Apple Says 3rd-Party Batteries Caused Beats Headphones to Explode on Flight

An Australian woman, whose face was burned when her Beats headphones exploded on board a plane, has been denied compensation by Apple, because the third party AAA batteries weren’t Apple-approved, the Australian Associated Press is reporting. “Our investigation indicated the issue was caused by a third-party battery,” an Apple representative said in a statement issued by the woman’s lawyers.

Face

The woman, whose face, hands and hair were burned, bought the headphones duty-free in 2014 and the AAA batteries in Australia. She had sought to be reimbursed to replace her headphones and several items of ruined clothing, but was extremely disappointed with Apple’s decision:

“The headphones don’t work without batteries, yet nowhere on the headphones – or their packaging – did it specify which brand of batteries should be used,” she says in a statement.

When she reported this incident in March, the Australian Transportation Safety Bureau issued a warning that read, in part: “Batteries should be kept in an approved stowage, unless in use.”

There are a number of Beats wireless headphone models that use AAA batteries. The exact brand of the batteries involved in this case is not yet known.

P.S. - Like our news? Support the site with a coffee/beer. Or shop with our Amazon link. We use affiliate links when possible--thank you for supporting independent media.