A Texas family is suing Apple after they say their son suffered permanent hearing loss when an Amber Alert came through the AirPods he was wearing.
According to NBC News, the incident happened two years ago but the lawsuit was filed this week in San Antonio.
Carlos Gordoa and Ariani Reyes claim their son, who was 12 at the time, was using his AirPod Pro earbuds paired with his iPhone to watch a movie on Netflix when an Amber Alert came through, reports Reuters.
They say their son, identified only as B.G., was using the earbuds on a “low volume” and when the Amber Alert was issued it “went off suddenly, and without warning, at a volume that tore apart B.G.’s ear drum, damaged his cochlea, and caused significant injuries to B.G.’s hearing.”
Amber Alerts are sent out to warn people about a missing or abducted child. They can be a crucial tool in locating a child who’s in danger.
The family said the tone sent with the alert was at an “ear-shattering” volume, and that their son now suffers from hearing loss, tinnitus, vertigo, nausea and dizziness, and has to wear a hearing aid.
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“The AirPods do not automatically reduce, control, limit, or increment notification or alert volumes to a safe level that causes them to emit,” the suit said, according to NBC.
The suit also points to several online threads where people complain about loud AirPod Pro notifications.
On an Apple support page, the user-created thread titled “AirPods Notifications are EXTREMELY LOUD, while other sounds are not,” has close to 1,000 users sharing their concerns about the issue.
Apple has not publicly addressed the lawsuit or the volume of complaints.
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