Are Airpods capable of producing a sound of 150 decibels or more?

[Strangemagnetar]

A Texas family claim Amber Alert ruptured son's eardrums and have been attempting to sue Apple for the past two years.

Texas family sues Apple, claiming loud Amber Alert damaged son’s hearing - National | Globalnews.ca

The 'ear-shattering' volume of the Amber Alert through a pair of AirPod Pro earbuds caused their son permanent hearing loss, the family claims.

globalnews.ca

Gordoa et al v. Apple, Inc. et al (3:22-cv-02900), California Northern District Court

Gordoa et al v. Apple, Inc. et al (3:22-cv-02900), California Northern District Court, Filed: 05/16/2022

www.pacermonitor.com

At least some parts of the case have been dismissed:

Gordoa v. Apple, Inc., 22-cv-02900-JSC | N.D. Cal., Judgment, Law, casemine.com

Get free access to the complete judgment in Gordoa v. Apple, Inc. on CaseMine.

www.casemine.com

Gordoa v. Apple | Casetext Search

casetext.com

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...ng-loss-Apple-AirPods-blared-Amber-Alert.html

According to these sources, the sound intensity, in decibels, required for eardrum rupture is 150 decibels or more: https://www.chem.purdue.edu/chemsafety/Training/PPETrain/dblevels.htm

Are the Airpods capable of producing 150+ decibels of sound?

 

[Bigwaff]

Are the Airpods capable of producing 150+ decibels of sound?

Would have thought that would have been the first criteria for bringing the case.

 

[Strangemagnetar]

So, I asked my friend, who is an audiologist, what she thinks of this case. She messaged me back with this

"This is nonsense and reeks of a hoax. The SPL required to shatter an eardrum is around 160 dB, which is equivalent to the SPL of a gunshot fired close to you. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/when-using-headphones-to-listen-to-music-how-loud-it-too-loud-for-kids/ mentions that the top volume level on Apple music players is 102 dB. The volume required to cause rupture of an eardrum is almost 10,000,000,000 times louder. The photos could be of somebody else's child, or a routine hearing test. There's not a single case in the literature of eardrum ruptures happening at only 102 dB. There's no reason that Amber Alerts would be any more damaging than any other similarly loud noise. This is like claiming that a bb gun pellet tore your arm off."

 

[callen_v1]

Decent testing here for the Max and Airpod 3. No chance they will reach the levels necessary for that damage. It's California so it's not surprise this wasn't tossed immediately. Guessing they were doing something stupid and now looking for a scapegoat. Probably out shooting without ear protection.
They really focused on him playing soccer a lot. If he got a soccer ball kicked to the side of the head that would certainly cause an eardrum rupture. Maybe jammed a Q-tip too far in. Airpods though, just aren't capable of inducing a tear.
https://headphonesaddict.com/how-loud-are-apple-airpods/

 

[Strangemagnetar]

Seems like it would be fairly easy to prove or disprove the teenager's claim.

Get a sound level meter, and put it right up against an Airpod playing on max volume. If it's 160 dB (the sound intensity required to rupture eardrums) or close, then the teenager's claim is plausible. If it's nowhere near 160 dB, then the teenager is lying about the cause, if an ear injury ever occurred at all.

Unfortunately, I have neither a sound level meter or Airpods.

 

[Strangemagnetar]

The case got updated two days ago. https://www.pacermonitor.com/public/case/44560022/Gordoa_et_al_v_Apple,_Inc_et_al

Minute Entry for proceedings held before Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley: Further Case Management Conference held and recorded by Zoom videoconference on 5/9/2024. Recording Time 2:05-2:18 Attorneys for Plaintiff: Jeremy Newell/Taj Paranjpe/James Lamey Attorneys for Defendant Apple: Sara Schneider/Mariam Chamilova Attorney for Defendant Luxshare-ICT, Inc.: Tyler Anders A Further Case Management Conference is set for 6/6/2024 at 1:30 p.m. by a Zoom webinar. Updated statement is due by 6/4/2024. Webinar Access: All counsel, members of the public, and media may access the webinar information at [LINK:https://www.cand.uscourts.gov/jsc] Court Appearances: Advanced notice is required of counsel or parties who wish to be identified by the court as making an appearance or will be participating in the argument at the hearing. A list of names must be sent to the CRD at JSCcrd@cand.uscourts.gov no later than noon on 6/5/2024. General Order 58. Persons granted access to court proceedings held by telephone or videoconference are reminded that photographing, recording, and rebroadcasting of court proceedings, including screenshots or other visual copying of a hearing, is absolutely prohibited. Zoom Guidance and Setup: [LINK:https://www.cand.uscourts.gov/zoom/] . (This is a text-only entry generated by the court. There is no document associated with this entry.) (ahm, COURT STAFF) (Date Filed: 5/10/2024)