The family of a Texas child who complained of permanent hearing loss while wearing an AirPod has filed a lawsuit against Apple.
The 12-year-old reportedly had her eardrums ruptured after hearing an amber alert on her earbud while watching Netflix on her iPhone.
Airpods emit a warning tone if you’re listening to dangerous volumes
Public safety alerts on the iPhone and Apple Watch inform users about missing and abducted children.
In a lawsuit filed Monday, parents Carlos Gordoya and Ariani Reis said the AirPods were faulty because they warned of dangerous volumes regardless of the volume set by the user.
They have brought charges of gross negligence and fraud against the company.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
According to the lawsuit, the injury occurred in May 2020 when the boy identified as BG was wearing an airpod in his right ear.
The family said an amber alert suddenly made a “deafening” sound.
The noise caused BG’s eardrum to rupture and his inner ear was reportedly damaged.
As a result, BG has permanent hearing loss and tinnitus, suffers from dizziness and has to wear hearing aids, the lawsuit said.
The family says Apple is aware that its AirPods have sounded extremely loud warnings from online complaints starting in 2019.
Users have noticed in the forums that the AirPods are not adjusting the alarm volume to match the media they are playing.
The lawsuit alleges that Apple failed to design AirPods to “set itself at a safe level or to warn of increased volume associated with caution”.
If the company had done that, “the boy would have lived a normal life,” according to the family.
“The boy’s life has changed a lot since Apple failed to warn him about the volume of his AirPod, which has left him permanently deaf,” said a family lawyer, in a statement.
The lawsuit was filed in federal court in San Jose, California.
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Amber (America’s Missing: Broadcasting Emergency Response) alerts can alert citizens when police are pursuing a missing person who may be in your area.