Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods, AirPods Max and AirPods Pro (macrumors.com)

Are we 100% certain it was due to a patent troll, not quietly fixing a feature that could do damage to the ear?

Agreed, my beats solo pros always worked fine, until the final firmware update which was conveniently right before they were no longer supported. Upgrade with caution.

https://www.reddit.com/r/beatsbydre/comments/vqw0k5/solo_pro...

Yet another unrevokable firmware update for an expensive device with a change log of "trust me bro".

Why is this activity legal?

Well if they release an update that improves the quality of something, that would be a reason to patch.

You don't get to choose, pairing the things with an iOS or mac device automatically updates it. Anyway, my old Airpods 2 set was already updated and is still working so maybe not that big a deal...