Brazil suspends sale of iPhones that come without a charger

An iPhone being charged.
(Image credit: Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Who has the power now?

The Brazilian government has required Apple to halt iPhone sales that do not include a battery charger, claiming that Apple is selling an incomplete product.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

This issue previously flared up when Brazilian judge Vanderlei Caires Pinheiro ruled back in April that selling new iPhones without chargers was "abusive and illegal." The ruling demanded the company pay 5,000 reais ($1,080) to a customer who had filed a complaint, as reported by Bloomberg.

Apple has argued that the decision to exclude chargers from their newer iPhones is a method to reduce their carbon footprint. This sentiment was swiftly rejected by authorities, who declared there is no evidence to support a significant environmental impact.

This development comes right before Apple's Far Out Event on September 7 where the company is said to be announcing iPhone 14, which will also likely not include a charger.

Explore More
Devika Rao, The Week US

 Devika Rao has worked as a staff writer at The Week since 2022, covering science, the environment, climate and business. She previously worked as a policy associate for a nonprofit organization advocating for environmental action from a business perspective.