Brazilian court fines Apple 20m for selling iPhones without chargers

A Brazilian court in Sao Paulo on Thursday fined the American multinational technology company, Apple Inc a sum of $20 million for selling iPhones without battery chargers in the South American country.

The association of borrowers, consumers and taxpayers filed the lawsuit arguing that Apple committed abusive practices by selling its flagship product without a charger in 2020.

Judge Caramuru Afonso Francisco fined Apple 100 million reais approximately $20 million as damages but the company said it stopped including outlet chargers with new iPhones in October 2020, as it wanted to help reduce electronics waste.

But the move effectively “requires consumers to purchase a second product in order for the first to work,” Francisco wrote in his ruling.

Francisco gave the order to supply chargers to all consumers in Brazil who bought iPhone models 12 or 13 in the past two years, and begin including them with all new purchases.