On September 6, Patently Apple posted a report titled "The EU Commission is Drunk with Power by Opening a Probe into whether iPadOS should be altered to satisfy the Digital Markets Act." The report also noted that Apple's iMessage app may also be investigated by EU authorities. France is now opening up another door against Apple.

Apple said today that its iPhone 12 model was certified by multiple international bodies as compliant with global radiation standards after a French watchdog ordered it to stop selling the handset on the grounds it breaches European exposure limits.

Reuters further noted that "The ANFR radiation watchdog told Apple on Tuesday to halt sales of iPhone 12s in France after tests which it said showed the phone's Specific Absorption Rate (SAR)- a measure of the rate of radiofrequency energy absorbed by the body from a piece of equipment - was higher than legally allowed.

The Agence Nationale des Fréquences, or ANFR, said it would send agents to Apple stores and other distributors to check the model was no longer being sold.

The agency, which manages France's radio frequencies and periodically tests phones to check human exposure to electromagnetic waves, said it expected Apple "to deploy all available means to put an end to the non-compliance."

A failure to act would result in the recall of iPhone 12s already sold to consumers, it added."

In another report posted today on the matter they note that it was France’s junior minister for the digital sector, Cedric O, who ordered Apple to stop selling its iPhone 12 model in France due to above-threshold radiation levels.

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In May 2020, Patently Apple reported that Cedric O, France’s digital minister lashed out at Apple: "Apple could have helped us make it work even better.  A company that has never been in a better economic shape is not helping the government to fight the crisis. We will remember that." Of course that was a direct threat to Apple plain and simple. Our report further stated that "How that will play out exactly is unknown today,  but there's little doubt that the Minister will exact his punishment against Apple when the time is right." We now see how his threat may be playing out.

Today's Reuter's report further noted that "Apple said it had provided ANFR with multiple Apple and independent third-party lab results proving its compliance with all applicable SAR regulations and standards in the world."

It said it was contesting the results of AFNR's review and would continue to engage with the agency to show it is compliant.

The AFNR said accredited labs had found absorption of electromagnetic energy by the body at 5.74 watts per kilogram during tests simulating when the phone was being held in the hand or kept in a trouser pocket. The European standard is a specific absorption rate of 4.0 watts per kilogram.

ANFR added the tests showed the phone complied with so-called body-SAR standards when it was in a jacket pocket or bag.

France's junior minister for the digital economy, Jean-Noel Barrot, said a software update would be sufficient to fix the radiation issues linked to the phone which the U.S. company has been selling since 2020.

"Apple is expected to respond within two weeks", he told daily Le Parisien in an interview late on Tuesday, adding: "If they fail to do so, I am prepared to order a recall of all iPhones 12 in circulation. The rule is the same for everyone, including the digital giants." For more, read the full report by Reuters.

In a secondary report by Reuters they note that Germany's Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) said in a statement to Reuters it would discuss possible steps in Germany. It is in close contact with the French authorities on the matter.