Airbag Smashes MacBook Into Man’s Chest, Leaves MacBook-Shaped Bruise
11:59 pm, July 14th, 2009, Leander Kahney
The MacBook Air is thin, sexy machine, but you wouldn’t want one smashed into your chest during a car accident.
That’s what happened to this MacBook Air above. It was sitting in a man’s lap when the airbag went off and crushed it into his chest, bending the lid like a Taco. Amazingly, the computer still works, but it left a MacBook-shaped mark on the man’s chest. The man is lucky — the MacBook Air is thin enough to slice through bread and human flesh (see the pix after the jump).
“He does have a bruise that matches the leading edge of the MacBook Air,” says Dana Stibolt, president of MacMedics, the Maryland repair shop that’s attempting to fix the machine.
Stibolt says the man had the MacBook Air open in his lap as he sat in the passenger seat. When the car was involved in a serious smash, the airbag deployed and “pushed the top edge of the MacBook Air (where the camera is) into him, and then kept pushing from the bottom of the hinge area effectively crushing it on his chest,” says Stibolt. Ouch!
The picture on the screen – which looks like a black-and-white mountain — is the pattern of the broken LCD.
Stibolt is hoping to replace the screen — the rest of the computer seems to work fine. More at MacMedics.
The MacBook Air is thin enough to slice bread and flesh, as some German forum members have demonstrated.
Posted by Leander Kahney in Hardware, News | Comment on this article
That first picture is brilliant. As if Macs were not fantastic as they are, now we discover that when broken they turn into modern art.
Kev Robinson, on July 15th, 2009 at 1:31 am
Looks like a painting of a mountain.
Justin Kila, on July 15th, 2009 at 3:18 am
Another feature Steve jobs put into our MacBooks: INVINSiBiLITY!!!
Eric, on July 15th, 2009 at 4:41 am
Aren’t airbags higher than lap level?
Was he driving?
MacRat, on July 15th, 2009 at 6:00 am
Golly whiz, do you think there’s any chance he might have been at fault in the accident?
Rob Dern, on July 15th, 2009 at 7:03 am
> INVINSiBiLITY
steve also put spell checking in there…
monkeythepig, on July 15th, 2009 at 7:37 am
MacBook AirBag.
I wonder if the logo lights up on his chest?
Partners in Grime, on July 15th, 2009 at 8:08 am
Yeah… like Driving and having a macbook on yourlap is a great IDEA!!!!!
people die cuse their dumb!… he’s lucky he didnt die
Alberto Fernández, on July 15th, 2009 at 11:48 am
The pattern of the broken LCD is just incredible! I made a wallpaper of it in case anyone wants to use it: http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/8786/macbookmountainwallpape.png
Bram Oosten., on July 15th, 2009 at 1:16 pm
Ever thought he could of been the passenger.. u idiots
Verhaus, on July 15th, 2009 at 3:43 pm
[...] http://cultofmac.com [...]
MacBook Air gets slammed into user by an airbag in car accident at MacMedics Macintosh Service & Consulting Blog, on July 15th, 2009 at 3:48 pm
It says he was in the passenger seat, not driving.
Brockway, on July 15th, 2009 at 8:18 pm
The man was in the passenger seat. Unless he can push the gas with his mind, I doubt he was driving. Morons.
Jilly, on July 15th, 2009 at 9:24 pm
That’s probably the most interesting picture of a Macbook tarnished, and this is the first one I’ve seen like that. Jeez, that had to hurt. >.<
Kristen, on July 15th, 2009 at 10:12 pm
While I figured he was in the passenger’s seat, it does point out the danger of using this type of equipment in a moving vehicle. In an accident, anything not secured becomes and instant (and potentially deadly) projectile.
Bill Coleman, on July 16th, 2009 at 7:04 am
Yeah, ever notice the warnings on the window visors that say “never place any objects between yourself and the airbag”? That’s exactly why. If the airbag deploys, it’s going to send whatever object flying with extreme force right into you. It’s probably killed tons of people.
amatecha, on July 18th, 2009 at 2:09 am
Bahah! My first though? At least the screen still works. …I thought it was a picture of a mountain on the screen, lol. What can I say, it’s really late.
nthn, on July 24th, 2009 at 12:58 am
Wow… poor guy. Mac FTW!!! Had that been a PC, not only would it have knocked him out, the damage would have been more severe, those stupid clunkers… Even the super-thin MacBook Air can stand up to a crash. I’d like to see an HP or an Asus stand up to that, and still be functional. Replacing the screen? Good idea. I’m surprised the HDD survived that… Unless he’s got an SSD in there.
KodyTroje, on July 24th, 2009 at 9:30 pm