If you have the first-generation AirPod Pros, you may be entitled to compensation from Apple. According to a lawyer, here’s what you need to know.
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Recent legal action against Apple
Technology giant Apple is no stranger to lawsuits, litigation, and legal troubles.
Earlier in the year, the United States Department of Justice, alongside 16 states, filed a claim against Apple for monopolizing the smartphone market. It was alleged Apple did this by restricting competition in its app stores, making it so its watches only work well with iPhones (so users are discouraged from switching to an Android if they’re faithful to their Apple Watch), withholding access points from developers, and limiting apps from offering tap-to-pay.
The DOJ states that Apple’s actions are far-reaching and affect web browsers, video communication, news subscriptions, entertainment, automotive services, advertising, and location services.
And even foreign parties are getting involved. U.K. consumer watchdog Which? alleged Apple violated U.K. competition laws by pushing users onto its iCloud service, limiting competition from other cloud storage providers, the Verge reported. Not only is it limiting completion, it is also overcharging for the service, Which? claimed.
Apple continues to be in legal trouble, with a new class-action lawsuit filed recently. Here’s what’s happening.
Claims of defective Apple AirPods
In a viral TikTok, Harvard-trained lawyer Angela (@thelawyerangela) broke down the recent class action lawsuit. She says that users claimed that Apple knowingly sold in-ear headphones—especially the first-generation AirPod pros—that had sound defects. Angela’s video has more than 3 million views.
Angela says customers specified it “caused crackling static noises, loss of the bass sound, and an increase in background noises.”
And it wasn’t just one bad batch. Angela says the suit claimed this issue existed across the entire line from that generation of AirPods.
The lawsuit takes issue with Apple’s advertising of these products as having superior sound quality and noise-canceling abilities, Angela continues.
Angela says the lawsuit claims reasonable consumers would not have paid the premium that comes with an Apple product (which are notoriously pricier than their counterparts) if they’d known the quality they were getting.
She adds that consumers first told Apple about the issues in October 2019. Apple, Angela says, acknowledged it a year later, in 2020. But it still allegedly sold the low-quality item for two more years through Sept. 2022, Angela says.
Angela says, according to the suit, Apple even let customers ask for a replacement because of the defect. But the replacement they got allegedly had the same problems.
How do you join?
“Apple had to design a new AirPod to fix the problem with Gen 2, leaving Gen 1 buyers SOL. As a result, this lawsuit seeks to rep. all buyers nationwide of AirPods Pro Gen 1,” Angela says.
ClassAction notes that these customers do not need to take action. “When a class action lawsuit is initially filed, there’s nothing you need to do to join the case. It’s usually only in the event of a class action settlement that the class members affected by a lawsuit need to act, typically by filling out and filing a claim form online or by mail,” ClassAction, which first reported on the lawsuit, states.
Apple’s acknowledgment
It does not seem that Apple has issued a statement yet on this suit. But in its own support page, it claims that only a “small percentage” of the devices had issues.
While the lawsuit has not moved much yet (these things take time), Angela says she will report on any settlement that results from it.
@thelawyerangela Send this to your friends who were early adopters of AirPods #airpodspro #airpods #appleairpods #apple #classaction #lawsuit #lawyer #headphones ♬ original sound – 💥 LAWYER Angela 💥
“OMFG I THOUGHT I WATER DAMAGED THEM. The static was excruciating,” a top comment read.
“So THATS what happened to my AirPod pros.. it was so weird. One day it just started making a sharp piercing noise when I put both headphones in.. kind of like when you hold them to close together,” a person shared.
“This happened to me. Wasn’t able to get replacements bc it was past their ‘deadline date’.. even tho they confirmed w serial number that it was part of faulty batch. Never notified. Im sure others to,” another wrote.
The Daily Dot reached out to Angela for comment via email and Instagram direct message and to Apple via email.
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