-
A judge ordered Apple to pay a man $ 1,000 not to include a power adapter with his iPhone purchase.
-
He stated that the company got customers to buy two of its products so that one would work fully.
-
Apple said the included cable can be used with non-Apple adapters, which the judge denied.
A Brazilian judge has ordered Apple to pay 5,000 Brazilian reals, or $ 1,081, to a consumer for not including a power adapter with the sale of its new iPhone.
Judge Vanderlei Caires Pinheiro at a civil court in the city of Goiânia ruled that the practice was a “tie sale”, which refers to when a company requires a customer to buy two of its products in order for one of them to work, according to legal documents seen. by Insider.
The judge said Apple had “obliged the consumer to buy another product of its exclusive manufacture,” calling it an “abusive and illegal commercial practice.”
In its defense, Apple said each iPhone comes with a USB-C to Lightning cable, which lets consumers charge their phones using power adapters they can buy from other companies, according to court documents.
But the judge rejected the argument, saying the cable does not work with wall adapters that do not have a USB-C port for which the Apple charger is specifically designed.
He also noted that Apple said it stopped supplying the power adapter for the sake of the environment and because there was reportedly a lack of supply for the accessory. Pinheiro responded by saying that Apple still manufactures its power adapters and sells them separately.
“It is not appropriate that such a measure seeks to reduce the environmental impact, as the defendant in all evidence continues to manufacture such an important accessory, but now sells it separately,” Pinheiro said.
Apple first announced that it would stop supplying power adapters for its iPhone 12 by 2020, which the Brazilian government said it found was abusive. In 2021, it fined Apple $ 2 million for this practice, saying the technology giant failed to demonstrate the “environmental gain” it had announced, according to Brazilian business G1.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Read the original article on Insider