First, people wanted to smell like brand-new Apple products. Now it appears brand-new Apple products smell like fruit.
Well, that’s the news coming out of China, anyway. M.I.C. Gadget writes that the Chinese Internet is awash in reports of iPhone headphone jacks smelling like mangoes, pineapples and apples while charging.
(MORE: A Brief, Inaccurate History of the Mythical ‘iPhone Nano,’ 2007-Present)
Apparently the rumor the started in Japan and found its way to China’s Sina Weibo, a popular micro-blogging service. There it has been reblogged around 30,000 times and found its way onto television news reports.
Is this real or just a case of mass hysteria? While the Chinese media is quoting some experts saying that it might be organic solvents used for cleaning circuit boards that emit an odor when heated up, we’re skeptical of the whole thing. Still, one expert gave sound advice:
As to whether this odor is harmful to humans, he suggested that users should not try to inhale hard.
That’s right, kids at home huffing iPhone headphone jacks, stop it or you might pass out. We can only hope this encourages a new trend in scratch-and-sniff electronics. May we recommend a bacon-scented Windows Phone?