Nobody wants a fire hazard on their flight, and the FAA definitely doesn’t want that kind of thing onboard.
That’s probably why the agency is banning those recalled Macbook Pro batteries from flights in the United States. Apparently, Apple is having a bit of a Samsung moment with its 15-inch Macbook Pro laptops from 2015. The recalled units, which feature a Retina display, have a “battery [that] may overheat and pose a fire safety risk.”
Apple said of the computers in the recall, “Customer safety is always Apple’s top priority, and we have voluntarily decided to replace affected batteries, free of charge.”
User pictures have shown pretty extensive damage, too, with some batteries burning a hole through the unit. Until you’ve gotten the battery replaced by Apple, the FAA doesn’t want these on their flights. PetaPixel quotes a Bloomberg report that states that the FAA has instructed US-based airlines and some European airlines to follow protocols outlined in 2016 for handling electronic devices that have battery recalls.
According to Bloomberg, this is no small problem, either. The website states that “There have been at least three accidents, two of them fatal, on cargo airlines since 2006 in which lithium batteries were suspected of helping spread fires. Stricter rules on shipping them have been introduced since then.”
The replacement takes about two weeks. If you’re a Macbook Pro owner and you’re worried you might have one of the defective units, you can check on Apple’s website by clicking here.
As multiple websites are reporting, once you get the battery replaced by Apple you’re good to go.
Do you have one of the impacted Macbook Pro models? Let us know your story in the comments. Of course, we’d love to know your opinion on this story as well.
You can also check out some other photography news articles by clicking here.
3 Comments
Thank for the news, but it is incomplete. How are they going to check the computer ? Who is going to check it ( the airline ? security ? ) what if the computer is already packed in the hold suitcase ? Who will know ? What if you already have made the battery change ? What kind of information on the computer do you have to take with you when you fly? Who gets to keep the computer if you cannot fly with it ? Without all of these questions answered this news is fear mongering.
So how does the FAA and the airline know that a battery has already been replaced under the recall (like mine)? Do they simply take my word for it?
I have a Microsoft SurfacePro 4 just 3 years old and it is exhibiting the same issues, extremenly hot when using graphic hungry programs like LR or Photoshop and Microsoft refuse to do anything about it as it is 3 months out of warranty, I would urge caution to all SurfacePro users, and FAA..