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An anonymous tipster provided Engadget with information claimed to be from an internal memo from Apple detailing the purported issues. The documentation shows issues with a variety of Monster-branded headphones, including Jamz, Turbine and Heartbeats models.
"Several Monster headphone models using Apple's Remote and Mic technology do not meet Apple's technical specifications," the alleged memo reads. "These headphones use conductive flanges, which can result in electrical shorts that can cause an iPod or iPhone to pause and play erratically."
The information was apparently provided to support personnel at Apple because the company has received complaints from customers who believe the issue is the fault of their Apple device. The documentation states that the headphones can cause issues with Apple's iPhone, iPad and iPod lines of products.
"Customers may not be aware that the issue is caused by the headphones and may believe that the iPod or iPhone is defective instead," the memo reads. "There are no known safety concerns and no known risk of damage to the iPod/iPhone or headphones."
Symptoms of the apparent issue include pausing, playing and skipping forward or back through songs. Engadget noted that the list of problem headphones does not include any of the "Beats" line of products that Apple sells in its own stores.
Christine McKee
Wesley Hilliard
Malcolm Owen
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34 Comments
I'm having trouble with apple branded headphones for iphone4. I have returned 3 within warranty so far. The microphone is failing.
Apple has been great sending me the headphones for each warranty event.
I thought Monster made the best engineered cables and such on the plant. This is why a 6ft HDMI cable costs half a months paycheck. You mean to tell me their products are no better or worse than anything else, and sometimes defective and non-functional? /sarcasm
crazy since Monster is a premium brand
Interesting....
I plugged my sons Skull Candy headphones into my iPad a few weeks back and couldn't get a sound out of them. I then tried them in my iPhone4 and again no sound.
I thought he'd broken them but i've seen him wandering around the house and walking to college with them plugged into his iPod. He assures me they work perfectly well.
Very odd.
Interesting....
I plugged my sons Skull Candy headphones into my iPad a few weeks back and couldn't get a sound out of them. I then tried them in my iPhone4 and again no sound.
I thought he'd broken them but i've seen him wandering around the house and walking to college with them plugged into his iPod. He assures me they work perfectly well.
Very odd.
my skull candy Full Metal Jacket earbuds+mic work great on the iPhone 4 for listening... as soon as you try to hook up to a mic-enabled program (phone , recorder, google voice search), they freak out. If I had my druthers, my guess is the noise cancellation logic on the iPhone4 is totally confused by the noice cancellation of the SC mic.
I reported this, and no action has occurred (thought 4.1 would fix it, but nope).
I bought my Skull Candy FMJ at an Apple Store... when I went there last, they were not on the shelves. Likely a new spec for mics and noise cancellation is the issue.