According to most recent studies, it seems that people are so enthusiastic about listening to the music that they could even cause irreversible damage to their own hearing. In this context, Apple can not afford being sued in court by some music enthusiast on charges that he or she became deaf because of using the company’s popular MP3 player, the iPod. Although the court theoretically denies the lawsuit, Apple’s image, as well as its iPod sales, will certainly be affected.

So, it seems that Apple decided to protect itself from such potential problems; according to London-based Daily Mail, the famous American company is currently developing a new automatic volume control for its iPod that will prevent users from playing music tracks at full blast for too long.

A new patent revealed recently that the next iPods and iPhones will be able to automatically calculate how long a person has been listening and at what volume, before gradually reducing the sound level. The new volume control system will also be able to calculate the amount of “quiet time” between when the device is turned off and when it is restarted, allowing the volume to be increased to a safe level.

"Since the damaging effect on users' hearing is both gradual and cumulative, even those users who are concerned about hearing loss may not behave in a manner that would limit or minimize such damaging effects,” the patent said.

Although only listening volumes below 70 decibels are considered safe, iPods can currently reach volumes of over 100 decibels, which is the equivalent of standing 10 ft from a pneumatic drill and enough to cause permanent damage after just 15 minutes.