A federal judge in New York has dismissed nearly all claims against Apple regarding moisture buildup in AirPods Max ear cups.
The judge ruled that the $549 headphones meet the legal standard for a functional product, even if they disappoint buyers.
Judge Orelia E. Merchant of the Eastern District of New York issued the 24-page ruling Monday, throwing out every claim brought under New York law with prejudice.
Under New York’s implied warranty of merchantability, a product only needs to reach a minimal level of quality to satisfy the law.
The judge pointed out that one of the two plaintiffs had successfully used his AirPods Max to watch a movie, which undercut the argument that the headphones were fundamentally unusable.
What the Plaintiffs Experienced
The two buyers who filed suit in April 2025 described moisture collecting inside the ear cups during routine indoor use, sometimes within 15 minutes of putting the headphones on.
They reported audio degradation, ear detection failures, active noise cancellation cutting out, devices losing their wireless connection with increasing frequency, and batteries falling short of the advertised 20-hour runtime. Both claimed Apple had internal awareness of the problem as far back as 2018.
The New York plaintiff was dropped from the case entirely. The Washington state plaintiff can still pursue two claims under Washington law and the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, so the litigation is not completely over.
A Pattern Apple Has Not Acknowledged
Moisture inside AirPods Max ear cups has been discussed since shortly after the headphones went on sale in December 2020.
The aluminum ear cups stay cooler than the skin they press against, and condensation forms at that temperature boundary. By 2023, some owners were reporting that accumulated liquid had caused their headphones to stop working entirely.
Apple has declined to acknowledge any inherent defect in either this case or an earlier California class action filed in February 2021, which also collapsed after the lead plaintiffs settled individually.
In court filings, Apple has argued that the magnetic, removable ear cup design simply makes moisture more visible than it would be on other headphones, and the company notes in its own documentation that AirPods Max are not waterproof or water resistant.
Whether condensation actually causes the faults that some owners report has never been established with certainty.
A significant number of AirPods Max owners say they have never encountered the problem, and there has been no broad wave of water-damaged units showing up at repair shops.
The Second Generation Carries the Same Design
Apple released the AirPods Max 2 in March 2026 with the same ear cup construction as the original model. Owners of the newer version have already reported the same condensation behavior.
For anyone considering a $549 purchase, the court’s ruling does not resolve whether the issue will affect their specific unit, and Apple has made no design changes that would address the underlying physics involved.
