The Australian-based Qantas Airlines already placed a restriction on using Dells on their planes (the machines either have to run solely on battery power, or plugged in, sans-battery), and now they're considering clamping down on Macs as well. Qantas is currently investigating the actual threat that Apple's recalled batteries might or might not pose. We haven't heard any reports of Apple's batteries exploding like Dell's, but we can understand an airline's need to err on the side of caution [UPDATE: yes, we've had reports of PowerBooks and iBooks heating up and/or catching fire, but actually and violently exploding is slightly different].In case you still need to check if your iBook or PowerBook (the only two affected models Apple has announced) battery might need to be swapped out, Apple's recall page with instructions and a signup form is here.
[via Macsimum News]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
8-25-2006 @ 3:38PM
kevin said...
i have a 17" powerbook...
so i should have nothing to worry about.
right?
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8-25-2006 @ 3:50PM
OSpazX said...
Dude....just goto the site and check you battery serial number. Wont take long, and will let you know for sure.
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8-25-2006 @ 3:50PM
Chris said...
Are you living in a box?
Have not heard reports??
http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/06/another-powerbook-violently-explodes/
http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/02/powerbook-g4-plays-the-flame-game-too/
http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/24/apple-to-recall-1-8-million-sony-made-batteries/
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8-25-2006 @ 3:53PM
Jeff said...
How could you prove to the airlines that your battery is not one of the defective ones. What about people with non recalled batteries? (like me with a 15 inch MBP)
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8-25-2006 @ 4:01PM
Gordon Werner said...
QANTAS ... not Quantas ...
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8-25-2006 @ 4:04PM
Jerry Nick said...
Duh..? "We haven't heard any reports of Apple's batteries exploding like Dell's"..? Didn't you guys did miss these: http://www.flickr.com/photos/41783769@N00/
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8-25-2006 @ 4:09PM
Leonard Nimrod said...
"You know all those scenarios we went over? Well we never thought of this one! There are mother f@#king Macs exploding on the mother f@#king plane!"
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8-25-2006 @ 4:14PM
JPL said...
"batteries that were sold worldwide from January 2004 through August 2004"
Me thinks you should link to http://support.apple.com/batteryprogram/ instead
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8-25-2006 @ 4:27PM
Ed said...
They let matches on planes. I've heard quite a few cases of them catching fire...
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8-25-2006 @ 4:36PM
Bonnie said...
That is not the correct link. That one goes to previous battery recall. The page for the current, much larger recall is:
https://support.apple.com/ibook_powerbook/batteryexchange/
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8-25-2006 @ 4:54PM
Jon said...
"How could you prove to the airlines that your battery is not one of the defective ones. What about people with non recalled batteries? (like me with a 15 inch MBP)"
I doubt that the staff there will be able to tell the difference between a PowerBook and a MacBook Pro, so it's safer for Qantas to ban all Apple machines. Not that there was any threat to the airline in the first place.
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8-25-2006 @ 5:07PM
BobMac said...
I have a MacBook Pro and would like to keep the battery out when it's just sitting at my desk. However, when I do, the speed (based on the Temp Monitor app) maxes out at 1GHz. If I leave the battery in, it maxes out at 2GHz. Is this normal? Is this accurate?
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8-25-2006 @ 5:13PM
Mike said...
I've got a MacBook Pro, and had an affected battery. I registered yesterday, and recieved my replacement battery today from DHL...problem solved!
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8-25-2006 @ 5:24PM
Ed said...
12: From experience with other computers, I'd expect the opposite, they tend to reduce CPU speed when on battey and run at full when on mains power.
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8-25-2006 @ 6:05PM
Stephane AMARGER said...
I have a MBP 15" and my battery was listed in the recall program (may be not for the same reason).
Anyway, Apple did change my battery for free last week.
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8-25-2006 @ 6:39PM
Nick said...
I guess I'll find out in 2 weeks if Qantas is going to be hardcore about checking my new Intel Macbook or not.
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8-25-2006 @ 6:45PM
herbert said...
f"ยง$& thats not good - i going to take my flight to australia on monday evening with my powerbook which has an battery affected from the exchange programm.
hmm - let me see what happens when I try to use it on the plane ;)
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8-25-2006 @ 7:21PM
Travis Beard said...
I just hope this New one they send me is better than the one i had to replace. I had a OE battery not on the list.. it died in a year... this new one is going strong as ever. I hope i dont get crap again.
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8-25-2006 @ 8:38PM
Jay said...
What's ironic about the recall is that the PowerBook 5300 had the same problem probably 10 years ago. They shipped with LiIon batteries made by Sony and had to be recalled and replaced with NiMh batteries for catching fire. Gee...we've come a long way, not.
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8-26-2006 @ 6:03AM
Richard Flynn said...
It's Qantas. Just like Scott wrote in his post yesterday. It stands for "Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services". Sorry to be picky.
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