Airlines banning MacBook Pros [in checked luggage and use onboard]

[DavidFlynn]

I would hate to walk onto a flight and discover I couldn't use my (13in) MacBook Pro. Well, okay, I would resign myself to a little Downton Abbey bingfest on the IFE system, but usually I'm working on flights – most recently hopped onto a SYD-SIN flight and was hammering away on the laptop the entire time.

It'd be good to see a bit more proactive outreach (double word score for that jargon) from Qantas to advise passengers of this, eg alerts via the Qantas app as well as emails to people with imminent travel.

 

[get me outta here]

Check here : Important notice for batteries in certain MacBook Pro units
15-inch MacBook Pro Battery Recall Program - Apple Support

 

[moa999]

Just means I get a new free battery to replace a 3.5 year old battery.

Pretty good result given most batteries tend to deteriorate after 2-3 years, particularly if continuously hooked up to a charger

 

[Quickstatus]

Pretty good result given most batteries tend to deteriorate after 2-3 years, particularly if continuously hooked up to a charger

According to the chargeberry app running in the background, the battery still had 86% of battery capacity.
Apple says it should be minimum 80% after 1000 charge cycles. Apparently 1 CC = full discharge from 100% to 0 then charge back to 100%. Discharging from 100 to 50 then back to 100 is 0.5 charge cycles. Mine has done only 236 charge cycles as I try to keep it on the charger

I always try to connect mine to a charger continuously. I didint know continuous charge is bad.

 

[calmelb]

According to the chargeberry app running in the background, the battery still had 86% of battery capacity.
Apple says it should be minimum 80% after 1000 charge cycles. Apparently 1 CC = full discharge from 100% to 0 then charge back to 100%. Discharging from 100 to 50 then back to 100 is 0.5 charge cycles. Mine has done only 236 charge cycles as I try to keep it on the charger

I always try to connect mine to a charger continuously. I didint know continuous charge is bad.

Continuous charge isn’t bad. Just can mean more cycles on the battery (as it never locks it at 100, but instead drains to 99% then back to 100%, and 100 of those is 1 cycle)

 

[jb747]

What a joke.

It's like grounding all Boeings in your fleet because of the 737 Max issue.

Given what we've learnt about the 737 NG trim wheel as a result of the MAX issues, then perhaps that would be a good idea.

That said, I have never checked a laptop in, so this will not affect me, and I don't watch movies or work on my MacBook on the plane, I use their inflight entertainment. So this ban will not affect me, despite it's heavy handedness.

I was under the impression the US airlines had banned the particular 15" MacBook model entirely, and not any other models. I am not sure how US check-in staff are more able to identify computer models than Australian staff! And I read SIA and Thai have done the same, only banning particular models in their entirety.

I was in the USA when this first arose. At that point, the intention was to ban all 15" MacBooks from flight, not just use!!!! How messy would that have been.

 

[Quickstatus]

Are Li-ion batteries less prone to fires if they are in a discharged state?

 

[calmelb]

Are Li-ion batteries less prone to fires if they are in a discharged state?

If they are fully discharged there isn’t too much of an issue, however if they get low enough they can swell up and catch on fire when being recharged

 

[Max Samuels]

It will be interesting to see how the check-in staff, or even the baggage handlers that might have to open your luggage will be able to determine the correct models! I was upgrading my RAM on my MacBook just recently, and I had to go the Apple website to find out exactly which version of the computer I had.... it ended up being something really vague like "late 2013 - mid 2014".

And, just the other day, I was helping my mother upgrade her iPhone. She wanted to know what version it was. In hers, I went to settings/general/about and it clearly said "Iphone 8" under Model Name. But when I went to my Dad's, in his phone's "about" settings it didn't mention the model name....

 

[samh004]

I was upgrading my RAM on my MacBook just recently, and I had to go the Apple website to find out exactly which version of the computer I had.... it ended up being something really vague like "late 2013 - mid 2014".

If you can turn on your machine, heading to the "About This Mac" screen from the / in the top left will tell you. As below from my machine.

 

[Quickstatus]

It will be interesting to see how the check-in staff, or even the baggage handlers that might have to open your luggage will be able to determine the correct models! I was upgrading my RAM on my MacBook just recently, and I had to go the Apple website to find out exactly which version of the computer I had.... it ended up being something really vague like "late 2013 - mid 2014".

And, just the other day, I was helping my mother upgrade her iPhone. She wanted to know what version it was. In hers, I went to settings/general/about and it clearly said "Iphone 8" under Model Name. But when I went to my Dad's, in his phone's "about" settings it didn't mention the model name....

For iPhone - go settings, general, about, model number. Google search that model number

 

[Kangol]

Has anyone personally flown in the US with one of these affected models?
Or can link to a report of one?

 

[Max Samuels]

If you can turn on your machine, heading to the "About This Mac" screen from the / in the top left will tell you. As below from my machine.

View attachment 184857

Wow that is really going to slow down check-in!!!

 

[Max Samuels]

For iPhone - go settings, general, about, model number. Google search that model number

Of course I know how to get the model number - the point was that for the general punter, unless it comes up really easy, it will be hard to determine.

 

[Max Samuels]

If you can turn on your machine, heading to the "About This Mac" screen from the / in the top left will tell you. As below from my machine.

View attachment 184857

I don't see a "sold between these dates" field..... the original article discussing this issue says that some airlines are only banning those "affected" - how can they tell?????

 

[calmelb]

I don't see a "sold between these dates" field..... the original article discussing this issue says that some airlines are only banning those "affected" - how can they tell?????

Theres only the 15” 2015 model that’s affected. The sold between dates is when it was sold in total, they could just ban that Year specifically

 

[Quickstatus]

Of course I know how to get the model number - the point was that for the general punter, unless it comes up really easy, it will be hard to determine.

Exactly why I put up the method.. but that assumes that they are in these forums

The models affected are the 2015,2016,2017.
MBP produced until late 2014 are not affected but there is no way of knowing without doing the about this Mac hardware check

 

[Max Samuels]

Theres only the 15” 2015 model that’s affected. The sold between dates is when it was sold in total, they could just ban that Year specifically

Do they mean manufactured between, rather than sold between? If you buy from a re-seller, who knows how long the inventory is sitting there before being sold.

Technically one could buy a faulty MacBook after the "sold between" period if it was sitting on the shelf in a re-seller's shop....

I am really keen to hear if this is actually enforced by the airlines and how they actually do it - how can they tell one apart from the other???

If someone actually goes through this drama please share with us all!!

 

[jb747]

I am really keen to hear if this is actually enforced by the airlines and how they actually do it - how can they tell one apart from the other???

The airlines don't. They've simply applied the bans to ALL 15" MacBook Pros.

I'm heading overseas in the next couple of days. I normally carry a 15, but I have a choice, so this time only the 13 is going.

 

[Max Samuels]

The airlines don't. They've simply applied the bans to ALL 15" MacBook Pros.

From the original strory:
"Singapore Airlines and Thai Airways have gone further, banning affected MacBook models from being carried onto the plane at all. However, these airlines have limited the ban to affected models of the 15-inch MacBook Pro with recalled batteries. Other Apple laptop models, and 15-inch MacBook Pros that were not sold between September 2015 and February 2017, are not affected. Singapore Airlines says that it will accept recalled laptops if the battery has been replaced by Apple".

So my question is, at check-in, how can they tell if your particular 15" is in the bad batch, or, if you have replaced the battery?? Other than your word......

If there was any real danger of the battery exploding they wouldn't be leaving it up the check-in staff and/or the passenger's word as to whether the laptop in question was affected.

Yet more security theatre and fake news in my opinion....