Apple Wants YOU to Burn! Apple iPhone SAR Levels Make No Improvement

Every time Apple releases a new iPhone, there’s always the question of whether or not the most valued corporation on earth will ever make an effort to lower radiation exposure bombarding iPhone users. It’s a well-known fact Simultaneous Transmission radiation exposure levels from last year’s iPhone 6 Plus are only .01 under the FCC’s legal limit of 1.6 watts per kilogram (W/kg).

The iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, released Sept 25, 2015, made absolutely no improvement in Simultaneous SAR Levels for the new iPhone 6s, and the iPhone 6s Plus is only .01 W/kg lower than last year’s iPhone 6 Plus model. (Update: iPhone SAR levels Lowest To Highest All Currently Carrier Supported as Of 2023)

• The Simultaneous Transmission SAR ratings of iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus are merely .02 W/kg under the FCC’s legal limit of 1.6 watts per kilogram (W/kg).

Two-hundredths of a Watt is exceptionally close to the legal limit when all the iPhone 6s transmitters are turned on AT THE SAME TIME. This is because your iPhone 6s emits radiation from several transmitters, which include Cellular 2G/3G/ 4G modulated digital frequency bands, Wi-Fi, NFC, Hotspot, and Bluetooth that can simultaneously emit RF radiation. This is referred to as the iPhone 6S’s Simultaneous Transmission SAR rating.   

Remember that this test assumes your iPhone is approximately 5mm from your body while operating the device. Otherwise, you might exceed Federal SAR safety standards. This is the basis of a recent law passed last month in Berkeley, CA – “The Right-to-Know Ordinance” to inform customers who purchase a cell phone that a minimum safe distance from RF Radiation is required.

The Berkeley law also requires customers to know that children could be at greater risk as SAR testing does not consider thermal heating effects except that of a 6 ft 200-pound man – the user body type SAR simulations are designed to represent only apply to a tiny part of the world’s population.   To make matters worse non-thermal effects aren’t even in the calculations deriving SAR test results. This raises great concern for women, unborn babies, and children, to which current SAR testing does not apply.

iPhone 6’s Specific Absorption Rate measured at the head (BLUETOOTH, HOTSPOT, AND WIFI TURNED OFF) has a SAR rating of 1.14 W/kg, which is a slight improvement over last year’s model, but this is several years behind Samsung makes most of the worlds lowest SAR smartphones.

For instance, Samsung’s owner’s manual only informs users of simultaneous head and body ratings for their Galaxy s6 and Note 5, which represents a much more realistic human exposure level than assuming consumers are not using their Wi-Fi and Bluetooth as an everyday part of life.    In other words, in most usage situations where all smartphone functions are enabled – the iPhone 6s head SAR reduction for non-simultaneous SAR ratings is irrelevant for most consumers using new generation iPhones.

In reality, as seen below on page 8 of 226 of Apple’s iPhone 6s SAR report to the FCC — the Simultaneous Head SAR is 1.576 W/kg, and the Simultaneous Body SAR is 1.58 W/kg.

Apple iPhone 6s SAR FCC approval: Date approved: 09 Sep 2015 FCC ID value: BCG-E2946A (Source)

Apple iPhone 6s Plus SAR FCC approval: Date approved: 09 Sep 2015 FCC ID value: BCG-E2944A (Source)

• iPhone 6s Plus Head SAR:
  • 1.12 W/kg  /  Last Year 1.18 W/kg.
• iPhone 6s Plus Body SAR:
  • 1.14 W/kg  /   Last Year 1.18 W/kg
• iPhone 6s Plus Body Simultaneous Transmission:
  • 1.56 W/kg  /  Last Year 1.59 W/kg

RF SAFE: BUILDING AN IPHONE 6S CASE FOR A SAFER IPHONE 6S & S6 PLUS

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Thankfully, Apple’s own iPhone store suggests older iPhone 6 cases will still fit the Phone 6S. If you look at one of Apple’s iPhone 6s leather cases, you’ll find a little note: The case fits snugly, and your iPhone 6s or iPhone 6 still feels incredibly slim, even with the case on.

This is all to say that despite the chunkier iPhone 6s, old cases should work (tighter hard plastic cases could have problems). So don’t rush out and spend a bunch of money on a specific 6s/6s Plus case unless you want to.

Apple’s iPhone 6/6 Plus cases will fit the new iPhone 6s/6s Plus models! But how safe is your current iPhone case for protection from potentially deadly microwave radiation?

Not many people know this fact: many prevalent iPhone cases have been proven to increase SAR levels by up to 70%. So, choosing the wrong iPhone 6S case could easily cause your smartphone to exceed SAR guidelines enforced by the FCC.

• A thick, rugged case (Otterbox Impact) that physically creates a more significant barrier around the antenna than slimmer cases. This case increased SAR by almost 70%

• A thin case that leaves the phone partially exposed but increases cell phone radiation (Case-Mate Barely There).

• A popular phone case that does not have the thickness of “rugged” cases (Speck Candy Shell).

None of the three cases contain metallic parts, which has a well-known effect on SAR levels, but all these popular smartphone cases increased the user’s radiation exposure. Of course, the impact of radiation exposure would likely vary with the hundreds of cases on the market. Therefore, each would have to be tested individually to determine an exact measure.   The results in the above Table, however, are believed to reflect the range an iPhone increases its radiation levels when using a typical phone case without proper RF radiation mitigation capabilities.

A primary design objective of all phone cases should always be to ensure there is no increase in RF output power or human absorption levels of microwaves after the phone case is installed.

While many products on the market claim to protect you from cell phone radiation, the big difference between RF Safe cases and other phone cases on the market is you can quickly test them yourself.

• Protection When in a pocket or purse

• RF Protection When Used to the Ear and RF Protection When Texting

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RF Safe’s smart case supports all your smartphone’s features, including a fold-out kickstand for viewing media without holding your iPhone.

How Shielded Flip Cover Cases Block Radiation

The essential requirement of any cell phone radiation shielding is that it is electrically conductive. The RF Safe flip cover is lined with a very thin rubber foam designed to deflect cell phone radiation away from your body.

Materials Used for Electromagnetic Radiation Shielding

1(a) RF Shielded fabric is made from polyester filaments woven with a blend of micro-fine conductive threads. The shielding fabric combines a proprietary layer of CR foam rubber designed to keep your phone’s display screen looking new while deflecting potentially harmful radiation.

1(b) Hypoallergenic silver-plated RF Shielding Mesh is used around the earpiece speaker hole to eliminate the chances of any skin reactions to metal alloys commonly used in RF Shielding Materials. Conductive adhesive layers the silver shielding mesh seamlessly and shielded foam together in full compliance with EU Nickel Directive 94/27/EC.

Designed to deflect radiation from Smartphones

RF Safe’s flip cover cases only incorporate shielding mechanisms that utilize deflection. Absorption (attenuation) is never used to prevent affecting the phone software regulating RF power output. Instead, RF Safe only uses absorption technologies on wires (Ferrite Beads), such as on an air-tube headset plugged into your cell phone.

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How Electromagnetic Radiation Shielding Works

Electromagnetic radiation consists of coupled electric and magnetic fields. The electric field produces forces on the charge carriers (i.e., electrons) within the conductor. As soon as an electric field is applied to the surface of an ideal conductor, it induces a current that causes charge displacement inside the conductor that cancels the applied field inside, at which point the current stops.

Similarly, varying magnetic fields generate eddy currents that cancel the applied magnetic field. (The conductor does not respond to static magnetic fields unless the conductor is moving relative to the magnetic field.) The result is that electromagnetic radiation is reflected from the surface of the conductor:

Flip cover case radiation shields deflect phone radiation, as shown in the illustration. By simply keeping the shielded flip cover between your body and device, whether used to your ear or carried in your pocket – you have the shielding you need to cover the entire front of the phone to deflect potentially harmful radiation – and still hear callers clear!