Apple iPhone 12: Validation of Apple's update proposal after SAR limit was exceeded
As market surveillance authority for radio equipment and responsible for controlling public exposure to electromagnetic fields, the ANFR runs inspections on mobile phones placed on the French market. Apple’s iPhone 12 has been tested to check compliance with limit SAR values. SAR is a measure of the rate of radiofrequency energy absorbed by the body from the equipment being measured. Measurements carried out by ANFR revealed limb-SAR values exceeding the limits of current standards.
Apple has prepared a software update to address this issue and comply with current regulations. Tests conducted by the accredited laboratory commissioned by ANFR confirm that this update brings the limb-SAR back in line with the regulatory limit of 4 W/kg. The results, detailed in the report published online at data.anfr.fr, are summarized below.
Apple iPhone 12 phone (A2403)
| Initial value | Initial value | Value with update | |
| System version | iOS 14.7.1 | iOS 16.5.1 (C) | Mise à jour Apple / Firmware 4.06.02 |
| « Head » SAR | |||
| « Trunk » SAR | 1,178 W/kg | ||
| « Limb » SAR | 5,74 W/kg | 3,94 W/kg |
It is now up to Apple to deploy this software update to all iPhone 12 users in order to bring the equipment in line with current standards. This will allow ANFR to lift the marketing ban.
All ANFR SAR measurements for mobile phones are available in open data on our website: https://data.anfr.fr/.
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