Apple recalls Beats Pill XL speaker due to fire risk from overheating battery

Apple has issued a recall of the Beats Pill XL speaker because of the risk of fire caused by an overheating battery.

Limited to the one product and not affecting the popular Beats headphones also sold by Apple, the recall will include a refund of £215 for customers who return the defective speaker. This is £45 short of the £269.95 it is currently sold for on the Apple website, although it is understood the company will reimburse whatever price a customer paid, providing they have a receipt.

IBTimes UK has asked Apple for a reason for the shortfall in the refund but has yet to receive a response.

Apple said it has determined that "in rare cases, the battery in the Beats Pill XL may overheat and pose a fire safety risk...because customer safety is the company's top priority, Apple is asking customers to stop using their Beats Pill XL speakers."

Introduced in November 2013, the Beats Pill XL is a larger version of the regular Pill speaker. The larger model can be identified by its name written on the handle, and it was sold in five colours: black, blue, pink, titanium and white.

Apple said it is recalling approximately 222,000 of the speakers after it received eight reports of them overheating. In one case, a customer claims the heat of the speaker burned their finger, while another damaged a desk.

Both models of Pill were partly developed by Dr Dre, whose Beats business, which includes a music streaming service as well as speakers and headphones, was sold to Apple for $3 billion in November 2013.

At its WWDC (Worldwide Developer Conference) event on 8 June, Apple is expected to announce a new music streaming service built on the foundations of Beats Music.