If you’re thinking of bringing that MacBook Pro laptop with you onboard a Singapore Airlines flight, you might want to check if your device has been banned. Turns out some of the older ones occasionally, y’know … burst into flames.
Singapore Airlines (SIA) announced in a statement yesterday that some of Apple’s older generation 15-inch MacBook Pro laptops won’t be allowed on planes after a recall triggered by batteries that pose a fire safety risk.
That is, unless you’ve got verification proving that the worrisome batteries in question have been replaced.
On SIA’s website, it said: “Customers are to refrain from bringing the affected models either as hand-carry or in checked baggage until the battery has been verified as safe or replaced by the manufacturer.”
Most of these older laptops, known as the model “MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid-2015)”, were sold by Apple between September 2015 and February 2017, the company said in June when it announced the recall to replace customers’ batteries free-of-charge. (Editor: 2017 laptops are considered “old”? Gee whiz.)
Those who own this model can check if their device is eligible for a battery replacement by keying in the product’s serial number on Apple’s Battery Recall Program page.
If your MacBook Pro is eligible, you should stop using it and get your battery replaced, Apple said. We actually also say this, but kind of figured Apple was more of a believable source of authority on this.
According to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, Apple had received “26 reports of the laptop’s battery overheating, including five reports of minor burns and one report of smoke inhalation.”
Three months before the ban went into effect in the US, a video of a MacBook Pro belching out smoke went viral after it was posted by American DJ White Panda.
My MacBook Pro exploded today during normal use. No injuries, luckily. Some damage to the house. Could have been worse – good thing I wasn’t on a plane.
Very curious to see how @Apple responds.@MacRumors @TechCrunch @9to5mac pic.twitter.com/pjmpv5Mx9b
— White Panda (@whitepanda) May 29, 2019
There were also 17 reports of minor damage to nearby personal property, the consumer product safety commission added.
Last week, Thai Airways also issued a ban on the affected laptops from flights to and from Europe.
This comes over a month after the Federal Aviation Administration in the US posted a reminder to travelers in relation to Apple’s MacBook Pro battery recall, not to bring laptops containing recalled batteries on flights.
#RECALL ALERT: The #FAA reminds passengers that recalled #batteries do not fly. Avoid carrying #recalled batteries when flying until repaired/replaced per manufacturer instructions. Learn how to #PackSafe at https://t.co/OzSsV8ar7m. @USCPSC recall ➡️https://t.co/rKTiTdv4lj https://t.co/kqLCRedilp
— The FAA (@FAANews) July 10, 2019
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Thai Airways bans some MacBook Pros on EU flights
