Apple Resumes iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 Sale In Germany After Ban

Apple will resume its sale of iPhone 7 and 8 in the German market, but this time its phones will pack Qualcomm chips.

On Thursday, an announcement came from Apple, saying that the company will sell the older iPhones at its stores in Germany again. Previously, Apple’s sale of iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 was banned in Germany following Munich district court’s order in a lawsuit that the iPhone maker lost against Qualcomm in December. The news was reported by Reuters.

To comply with a court decision, the Cupertino-based company will no longer use Intel chips for its older devices.

An Apple spokeswoman sent out an email, in which she wrote that the company had to switch to Qualcomm processors so that it can ship all iPhone models to consumers in Germany. The email reads:

This information pops up after the giant chip maker won a patent infringement lawsuit against the iPhone maker back in December 2018. According to a Munich court settlement, Apple had to stop selling its iPhone 7 and 8 models in the German market. The infringement lawsuit was related to Qualcomm’s technology that helps save power in smartphones.

An Apple store in Germany

The battle over patents between Qualcomm and Apple has been going on since 2017, leading to the iPhone maker’s switching to using Intel chips for its devices. In another patent case, however, a German court dismissed the lawsuit that Qualcomm filed against Apple over a technology relating to smartphone voltage. In January, the US Patent and Trademark Office stated that it would review Qualcomm patents in its lawsuit against the iPhone maker.

It’s also worth noting that Apple’s recent models, the iPhone XS series and the iPhone XR are not affected by the German ban and will keep using Intel chips.