Apple Investigating Issue With Monster Headphones [Updated]

113326 monster headphones 1 500

Apple is reportedly investigating an issue with a number of Monster-branded headphones designed to use Apple's Remote and Mic technology. According to photo screenshots of an internal Apple service bulletin, headphones included on the extensive list do not meet Apple's technical specifications and can cause iPods and iPhones to play and pause erratically.

Several Monster headphone models using Apple's Remote and Mic technology do not meet Apple's technical specifications. These headphones use conductive flanges, which can result in electrical shorts that cause an iPod or iPhone to pause and play erratically. Customers may not be aware that the issue is caused by the headphones and may believe that the iPod or iPhone is defective instead. There are no known safety concerns and no known risk of damage to the iPod/iPhone or headphones.

The list of nearly two dozen headphone models affected by the issue include representatives of Monster's Lil Jamz, Jamz, Turbine (Pro and Basic), and Heartbeats lines. The service bulletin does not appear to recommend a specific course of action for Apple representatives or the customers affected by the issue, but they should presumably contact Monster for support.

113327 monster headphones 2 500

Update: Monster has provided BGR with a statement on the situation:

Monster was recently made aware by Apple that some of our Jamz, Turbine and Heartbeats headphones with ControlTalk may experience some irregularities under certain circumstances (it does NOT affect ControlTalk Universal). This irregularity potentially affects a very small fraction of our headphones and to this date we have received no customer complaints. However, because the customer experience is our top priority, Monster immediately stopped shipment of all potentially affected products.

With the exception of the black or chrome Heartbeats with ControlTalk, this issue does not affect any other of the Beats by Dr. Dre products. If you think you are experiencing a problem with one of the headphones listed below, please contact Monster customer service [http://www.monstercable.com/service] to receive a replacement.

Potentially affected products include ControlTalk versions of Lil Jamz, Jamz, Turbine, Turbine Pro and Heartbeats.

Popular Stories

cook trump

Trump Responds to Apple Keeping Diversity Policies

Wednesday February 26, 2025 6:32 am PST by
In an all-caps post on Truth Social today, U.S. President Donald Trump said Apple should fully end its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies. Tim Cook meeting with President Trump in 2017 "APPLE SHOULD GET RID OF DEI RULES, NOT JUST MAKE ADJUSTMENTS TO THEM," he wrote. Trump's post comes one day after Apple held its annual shareholders meeting, during which a majority of...
iOS 18

Apple Says iOS 18.4 Will Be Released in April With These New Features

Wednesday February 26, 2025 7:15 am PST by
In a recent press release, Apple confirmed that iOS 18.4 will be released in April. From the Apple News+ Food announcement:Coming with iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 in April, Apple News+ subscribers will have access to Apple News+ Food, a new section that will feature tens of thousands of recipes — as well as stories about restaurants, healthy eating, kitchen essentials, and more — from the...
apple watch ultra snow

6 Features Coming to the Apple Watch Ultra 3

Tuesday February 25, 2025 9:00 am PST by
The Apple Watch Ultra 3 is expected to launch later this year, arriving two years after the previous model with a series of improvements. While no noticeable design changes are expected for the third generation since the company tends to stick with the same Apple Watch design through three generations before changing it, there are a series of internal upgrades on the way. By the time the ...
iPhone Fold Vertical Feature

Apple's 2026 Foldable iPhone Has No Visible Display Crease – Report

Tuesday February 25, 2025 2:58 am PST by
Apple is making significant headway on its long-rumored foldable iPhone, with a new report suggesting the company has achieved a major breakthrough by effectively eliminating the screen crease that plagues current foldable devices. According to Korean publication ETNews, Apple is finalizing its component suppliers for the foldable iPhone, with the selection process expected to be completed...
trump iphone dictation issue

Apple Fixing 'Trump' Dictation Processing Bug

Tuesday February 25, 2025 1:18 pm PST by
Multiple iPhone owners today noticed a pronunciation processing issue that causes the word "Trump" to momentarily show up when using dictation to send a message with the word "racist." In some cases, when speaking the word racist through the iPhone's built-in dictation feature, the iPhone briefly interprets the spoken word as "Trump" and "Trump" text shows up in the Messages app before being ...
airpods pro purple

Here's When AirPods Pro 3 Are Rumored to Launch

Monday February 24, 2025 9:14 am PST by
According to a post on X today from a leaker known as Kosutami, Apple plans to launch AirPods Pro 3 in May or June this year. The leaker also claimed that an AirTag 2 will launch around the same time. Kosutami is best known as a collector of prototype Apple hardware, but they have occasionally shared accurate information about Apple's future product plans. For example, they accurately...
airtag orange

AirTag 2 Rumored to Launch in May or June With These New Features

Monday February 24, 2025 6:11 am PST by
Apple plans to launch a second-generation AirTag in May or June this year, according to a post today from a leaker known as Kosutami. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman previously reported that a new AirTag would be released in mid-2025. May or June would align with that timeframe. Below, we recap three new features rumored for the AirTag 2: With a second-generation Ultra Wideband chip, the...
ios 18 4 carplay

iOS 18.4 Includes a Small But Useful Change for CarPlay

Sunday February 23, 2025 2:23 pm PST by
The first beta of iOS 18.4 is now available, and it includes a small but useful change for CarPlay. As we noted in our list of iOS 18.4 features, CarPlay now shows a third row of icons, up from two rows previously. However, this change is only visible in vehicles with a larger center display. For example, a MacRumors Forums member noticed the change in a Toyota Tundra, which can be equipped...

Top Rated Comments

tivoli2 Avatar
187 months ago
Monster is hyped up blah.

In my opinion, Monster is over-hyped, over-priced mediocrity for people who want better stuff without knowing any better.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Dooger Avatar
187 months ago
Headphones for tossers
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Astro7x Avatar
187 months ago
I'd NEVER spend more than $30 tops on headphones. Between sitting on the cords and having them snap, accidentally stepping on them, my cat deciding to chew them, just flat out losing them, and normal wear and tear I go through a pair of headphones on average once every 6 months. Words would not describe the anger I'd have at dropping $150 on quality headphones to come home and see my cat using them as a chew toy...
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Furrybeagle Avatar
187 months ago
Garbage headphones from a garbage company. I love people who walk around and think they’re trendy with their Beats/Monster/Skullcandy headphones. :rolleyes:

Protip: Do some research on a site like Head-Fi before you buy your next pair of headphones.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
rsands1 Avatar
187 months ago
Monster Cables and products are nothing but overpriced garbage. Do yourself a favor and hit up www.monoprice.com if you want cables. My $5 set of HDMI is 50x better then any cheaply made monster cable. I used to purchase that crap years and years ago until I woke up and learned that their cables are junk. The ends come disconnected from the cables, they frey everywhere and they are just poorly made...not to mention OVERPRICED! Everyone, everywhere should completely ban Monster Products...lets put these scumbags out of business.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
John.B Avatar
187 months ago
Curious how well Apple has documented this.

Was thas a case of Monster reverse-engineering the inline connector protocol and guessing wrong in some instances? (For example, the logic for data on the 30-pin connectors is pretty convoluted based on what voltages do or don't exist on certain pinouts.) Or did Monster just fail to properly test a documented protocol?
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)