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An iPhone 12 Can Shut Down a Pacemaker Just by Being Near It

Accepted submission by upstart at 2021-01-12 22:49:38
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An iPhone 12 can shut down a pacemaker just by being near it [futurism.com]:

Victor TangermannDeathly MagnetsAn iPhone 12 Can Shut Down a Pacemaker Just By Being Near It This is chilling.

News News/Apple/IPhone/Pacemaker

According to a new study [heartrhythmjournal.com] published last week in the journal Heart Rhythm, placing an iPhone 12 over a pacemaker can shut the lifesaving unit down.

That’s in large part due to the magnetic field put out by the Apple device’s MagSafe charging technology, a magnetic array on the back of the device designed to make wireless charging easier.

The researchers from the Henry Ford Heart and Vascular Institute found, chillingly, that the circular array of rare earth magnets around a central charging coil were able to completely suspend the operations of a Medtronic pacemaker.

“Once the iPhone was brought close to the ICD over the left chest area, immediate suspension of ICD therapies was noted which persisted for the duration of the test,” the paper reads. “This was reproduced multiple times with different positions of the phone over the pocket.”

“We hereby bring an important public health issue concerning the newer generation iPhone 12 which can potentially inhibit lifesaving therapy in a patient particularly while carrying the phone in upper pockets,” the researchers conclude in their paper.

Apple has already released documentation [apple.com] admitting that “magnets and electromagnetic fields emanating from their iPhone devices “may interfere with medical devices, such as pacemakers and defibrillators.”

What the study doesn’t prove, however, is whether it’s the iPhone 12 specifically that’s causing the issue. Researchers have also found that other devices, like fitness trackers, could have a similar effect on pacemakers, Gizmodo reports [gizmodo.com].

Apple maintains that “though all iPhone 12 models contain more magnets than prior iPhone models, they’re not expected to pose a greater risk of magnetic interference to medical devices than prior iPhone models.”

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