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TSA Doesn't Want to See Your Little MacBook Air

By - Source: Tom's Hardware US | B 53 comments

If it's smaller than standard-size, airport security doesn't need you whipping it out.

If you've travelled anywhere going through an airport, you'll know that the security scanning procedures now demand that you take your laptop out of your bag and place it in a plastic bin so that it can be scanned separately.

According to CNN's talk with a Transportation Security Administration spokesman, however, the 11.6-inch MacBook Air, along with the iPad, do not need to be removed for your baggage when undergoing scanning.

One early adopter of the iPad who went through airport security said that she was told that her Apple tablet didn't need to be scanned separately because it "doesn't have a CPU or hard drive."

Of course, the MacBook Air doesn't have a hard drive either, instead relying on solid state storage. It does, however, have a CPU – albeit an old one. But that's not the official reasoning from the TSA.

The reason that the 11.6-inch MacBook Air can stay in your bag is because it is "smaller than a standard-size laptop," which puts it in the same category as netbooks.

Despite having nearly the same internal design, the 13.3-inch MacBook Air doesn't get the free pass and must be removed from one's bag.

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Top Comments
  • 22 Hide
    alyoshka , November 1, 2010 8:43 AM
    Don't these guys know???? The things they are letting go thru have edges as sharp as knives????
    Funny, you can't carry a scissors into a plane but you can carry a MacAir...
    Yeah , we know, Laptops are bigger and can easily be used to conceal a weapon in but what if the shape itself is and can be used as a weapon??? we've heard a dozed people getting cut by the MacAir.... don't the security guys have any gray matter what so ever?
  • 13 Hide
    r3t4rd , November 1, 2010 11:24 AM
    nebunso why are we making such a big deal about this? just take the damn thing out and scan it...no one is going to tell you to put it back in

    Thats what she said.
Other Comments
  • -6 Hide
    TheWhiteRose000 , November 1, 2010 7:55 AM
    XD

    Good to know?
  • Display all 53 comments.
  • 22 Hide
    alyoshka , November 1, 2010 8:43 AM
    Don't these guys know???? The things they are letting go thru have edges as sharp as knives????
    Funny, you can't carry a scissors into a plane but you can carry a MacAir...
    Yeah , we know, Laptops are bigger and can easily be used to conceal a weapon in but what if the shape itself is and can be used as a weapon??? we've heard a dozed people getting cut by the MacAir.... don't the security guys have any gray matter what so ever?
  • 9 Hide
    alyoshka , November 1, 2010 8:45 AM
    lol!!^^ sorry typo " we've heard of a dozen people...... " :) 
  • 1 Hide
    damasvara , November 1, 2010 8:49 AM
    alyoshkaDon't these guys know???? The things they are letting go thru have edges as sharp as knives????Funny, you can't carry a scissors into a plane but you can carry a MacAir...Yeah , we know, Laptops are bigger and can easily be used to conceal a weapon in but what if the shape itself is and can be used as a weapon??? we've heard a dozed people getting cut by the MacAir.... don't the security guys have any gray matter what so ever?

    Yes, I can imagine it now... An iBoomerang... :lol: 

    :lol:  on the typo too. Good thing you revised it. ;) 
  • 0 Hide
    jsc , November 1, 2010 8:58 AM
    That may be official policy, but I have had to pull my netbook out of my carryon bag each time I have flown.

    I will be flying again in a couple of days. I'll see what happens.
  • 0 Hide
    jj463rd , November 1, 2010 9:14 AM
    But what about the battery in the Macbook Air as it would make a good igniter for something else?
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DcpANRFrI4
  • 7 Hide
    r3t4rd , November 1, 2010 9:28 AM
    What about the exploding iPhones/iPods/Mac Books? Explosions in Aircrafts...isn't that bad?
  • 6 Hide
    amdfangirl , November 1, 2010 9:43 AM
    Given the current security fiasco I'm not surprised security is so awful.
  • 3 Hide
    klavis , November 1, 2010 9:55 AM
    I would make a point to pull it out anyways and make a hassle out of it to annoying the annoying people doing the annoying screening.
  • 0 Hide
    Travis Beane , November 1, 2010 9:59 AM
    Given how dangerous lithium batteries can be, and yet I can't bring my razors or toothpaste on a local flight in Canada...
    So, how long will it take to drive instead?
  • 4 Hide
    Cs342 , November 1, 2010 10:42 AM
    The Alienware M11x is smaller than a standard size laptop too...
  • 9 Hide
    ares1214 , November 1, 2010 11:03 AM
    And when something blows up or someone gets decapitated with a Mac Air, THEN they will start searching again...
  • 5 Hide
    ares1214 , November 1, 2010 11:03 AM
    Atleast terrorist will buy the piece of junk now :)  Give steve some business.
  • 1 Hide
    nebun , November 1, 2010 11:05 AM
    so why are we making such a big deal about this? just take the damn thing out and scan it...no one is going to tell you to put it back in
  • 13 Hide
    r3t4rd , November 1, 2010 11:24 AM
    nebunso why are we making such a big deal about this? just take the damn thing out and scan it...no one is going to tell you to put it back in

    Thats what she said.
  • 2 Hide
    tommysch , November 1, 2010 11:30 AM
    alyoshkadon't the security guys have any gray matter what so ever?


    No they dont.
  • 7 Hide
    chick0n , November 1, 2010 11:40 AM
    doesn't have CPU? wow. I told my friends people working at TSA are nothing but some rent-a-cop who can't even finish high school. I guess I was right. hah !
  • 0 Hide
    youssef 2010 , November 1, 2010 11:42 AM
    that's what happens when the it's up to the wrong people to put laws and regulations.
  • 5 Hide
    Parrdacc , November 1, 2010 11:42 AM
    TSA = Totally Stupid Agents
  • 4 Hide
    COLGeek , November 1, 2010 11:45 AM
    Most of us don't want to see them either......
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