Total speculation, but I’m guessing Apple is afraid of liability for hearing damage caused by AirPod use. Someone can argue that the aggregate damage from the h

Total speculation, but I’m guessing Apple is afraid of liability for hearing damage caused by AirPod use. Someone can argue that the aggregate damage from the hearing loss is worth billions of dollars and do a class action suit or something. At this point, Apple clearly has a bunch hearing loss experts working there, and they’ve introduced features like Reduce Loud Sounds, the hearing test, and hearing aid mode. Apple can show that they are doing everything possible to prevent their products from causing hearing damage and even taken steps to help users who already suffer from hearing loss. Burying the option to disable Reduce Loud Sounds helps Apple’s case, because it makes it harder for users who suffer from hearing damage to argue that they disabled it accidentally, and perhaps Apple even has evidence that this measure reduces harm to users. So, there’s a tradeoff between the feeling of frustration some users will have at Apple’s apparent paternalism, and the permanent harm that users are being protected from (and Apple’s liability).