Apple Customers Sue Over Unfixed AirPods Pro Crackling Issue

[MacRumors]

A trio of Apple customers this month filed a class action lawsuit against Apple, accusing the Cupertino company of violating California consumer protection laws and false advertising for continuing to sell AirPods Pro models that had ongoing issues with crackling or static sounds.

A few months after the AirPods Pro came out in October 2019, buyers began to complain about crackling, rattling, popping, and static-like noises affecting the AirPods Pro. The sound seemed to show up when something caused an earbud to move or vibrate, such as walking or running.

Apple tried to fix the problem with software updates, but the company ultimately launched an AirPods Pro repair program in October 2020. Customers with affected AirPods Pro were able to bring them to Apple for a fix or a replacement, but unfortunately, many customers found that their replacement AirPods Pro also suffered from the same issue.

As a result, Apple is now facing a class action lawsuit, with the plaintiffs requesting "relief" due to the defective nature of the AirPods Pro. The complaint says that customers would not have purchased the AirPods Pro or would have paid less had Apple made the flaw clear.

Apple is also being accused of false advertising for highlighting features like "superior sound quality" and "pure, incredibly clear sound" when knowing there was an issue with crackling and static.

The court will need to decide if the arguments made here hold up, and whether the case deserves class action certification.

Article Link: Apple Customers Sue Over Unfixed AirPods Pro Crackling Issue

 

[Lihto]

Have the same problem.. hope they win it so we can exchange it
Edit: and ANC stopped working like 6months ago.. only works if I fiddle when in ear, using them without ANC.. tried cleaning them ofcourse

 

[ProbablyDylan]

Sign me up. I had to pay out of pocket to replace mine before the repair program existed, and the replacements still developed the issue. I refuse to buy or recommend any "Pro" audio products from this company because of this.

 

[breenmask]

it is pretty bad. I've had 3 replacements. 3rd replacement is now crackling and it's no longer part of the service program

I eventually bought the 2nd gen and it's been fixed so far.

 

[chrono1081]

My originals had this but my replacements were fine.

 

[aednichols]

It's ******** that the quality program has a 3-year limit. Just make it indefinite and most people's issues will be handled.

 

[tgwaste]

Great. Ive had to replace 2 buds over the last few years for this.

 

[Rychiar]

my 1's sucked with this and they told me there was nothing there could do for me so now I sold them and got the 2's

 

[mac_head]

Had mine replaced twice until they canceled the program…

 

[MrRom92]

They should be sued over the statements of “pure, incredibly clear” sound which is factually incorrect

How can lossy compressed sound be more pure than sound which has not been lossy compressed? It is very un-pure compared to the audio from the headphone jack they robbed us of

I’ll be seeing you in court, apple

 

[sw1tcher]

If they win, class members will receive $xx in Apple store credit to buy new AirPods or something else. Sadly, that's how it works many times. In the end, Apple still wins.

 

[macfacts]

Step 1 of apple support:class action lawsuit.

 

[grantishere]

Looking forward to my $0.50 settlement share

 

[bag99001]

Interesting - I wasn't aware this was a common enough issue to cause a class-action lawsuit potentially. I know I recently replaced my original Airpod Pros with Airpods Pros 2 after 1. noticing what sounds like maybe is this issue with hard to diagnose crackling, and 2. trying my wife's airpods pros 2 and they had much better sound cancellation....hmmm. Wouldn't mind a bit of money back to compensate for that.

 

[scrapesleon]

well that was long over due make better products

 

[CharlesShaw]

Oh well. I thought I had finally moved on after purchasing Beats Fit Pro and recently recycling the old crackling AirPods Pro. I guess I need to see if I still have proof of purchase, as I no longer have the ID that made the purchase.

 

[cigz]

I haven't had that problem with 1st Pros but my 2nd gen Pros are unusable outside while biking or running. The microphones let through so much wind noise that I barely hear any music below 70% of volume.
Apple refused to replace them because allegedly everything is fine with them.
Now I'm back to my old EarPods whenever I'm running or biking.

 

[nateellis22]

Count me in. Mine crackle and pop. Apple replaced them for free. The replacements started crackling within a few months. They refused to replace them again.

 

[Sweetfeld28]

Sign me up also... I took them into the store, and they denied me because I was passed the three-year mark since purchase. I have noticed it was fixed for a short time, then iOS 18 betas brought it back. Only happens during pairing/connecting when I place them in my ears now, not as constant as before though.

 

[shaun3000]

My son’s set did this. His pair was manufactured after the window allowed by the repair program. The first pair we got him was DOA and had to be exchanged. After about a year one of the earbuds started exhibiting this crackling. It was a white noise sound in the background when any of the noise canceling or transparency modes were turned on. I paid $100 out of pocket to have this earbud replaced. Sometime later the other earbud started doing the same thing.

I had a chat with Apple and referenced the repair program. They advised me to visit the genius bar. I get to the genius bar who tells me there’s nothing they can do and they don’t know why tech-support sent me there and to call tech-support back and ask for a senior advisor. I did this explained everything that had taken place until that point. After asking me a few questions he told me that Apple was going to repair the product for free. He had me send it in and they gave it a full once over and sent it back with working earbuds.

 

[nt5672]

More incredible Apple innovations brought to you by the Apple CEO Tim Cook.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

I have gen 1 pros and haven't had any problems, but my brother had to replace his twice before just buying the gen 2.

 

[aserrano1971]

I have two airpods pro 1 with the same Problem. I expect they win…only for justice.

 

[maxfromdenmark]

I had to exchange the left one and then the right one within the months after purchase. I can see the comments here a whole bunch of people had same issues. It means the one: “very small amount of customers had experience sound difficulties”. As Apple usually states when something goes wrong.

 

[cocky jeremy]

I've never had an issue with mine. 1 or 2.