Apple accused of misleading consumers over ‘audio defect’ of AirPods Pro

A class action lawsuit filed this month accuses Apple of misleading AirPods Pro customers and failing to address an audio defect reported shortly after the product’s launch in 2019.

The lawsuit (via ClassAction.org) focuses on two apparently widespread problems with the first generation of AirPods Pro: unwanted crackling noises and active noise cancellation not working properly. These issues were disclosed within months of release, but it took Apple almost a year to address them with a service program offering to replace units made before October 2020 for free.

Apple’s own support document acknowledges that the affected devices may exhibit “crackling or static noise that increases in loud environments, when exercising, or during a phone call” and “Active Noise Cancellation does not work as expected, such as loss of bass or an increase in background noise , such as street or airplane noise.”

So a happy ending? Not quite. The theory was that AirPods Pro made after October 2020 would not be affected by the audio defect because Apple engineers had fixed the problem. Therefore, such devices were not eligible for a free replacement. But according to the lawsuit, they didn’t resolve it at all.

“…The replacement set of AirPods Pro Gen 1 contained the same audio defect,” the lawsuit alleges. “In other words, those users simply received another defective set of AirPods Pro Gen 1, with many users also later experiencing the audio defect with the defective replacement set.”

It adds that microscopic examination of AirPods Pro units sold before and after October 2020 “indicates that there are no significant differences in components.” Although Apple reportedly experimented with different microphones in 2020, this did not affect the defect and was subsequently reversed.

Apple’s own actions at the time are ambiguous, but may corroborate the plaintiffs’ claims to some extent. First, while it never extended the service program to AirPods Pro made after October 2020, it did give consumers an extra year to file claims, suggesting it was aware that complaints persisted. (The lawsuit bluntly emphasizes that Apple “extended the program because it knew it could not resolve the problem.” However, the extension only gave consumers more time to claim the pre-October 2020 devices that were in no way passed by the consequences would have affected Apple’s attempts at solutions, successful or not.)

Additionally, Apple changed the audio design for the 2nd generation AirPods Pro launched in September 2022, a decision that plaintiffs interpreted as a giveaway that the company knew the 1st generation model was fatally flawed and needed to be overhauled. “Specifically,” the lawsuit alleges, “Apple appears to have attempted to resolve the AirPods Pro Gen 1 audio defect in the AirPods Pro Gen 2 redesign by (i) improving the processing speed of the DSP processor (responsible for noise cancellation or reducing background noise) and by (ii) redesigning the speakers to add angular stripes around the perimeter to improve low frequency (basic tone) response.

It’s a long and complicated story, but the lawsuit’s argument boils down to four central allegations:

1. Apple knew the 1st generation AirPods Pro were defective and that it couldn’t fix the problem without a redesign.
2. The service program was inadequate because it did not cover post-October 2020 units, which were also subject to the defect, and replaced defective units with other defective units.
3. Apple did not contact owners of defective AirPods Pro to let them know they were entitled to a replacement.
4. Apple continued to knowingly sell defective AirPods Pro devices at a higher price until 2022 and made false claims about their audio capabilities in its marketing materials.

Currently, the class action lawsuit is in the filing stages. But at some point in the future, if the lawsuit is successful, readers who owned a set of 1st-gen AirPods Pro may be entitled to compensation.