Remember the days when you were a kid, and your evil older sibling would drag their feet across the carpet, just so they could sneak up on you and touch your ear and give you a nasty static shock? Now, you can get that same nasty static shock from your iPhone being taken in and out of your pocket, which is what some people have experienced when using their iPhone or iPod Touch together with their Apple earbuds.
Apple has decided to address this peculiar issue by creating a
support page on their website to help warn their unsuspecting customers.
On the support page, Apple states that the static can be built up in a myriad of ways, including jogging, taking the device in and out of your pocket, using the device in a low humidity environment, and basically any other way you can think of to create a static charge. Some people in the discussion forums have blamed the quality of Apple's earbuds, but of course that is not the case as Apple states that it can happen with any device and any style of earbuds.
Note: This condition is not limited to Apple hardware and static can potentially build up on almost any hardware and could be discharged using any brand of earbuds.
Apple lists a whole bunch solutions to the problem, such as using anti-static hand lotion, wearing non-synthetic clothing, using anti-static sprays, and many more. If you are using your iPhone or iPod touch outdoors, try to keep it out of the wind and inside of a case to avoid the problem.
At least now you will no longer have to worry about frying your brains with your Apple earbuds because it is only a static shock, and not your device malfunctioning.
Have any of you ever experienced this unique phenomenon with your Apple earbuds?
