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The parents of a teenage boy in Texas claim in a new lawsuit that Apple's AirPods ruptured his eardrums when a loud Amber Alert was issued.
Reportedly, the 12-year-old boy, who is referred to as B.G. in the complaint, was watching Netflix on his iPhone while using AirPods Pro when an Amber Alert sounded. The high-pitched noise reportedly damaged his eardrums.
According to the complaint, the sound "tore apart" the boy's eardrums, damaged his cochlea, and caused permanent hearing loss in one ear. Since the incident, which occurred in 2020, B.G. has allegedly suffered from vertigo, dizziness, tinnitus, and nausea, Law360 has reported.
The lawsuit claims that Apple makes "defective" audio accessories that don't automatically lower the volume for alerts. It also goes after the iPhone maker for not issuing a warning about the potential for hearing loss or damage.
Amber Alerts, which are warning messages alerting residents to a child abduction emergency, are automatically sent to smartphones. User reports do corroborate the fact that Amber Alerts come through loudly on AirPods, and may not equalized to the volume of the c content a user is watching.
The complaint seeks damages for B.G. "in amounts would punish Defendants for their conduct and which would deter other technology companies from engaging in such misconduct in the future," among other prayers for relief.
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27 Comments
I’m calling bullshit. No way a loud sound even at the limit of the AirPods’ capability can “tear” an eardrum. I’d like to see the hearing test and MRI.
As a professional scuba instructor that is very well versed in all things eardrums, I call complete B.S. on their claims. Rupturing eardrums from an Amber alert? Yeah right.
Agreed with Anilu_777: loud sounds don't cause eardrums to tear, especially the levels that AirPods can deliver.
To get real hearing damage from a sound source in a short time, it needs to be really, really loud. Like a gunshot near your head loud. An Amber alert may be loud enough to be uncomfortable, but that's about it. I doubt sincerely that AirPods are capable of producing sounds in excess of 120dBSPL in the ear, as that would far exceed design parameters.
Reference: a really loud concert is about 110dB, or half as loud as 120dB (perceptually). Certainly attending a lot of 110dBSPL shows will damage hearing, but not instantaneously and certainly not with the result of ruptured eardrums. One Amber alert isn't anywhere close.
As someone who got hearing damage from a loud noise like this and now have to suffer with tinnitus for the rest of my life I can definitely see how this could happen. The amber alerts are ridiculously loud.
Thanks for any info.
I don’t know about bursting eardrums, that sounds a little excessive. But I can say that alerts do come in pretty loud in headphones. On my walks during my lunch break at work I regularly listen to podcasts or music and my text tone is that alien sounding one, so it’s kind of high pitch (I use loud ones because I work in a loud warehouse and would miss notifications with any of the softer tones) and it is loud enough to give me a little jolt when a text comes through. I usually use either my Powerbeats Pro or Beats Flex.