Ask HN: How to fly with a (non recalled) 15 inch MacBook Pro

I'm about to fly out for business with a 2018 MacBook Pro that isn't affected by the current battery recall.

How am I going to be able to prove that my laptop isn't affected?

Are agents going to take my word? (doubt it) Will they take my purchase receipt? (anyone can forge it, or could be from another MBP) Will they let me open the "About This Mac" dialog that shows it's a 2018 model? (can be forged too I guess) Will they know that 2015 models don't have the touch bar that is present in mine?

If I still can't convince the agent, then what next?

Have some of you gone through this? If so how did you go about it and how did it go?

3 comments

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tlb 6y ago ↗

In my 2 flights since the announcement, nobody asked. I had saved a screenshot of the Apple support page saying my 2015 MBP isn't affected, but it hasn't been needed.

At airports like SFO, each agent must see 100s of macbooks per day, so I assume they have a system.

icedchai 6y ago ↗

You're probably overthinking it. Odds are nobody checks. If it's that much of a concern, buy a Dell or HP sticker and put it over the Apple logo.

Nextgrid 6y ago ↗

I heard that during tests TSA failed to detect 70% of guns and similarly dangerous items passed through it, so I don’t think your laptop would be an issue even if it was recalled (not saying you should be taking recalled ones though).