iPhone 12 could pose danger to those with heart conditions, experts say

JACKSON, Tenn. — Are iPhone users with heart problems endangered?

When moving around, many people will stick their iPhone in the front pocket of their shirt, coat or jacket.

However, iPhone users with heart conditions might want to put their phone somewhere else to avoid a deadly consequence.

Dr. Shahzad Shah says the new iPhone 12 has technology called MagSafe, a magnet that is strong enough for wireless charging.

“That’s all nice and good, but that magnet is strong enough to effect the defibrillator to a point where it might go into silent or watch mode and not shock a patient because it thinks it’s really under a magnet,” Shah said.

Implantable cardioverter-defibrillators and pacemakers both regulate heartbeats. Inside the devices are built-in switches that can be altered or turned on or off by an electromagnetic field.

“The whole point of the defibrillator, to save their heart if they go into a bad rhythm,” Shah said. “Because of this, it may not kick in because it thinks it’s under a magnet.”

If an iPhone 12 is within six inches of one of those devices, the magnets in the phone could cause the devices to malfunction, preventing it from saving the user’s life.

“They have seen certain patients having the device having the phone and having this effect kick in. So that’s where the concerns come out. It’s not like it hasn’t happened yet, it has actually happened,” Shah said.

Apple says they don’t believe the iPhone 12 poses any more of a risk to users than older models, in spite of the different magnets.

Christy Futrell, with the American Heart Association, says every year a million people worldwide receive pacemakers and about 1.5 million people currently have a pacemaker.

Both Futrell and Shah say the best way to stay safe is to just keep your iPhone away from your chest.

“We’ve been fighting heart disease since the 1900s, and it seems we live in a world that only throws more at us. I think the point that we really need to remember is that more people are dying of heart disease than anything else,” Futrell said.

Apple is recommending people with medical devices talk to their doctors about any concerns they have with their devices.