Apple said the software patch is “related to a specific testing protocol used by French regulators and not a safety concern.

London: In a major relief for the Apple iPhone 12 users of France, the tech giant has agreed to issue a software update for iPhone 12 users in France after the country’s radiation watchdog said that the phone breaches radiation exposure limits. The ANFR, or Agence Nationale des Fréquences, said that the iPhone 12 exceeds the legal limit for Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) when it is worn close to the body. SAR is a measure of how much radiofrequency energy is absorbed by the body from a wireless device.

The ANFR had earlier this week ordered Apple to temporarily halt sales of the iPhone 12 in France and to release a software fix. Apple has now said that it will release the software update in the coming days.

“We will issue a software update for users in France to accommodate the protocol used by French regulators. We look forward to iPhone 12 continuing to be available in France,” the iPhone maker said in a statement.

According to reports, Apple said the software patch is “related to a specific testing protocol used by French regulators and not a safety concern”.

The Cupertoni, California-based company had earlier said that iPhone 12 has been certified by several international regulators as compliant. The French government welcomed the move, saying the “ANFR is preparing to quickly test this update”.

The tech giant, which just launched iPhone 15 series, had said it has independent third-party lab results that show that it complies with all Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) standards globally.

The most common EU SAR limit of 2 W/kg represents an average over 10 g of tissue absorbing the most signal, reports TechCrunch. This limit is a bit higher than the FCC limit in the U.S. (1.6 W/kg). Apple complies with this SAR limit.