When walking around, many people place their phones in a coat breast pocket, a shirt pocket or in a pants pocket. Now, a new study confirms that you should keep the newer iPhones away from your heart area if you’ve had specific heart issues.
Magnets and other components inside iPhone 12 devices could disable pacemakers or implanted cardiac defibrillators, tech giant Apple has warned in an official Advisory, potentially putting millions of people at risk for dangerous heart complications.
The company warned users that iPhones contain magnets and radios that emit electromagnetic fields, both of which “may interfere” with medical devices such as implanted pacemakers and defibrillators.
The notice, published in late January 2021, specifically warns users about “the magnets inside” all four iPhone 12 models, as well as MagSafe accessories.
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Apple said in the update that medical devices can contain sensors that may react to magnets or radio waves that come in close proximity. The company recommends keeping iPhones or MagSafe chargers more than 6 inches apart from medical devices.
There are only about 1.3 million Americans with pacemakers, a figure growing rapidly each year. Defibrillators are also common
Who Would Needs a Pacemaker/Defibrillator?
A person may need a pacemaker/defibrillator if they have had a dangerously fast heartbeat (ventricular tachycardia) or a chaotic heartbeat that keeps your heart from supplying enough blood to the rest of your body (ventricular fibrillation), survived a cardiac arrest, or fainted from a ventricular arrhythmia. You might also benefit from an ICD if you have:
- A history of coronary artery disease and heart attack that has weakened your heart.
- A heart condition that involves abnormal heart muscle, such as enlarged or thickened heart muscle.
- An inherited heart defect that makes your heart beat abnormally. These include long QT syndrome, which can cause ventricular fibrillation and death even in young people with no signs or symptoms of heart problems.
- Other rare conditions that may affect your heart rhythm.
What is a Defibrillator/Pacemaker?
An implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) is a small battery-powered device placed in your chest to monitor your heart rhythm and detect irregular heartbeats.
