Apple AirPods4

SaferProducts.gov consumer incident report 20260225-E9C9B-2147323270. Severity: Injury, Seen by Medical Professional. Product: Apple AirPods4 (Apple AirPods 4 wireless earbuds with charging case. White color, standard dimensions. The product suffered a catastrophic thermal failure (melting) during charging.). Incident: On February 13, 2026, my Apple AirPods 4 (Serial: DJGT4TF56W) suffered a severe thermal failure while charging. I used an original Apple 20W power brick and an original Apple woven USB-C cable (from an iPhone box). The device began to smoke and melt. I sustained a thermal burn to my finger while attempting to disconnect the melting unit. Injury and Impact: Due to the equipment failure, I was left without hearing protection during a 12-hour high-noise shift in a Data Center. This resulted in a documented 21dB hearing loss and persistent tinnitus (confirmed by Apple Hearing Test). Manufacturer Negligence (Apple Case ID: [REDACTED]): I reported this to Apple on Feb 16. The company has repeatedly failed to meet its own safety deadlines (48-72 hours, then 2 business days). During my last interaction on Feb 21: I provided macro-photos of the original Apple cable with its serial number, proving no third-party accessories were involved. The Senior Advisor ([REDACTED]) abruptly terminated the chat session without providing a resolution or safety instructions. Representative [REDACTED] admitted they "don't have an exact time frame" for a response and couldn't guarantee that the engineering team would ever respond. As of today, Feb 25, Apple has completely ignored this fire hazard and my physical injuries. I am filing this to create a permanent federal record of this dangerous product defect and Apple's gross negligence in handling a safety report.