A Brazilian judge has recently ordered Apple to pay what is equal to $1,081 US Dollars to a man for not including a power adapter with his new iPhone. The judge is ruling this as a “tie sale,” a situation in which a company requires the customer to buy two of their products for one of them to work.
With the release of the iPhone 12 in October of 2020, was the removal of one of the most essential items that come with a cell phone today. The charging brick. They included a USB-C to Lightning cable with no power adapter to plug into the wall. This forced many people to buy the new brick from Apple since they had not needed this adapter in previous iPhone models.
The Judge is calling this an “abusive and illegal commercial practice.”
In response, Apple said that it comes with the USB-C to Lightning cable allowing customers to use power adapters from other companies. They also said many people have spare adapters lying around and it is wasteful and bad for the environment to include one in the box. This is not the first time Brazil has had an issue with Apple’s business practices regarding the charging brick. In 2021, the Brazilian government fined Apple $1.9 million, claiming they did not demonstrate, “environmental gain.”
Many will say that Apple is covering up a cost-saving measure by saying it is “for the environment.” Although this may be true, some agree that governments should not be able to take control of companies in this way. Now, Apple is forced to offer chargers to anyone requesting them in Brazil.
