Image Credit:apple.com
A 12-year-old boy suffered damage to his eardrum after hearing a loud Amber Alert while wearing AirPods, according to a lawsuit filed against Apple in California.
In 2020, a boy wearing AirPods Pro and watching a video at low volume made a loud noise through the headphones without warning because the iPhone received the local broadcast emergency alert Amber Alert (Amber Alert).
The result was a tear in the boy's eardrum and damage to the cochlea, causing considerable damage. It is said that the boy suffered dizziness, nausea, tinnitus and other reactions at the time, and later he will need to use hearing aids for life because of hearing damage.
AirPods
In the lawsuit, the AirPods did not “automatically turn down, control, limit, or progressively increase the volume of the alert to a safe level before broadcasting.” The lawsuit accuses Apple of failing to warn of potential problems and claims Apple knew about the aforementioned design flaws and did nothing.
The boy has lost the ability to live a normal life and will continue to live a “degraded” life in the future, including reduced earning capacity. Additionally, B.G. has had and will have had to incur medical bills due to the injuries and care associated with the defective AirPods.
The lawsuit is seeking damages for B.G. and the parents, who were under severe emotional stress as a result of the AirPods incident. The lawsuit seeks “punitive damages from Apple that will punish the defendants for their conduct and will deter other tech companies from engaging in such misconduct in the future.”
