Apple’s iPhone: Widespread Deception Over the Real SAR Levels

Apple’s iPhone: widespread deception over the real SAR levels
Equipe Phonegate, phonegatealert.org, 9 Sep 2019

We asked Dr. Arazi, President of Phonegate Alert, to review in detail the revelations made on August 21, 2019 by journalist and Pulitzer Prize winner Sam Roe in the Chicago Tribune and to place them in the overall context of the international Phonegate scandal. We start with the results of Apple’s iPhones, then in a next article we will discuss the results of the Korean manufacturer Samsung.

When and how did the contact with the journalist Sam Roe come about?

It is now more than a year and a half ago. I received an email in January 2018 from Sam Roe of the Chicago Tribune asking me for an interview. He had heard of the results of the specific absorption rate (SAR) tests carried out on hundreds of mobile phones by the National Frequencies Agency (ANFR), of which we had obtained a first publication in June 2017.

It was an incredible moment to see that a reporter as prestigious and acclaimed as Sam Roe (Pulitzer Prize) was interested in our international alert action. We continued to exchange emails on a regular basis for months, sending him all the information we considered important.

We never knew that the Chicago Tribune had chosen independent tests. We are very interested in these tests that are complementary to the tests performed by ANFR.

What do the SAR tests of the iPhone carried out by ANFR show?

To analyze the results we must divide them into two periods, 2012-2016 and 2017 to date. It was in the first period that ANFR decided to control the exposure of all mobile phones at the level of the body (SAR trunk, SAR extremities), at the manufacturer’s measuring distance (between 10 and 25 mm from the skin), then at 5mm (near contact) and finally at 0mm (contact), to be as close as possible to the uses of users, when the phone is held in the hand (contact) or placed in a pocket (near contact).

In real use, the SAR of the iPhone 5 at more than 5 W/kg

Take, for example, the iPhone 5, tested by Apple at 10 mm. The official SAR trunk is 0.825W/kg for 10gr. Then, tested at 5mm, it comes out at 1.453 W/kg. And finally tested on contact, the SAR jumps to 5.321 W/kg for 10gr, which is more than two and a half times the limit not to be exceeded in Europe (2W/kg).

Extract of table from the ANFR open data

The same is true for the tests of iPhones 5C (3.11W/kg), 6 (2.05W/kg), 6 Plus (3.17W/kg) and 6S (2.59W/kg).

Concerning the iPhone 7, tested by ANFR in May 2016, the French agency did not perform any tests at 0 mm. We were surprised by this. The 5 mm control test is 1.34 W/kg for 10gr.

Concerning the iPhone SE tested in September 2016 on contact, it is the only one that does not exceed the European limit with a SAR of 1.74 W/kg for 10gr.

Since 2017 no further publication of SARs in real use

While as required by European Directive 2014/53/EU, ANFR must test SAR extremities in contact with the body, it no longer publishes the SAR results in contact in the period 2017 to the present day. Concerning the 4 controls carried out over the last two years on iPhones 8, X, XR, XS, all appear to be below the limits of 2W/kg for the trunk and 4W/kg for the extremities.

Extract of table from the ANFR open data

What comparisons can be made between the ANFR tests and those of the Chicago Tribune?

First of all, they confirm, without possible doubt, that the distance allowed by international regulations to ensure the safety of users is completely inadequate. For 30 years, the distance used to carry out certifications and controls has been completely inappropriate in relation to our uses.
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