David Hanak Two weeks ago, we wrote about a new regulation by the US Civil Aviation Authority that banned the air transport of 15″ MacBook Pros manufactured between 2015 and 2017. As it turns out, machines manufactured during this period may have a defective battery that is a potential risk, especially if the MacBook is also on board the plane, for example. After American airlines, other companies have now started to join this ban.
It could be interest you
The original report this afternoon was that Virgin Australia had banned (all) MacBooks from being carried in the hold of their planes. However, shortly after publication, it became clear that other companies, such as Singapore Airlines or Thai Airlines, had also resorted to a similar step.
In the case of Virgin Australia, this is a ban on carrying any MacBooks in the hold baggage compartment. Passengers must carry their MacBooks only as part of their cabin baggage. MacBooks must not enter the cargo area. This blanket ban makes a little more sense than what the US authorities originally came up with, and which was subsequently adopted by some of the world's airlines.
Banning a specific laptop model can be a real hassle for airport employees, who should check and enforce similar bans and regulations. It can be a big problem for the less technically savvy to distinguish one model from another (especially in cases where both models are very similar), or to correctly recognize a repaired model and an original model. A blanket ban will thus avoid complications and ambiguities and will be more applicable in the end.
The other two airlines listed above have taken the ban as published by the US Civil Aviation Authority. I.e. selected models must not get on the plane at all. Only those who have had their batteries replaced will receive an exception. However, how this will be determined in practice (and how effective it will be) is still not entirely clear.
It can be expected that Apple will cooperate directly with individual airlines, through a database of damaged (and possibly repairable) MacBooks. Functionally, however, it will be a rather complicated matter, especially in countries where MacBooks are common and users often travel with them. If you have one of the MacBook Pros described above, you can check here if the problem with defective batteries also affects you. If so, contact Apple Support to resolve the issue for you.
Source: 9to5mac
