Qantas is seeking advice on whether it should place restrictions on the use of Apple Mac notebooks on its aircraft, following the computer maker's recall of 1.8million batteries today.
Qantas is seeking advice on whether it should place restrictions on the use of Apple Mac notebooks on its aircraft, following the computer maker's recall of 1.8million batteries today.
A Qantas spokesman told APC this afternoon that the company was seeking further information on the precise risk posed by the batteries in Apple PowerBooks and iBooks, and whether they posed the same risk as Dell batteries.
"We have put limitations on Dell computers and at this stage we are awaiting further information from Apple," said the spokesman.
Apple's product recall only covers discontinued models of notebook: iBook and PowerBook. Owners of the company's new flagship model, the MacBook Pro, may face arguments with flight attendants if Qantas does institute restrictions: the MacBook Pro looks exactly the same as a PowerBook.
Yesterday, Qantas said that Dell notebook users could only use their laptop on a plane on battery power, or with the battery removed and the unit plugged into the power outlet in first or business class.
Dell seems to be delighted that Apple has recalled the batteries, dedicating a whole post on its Direct2Dell blog commending Apple on the move. It was also at pains to point out that its 4.1million recalled batteries are only a small share of the 24.9million batteries it shipped over the two year period.