The company has asked owners of the Beats speaker system to stop using it due to fears that its battery can overheat.
Apple says that owners of the Beats Pill XL should return their speakers. The recall is worldwide and at least one person has already been injured due to the defect, according to the BBC.
Customers to be reimbursed for defective speaker units
Over 230,000 units were sold in North America since the release of the Beats Pill XL last year. “Apple has received eight reports of incidents of the speakers overheating, including one with a burn to a consumer’s finger and one with damage to a consumer’s desk,” read a statement from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Owners of the product are invited to fill in an online form in order for Apple to send them a box in which they can return the product. The speakers previously sold for $299.95 from the Apple website.
Under the terms of the recall program, Apple is offering Apple Store credit or $325 via electronic payment to those who return the item. If the customer can provide proof of purchase, Apple is offering to reimburse them the full amount paid for the speaker. The company says that the Apple Store credit or electronic payment will be paid within approximately 3 weeks of the date of receipt of the speaker.
Beats recall one of the few in Apple history
In 2014 Apple acquired Beats Electronic, and the Beats Music music streaming service, for $3 billion. The Pill XL speakers were released in November 2013. Apple states that “the recall does not affect any other Beats or Apple products.”
Recalls of Apple products are relatively rare, but they have happened before. A previous recall was announced in August 2004 due to safety concerns over lithium ion rechargeable batteries used in its PowerBook G4 laptops. Another battery recall was made in August 2006 related to laptop batteries manufactured by Sony.
The penultimate battery-related recall came in November 2011, when owners of the first-generation iPod nano were asked to return their devices due to a fire risk.
