Yes, the airport metal detector can deplete your laptop battery. If it once was at 2 hours or 4 hours time, it could soon be at 0 minutes. How can this happen? If the metal detector has a strong enough electromagnetic ray, and if this signal is directly in contact with your laptop, the battery can be affected. Your battery is more prone to being affected if your laptop is on or in standby mode.
How do you protect your laptop from battery damage at the airport?
- Turn your laptop off
- Request that airport security scan your laptop through an x-ray machine or hand-inspect it.
- Remove any peripherals (i.e. mouse, camera) from laptop’s USB ports
Of course, some airport security might not like to be told how to inspect equipment. So, if contested, you might want to request that you just remove the laptop battery while they scan the laptop. We hope you do not become a “random search” candidate as of the result of this tip, as we don’t take responsibility for any negative consequences.
