues is pointless since the defendant continues to manufacture such an essential accessory, but now sells it separately,” the judge said.
He also rejected Apple’s claim that the USB-C cable was not exclusively compatible with its products and could be used with power adapters from other manufacturers. The device has a different design and cannot be used with any USB port, he said.
Apple has taken out number of accessories from the box of the iPhone 13 – and those accessories are quite expensive. They include the charger, earpiece, and a USB cable for the use of power banks for charging.
Even with its MacBook Pro, there is no pot for the use of the Apple earpiece, which makes the device unfriendly because users are unable to listen to audio or watch video in privacy without people around hearing the sound from the device.
