The iPhone Pro Max 12 can create electromagnetic and radio waves that disrupt the work of pacemakers and defibrillators used by patients diagnosed with heart arrhythmia, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
The main cause is the MagSafe charging technology, that allows attaching a wireless charger to the iPhone case through the use of magnets. The latter help the wearer to precisely align the induction coils in the smartphone with the charger, preventing overheating and power loss.
For the experiment, experts used devices by the three most popular brands - Medtronic, Abbout and Boston Scientific, including both types of stimulators, internal and external. The iPhones were placed on participants’ skin, on the chest.
The results showed that smartphones caused malfunctions in 8 out of 11 external CIEDs and in 3 out of 3 internal. Experts stressed that this happened because the magnet reversion mode in CIEDs is disrupted by the external magnet embedded in the phone. The magnets in the latest iPhone are said to be strong enough to affect CIEDs.
“Apple's iPhone 12 Pro Max MagSafe technology can cause magnet interference on CIEDs and has the potential to inhibit lifesaving therapy,” the authors of the study noted.
Experts strongly recommend those using pacemakers and defibrillators to keep the newest iphones at a distance as they are “able to trigger magnet reversion by placing the iPhone 12 Pro Max at up to 1.5 cm from certain CIED.”