No more free EarPods in France. While Apple stopped giving out free headphones with iPhones in most places with 2020’s iPhone 12, the company was forced to keep giving them out in France due to health concerns. The concern was that the RF emissions from iPhone were worse when people held the phone to their head to make or take a phone call. The hexagon thought people should be urged to use a headset, and thus forced Apple to keep giving them out.
For its part, Apple had said that it was stopping with the free headsets to lessen its environmental impact. Now, a piece from 9 to 5 Mac says environmental concerns in France have trumped health concerns, forcing (or allowing) Apple to stop with the included headphones. Citing a report from the French language site Consomac, the piece says a new law meant to reduce the environmental impact of such products eliminates this headphone obligation. Though Apple has said noting publicly, it’s apparently warned resellers that including EarPods at no additional cost will stop this week. 9 to 5 Mac figures that’ll hit after existing stock has been sold through.
