A judge has dismissed several claims in a proposed class accusing Apple’s AirPods Max of a condensation defect, ruling that the $549 headphones do what they’re designed for or fail to meet consumer expectations (with condensation). Rule360).
Filed in April 2025 by two plaintiffs, the lawsuit alleges that condensation builds up inside the AirPods Max ear cups during normal indoor use, which can reduce sound, disrupt hearing detection and active noise cancellation, and interfere with charging.
From the 24-page plan:
On April 9, 2021, while living in New York, Plaintiff Apicella ordered AirPods Max headphones and AppleCare+ through Apple’s website. Upon receiving and using his AirPods Max, plaintiff Arthur Apicella “noticed excessive blurring in his AirPods Max ear cups while watching a movie,” and his AirPods Max “producing.[d] thickening in the ear cups every time they use them, usually after only about 15 minutes of use.”
On May 23, 2021, while living in Washington, Plaintiff Dustin Amundson purchased AirPods Max headphones and AppleCare. Shortly after purchasing them, Plaintiff Amundson “noticed excessive blurring in his AirPods Max ear cups while doing daily activities, around the house,” and “they produced[d] thickening in the ear cups every time he uses it[d] those.”
The plaintiffs allege that they are “unable to use their AirPods Max to enjoy ‘exciting and reliable sound’ . . . or so-called ‘[s]patial audio with powerful head tracking [giving them] a theater-like feel for movies and shows, with surround sound [them.]'” Instead, they find switches connected to their devices, slow communication or sound quality, failure to connect to wireless networks “more often as the dimming worsens,” and “failure to maintain battery charge” for the advertised 20 hours.
Both plaintiffs say Apple knew about the problem in 2018, but kept quiet.
However, in an order issued Monday, Judge Orelia E. Merchant of the Eastern District of New York dismissed all claims brought under New York law for discrimination. He found that the state’s implied warranty for the merchandise only asks that the product meet a “minimum standard of quality,” not that it needs to be perfect. He also noted that one complainant successfully used his AirPods Max to watch a movie.
The New York resident has been completely dismissed from the lawsuit, while the Washington resident may pursue two claims under Washington law and the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act.
The AirPods Max condensation phenomenon is well known at this point. Condensation usually occurs when warm body heat meets the cool aluminum ear cups. Owners began reporting fading soon after the headphones were launched in December 2020. In 2023, the problem was sometimes referred to as “condensation death” following reports that some headphones stopped working due to liquid build-up.
Whether this practice is the exact cause of the reported errors has not been firmly established. Most owners find condensation building up inside the cans without any ill effects, and there haven’t been waves of water-damaged units flooding the repair market. Apple’s AirPods Max 2, which was launched in March this year, has the same ear cup design as the original model, and it has been reported to be faded.
The New York case is actually the second AirPods Max class summary. A previous California lawsuit filed in February 2021 did not reach the class-wide stage because the lead plaintiffs settled their claims against Apple and both sides dismissed it.
Notably, Apple did not admit that the headphones were inherently defective in either case. In its California court filing, the company argued that moisture is more visible in the AirPods Max simply because the ear cups are magnetic and removable, and pointed to its guidance that the headphones are “not waterproof or water-resistant.”