Apple has landed itself in another round of trouble as a potential class action lawsuit has been filed against the allegedly misreported battery life advertised for the company’s PowerBeats Pro wireless headphones.
According to the plaintiff — New York resident Alejandro Vivar — the earbuds don’t last for 9 hours as marketed by Apple. The lack of battery life has been blamed on the poor case design, according to Apple Insider. The buds would purportedly become dislodged from the casing, leaving them discharging.
The lawsuit aims to represent a class of purchasers from multiple states including New York, Georgia, Michigan, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Dakota, and Virginia.
The lawsuit also proposed that “IPX4-rated sweat and water resistance” claims were another cause for concern in relation to charging. Sweat could corrode the charging contacts, Vivar offers, adding that sweat damage supposedly isn’t covered by the product warranty.
It is unclear whether the lawsuit over the PowerBeats Pro would be fully certified as a class action, but it does demand compensation for all affected users, a correction of the product issue, and the payment of unspecified damages.
This is not Apple’s first lawsuit relating to Powerbeats and performance. Previously, consumers complained about malfunctions of the Powerbeats 2 and Powerbeats 3 in 2018, wherein the case was voluntarily dismissed in 2020.
Apple bought Beats by Dre in 2014, which has been seen by some tech experts as a move to reduce the competition in the wireless earbud market. Similar to Beats, Apple markets its products as a luxury brand, an iconic symbol to accessorize one’s look. It bears mentioning that the merger of Beats and Apple took place prior to the release of the first-generation AirPods in 2016.
However, Apple has been integrating Beats products more into its ecosystem in recent years, particularly as a sports-oriented offering.
