A woman has shared the costly faux pas she made while travelling on an aeroplane with her new laptop.
Many people opt to take their laptops on flights with them, giving them the opportunity to catch up on work or personal projects while on their journey. But TikTok user Sabrina Chakici saw her new Apple MacBook Pro severely damaged due to a common habit she’s warned against.
In a video on the hit social media platform, Sabrina explained: “PSA [public service announcement] to anyone who travels with their laptop on a plane. I cannot believe this happened to me, it happened yesterday so I’ve calmed down a little bit but I was full on crying yesterday on the plane.”
She then held up her laptop and said her boyfriend had recently bought it for her, and she’d immediately purchased a protective cover to keep it safe like a “responsible adult”, but her laptop screen was unable to be protected from the impact of a reclining aeroplane seat.
She continued: “I was working away on the plane then I put it in the seat pocket in front of me, so where they have the escape route flyers and all that kind of stuff. This is a regular thing that I do, I’ve always travelled with my laptop, I always work on a plane and I always put my laptop in the seat pocket thingy.
“Now I’ve got this lovely brand new MacBook Pro, guess what happened? The person in front of me – fair enough on them, no fault of theirs – was reclining back and forth and as they were doing that, the pressure in the seat cracked my screen.”
Sabrina then turned the laptop screen to show the camera the damage, which included a large crack. She added that since filming the video, it’s gotten worse and her screen is now “completely black and unresponsive”.
“So basically, I’ve effed the screen by putting it in the little seat so don’t do it”, she said. “I would never, ever have even thought this could be a thing but now, obviously using my brain, I’m like, ‘well yeah, that makes sense, people are putting pressure on it as they’re moving back and forth so of course it’s going to crack it’. But it’s just never happened to me before – so don’t do it, basically.”
People shared their thoughts in the comments section. One person simply stated: “That’s why reclining should be banned”, while another said: “This is why laptops should be stowed in the overhead compartment for take off, landing and turbulence”.
A third person commented: “Omg I always put my laptop there”. Sabrina replied: “Then it was worth me making this video! Don’t do it again”.
Others advised her to visit the Apple Store to see if staff could assist her, while some suggested she take out AppleCare, which “provides expert technical support and additional hardware service options from Apple”.
