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Apple's 'Shoddy' Beats Headphones Get Slammed In Lawsuit (theregister.co.uk)

A lawsuit (PDF) filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Oakland, California, recounts the frustrations of five plaintiffs who found that Apple's Powerbeats 2 and Powerbeats 3 headphones did not perform as advertised. They are also claiming the company is refusing to honor warranty commitments to repair or replace the failed units. The Register reports: The complaint seeks $5,000,000 in damages and class action certification, in order to represent thousands of similarly afflicted Beats customers who are alleged to exist. "In widespread advertising and marketing campaigns, Apple touts that its costly Powerbeats (which retail for $199.95) are 'BUILT TO ENDURE' and are the 'BEST HEADPHONES FOR WORKING OUT,'" the complaint says. "But these costly headphones are neither 'built to endure' nor 'sweat & water resistant,' and certainly do not have a battery that lasts for six or twelve hours. Instead, these shoddy headphones contain a design defect that causes the battery life to diminish and eventually stop retaining a charge."

The complaint attributes the shoddiness of Apple's Powerbeats headphones to cheap components. Citing an estimate in a recent Motley Fool article, the complaint contends that Apple's Beats Solo headphones cost $16.89 to make and retail for $199.95: a markup of more than 1,000 per cent. That figure actually comes from a Medium post by Avery Louie, from hardware prototyping biz Bolt.

4 of 190 comments (clear)

  1. Obligatory by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    The complaint contends that Apple's Beats Solo headphones cost $16.89 to make and retail for $199.95: a markup of more than 1000 percent.

    That takes courage!

  2. Re:Fakes abound. by Mr+D+from+63 · · Score: 5, Funny

    The headphones are fine, you just need to buy the Monster headphone cables to connect them. Then they'll sound purer, fuller, and richer.

  3. They are the best headphones for working out by edtice1559 · · Score: 3, Funny

    They have "beats" in really large letters so that everybody else in the gym can notice that you are wearing them which is the only reason you would buy such a ridiculous product as these to begin with. Unfortunately, having the beats headphones isn't going to provide the attention from the cute girls in the gym who are in better shape and not interested. You can't file a class action suit saying that the headphones didn't increase your sex appeal, though.

  4. Re:Once & for all, Apple is fashion not functi by lucm · · Score: 5, Funny

    You buy Apple to LOOK cool, not to actually BE cool -- you understand that right?

    That was true in 2014. Now you buy Apple because the storage on your previous Apple product is full and you have no other way to get more space.

    --
    lucm, indeed.