The saga of the high SAR values of the iPhone 12 in France is almost over. The update that will fix the iPhone 12’s high SAR values in France will be released by Apple “by October 24” to all French iPhone users, according to France’s ANFR, the national frequency regulator.
This update, by the way, is iOS 17.1, according to information shared recently by Apple itself. It’s safe to assume that like all other iOS updates, it will release globally on the same day.
To tell the saga in brief: First, France banned iPhone 12 sales in the country due to the high SAR values detected by the ANFR. Then, Apple promised that it would release a software fix. At the end of last month the update was approved by the French authorities. Today, those same authorities announced the release date.
And so, hopefully, after October 24th the high SAR values of the iPhone 12 will no longer be a problem. However, there is an unpleasant downside to all this. The reason why high SAR values were recorded is, according to Apple, a foreign body detection function in iOS.
This detects when the phone is not being held on the body and increases the transmit power in that scenario. Now, this will be disabled in France, which could mean that the iPhones in question could have worse data connectivity in peripheral coverage areas.
Apart from this, iOS 17.1 also brings a favorites system for Apple Music, support for AirDrop over the Internet, new options for bank and card balances in the Wallet app, a Dynamic Island flashlight indicator, support for the Nintendo Switch N64 controller , improvements to Shuffle photos on the lock screen, and some action button features (such as Camera, Flashlight, Voice Memo, Focus, and Magnifier) will be disabled while the iPhone is in your pocket.
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