Apple issues global recall for hot-hot-hot Beats speakers
"In rare cases, the battery in the Beats Pill XL Speaker may overheat and pose a fire safety risk. If you have a Beats Pill XL Speaker, please stop using it and ... send it to Apple," the Cupertino, Calif. company said on a recall page posted to its website.
According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Apple reported eight incidents of overheating, with one of those burning a customer's finger and another damaging a desk. The CPSC added that the recall affects approximately 233,000 speakers in the U.S. and Canada.
The speakers were sold worldwide from January 2014 until this month through retail outlets, Apple's chain of stores and its e-shopping site, and Beats' online store. The Pill XL preceded Apple's $3 billion purchase of Beats Electronics and the Beats Music subscription service last May.
Owners of a Pill XL will receive an Apple Store credit of $325 or the same amount direct deposited into their bank account when they return the speaker. The Beats Pill XL sold for a suggested retail price of $300.
Most of Apple's past recalls have been of small fractions of a device's base, and have generally been related to battery problems. Last fall, for example, the company launched an iPhone 5 battery recall program; it has also run battery recalls for various Mac laptops.
But the company has had a few product-wide recalls: A year ago it recalled all 5-watt European USB power adapters with the model number A1300. And in 2011, it called in all first-generation iPod Nano music players. In both cases Apple exchanged the defective devices for new ones.
Apple will send a pre-paid shipping box after a customer completes this form to kick off the return process.