A lawsuit has been instituted by the parents of a Texas teenager who was alleged to have been injured by a pair of Apple Airpods. The 12-year-old boy whose identity is concealed was reported to have had his eardrums ruptured when a loud Amber Alert was received in his Airpods. Amber Alerts are automatically sent to smartphones alerting residents of a possible child abduction emergency.
The incident occurred in 2020 when the boy was watching a Netflix movie on his iPhone while using AirPods Pro. The Amber Alert was a high-pitched sound that reportedly damaged his eardrums. The court documents detail how the sound tore apart the boy’s eardrums, and damaged his cochlea, leading to permanent hearing loss in one ear. The boy is referred to as B. G. in the court papers and he has suffered from several health conditions since then.
The lawsuit claims that the boy’s injuries were a result of a defective AirPods that couldn’t automatically lower the volume for alerts. It also claims that Apple did not issue any warning to users of the AirPods about the potential for hearing loss or damage. There had been several reports from AirPods users that Amber Alerts were known to be very loud. This was due to the Alert not equalizing with the prevailing audio levels.
The plaintiff is demanding damages from Apple, among several other prayers. They claimed that the behavior of Apple was not acceptable and the lawsuit should serve as a deterrent to others. It is unclear when the lawsuit was instituted and the stage it has gotten to. Apple has not made any statement yet concerning the lawsuit.
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(via)
