Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
MBA: Maximum operating altitude: 10,000 feet?
- Thread starter stevehp
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
It's called cabin pressure.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabin_pressure
You don't think we'd be flying at 30,000 ft. and be ok do you? People die at those altitudes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabin_pressure
You don't think we'd be flying at 30,000 ft. and be ok do you? People die at those altitudes.
WELL GUYS, I'M GLAD WE WERE ALL ON TOP OF THAT ONE. GOOD WORK.
<3 spy.macrumors.com
EDIT: Interesting, I didn't know it was 8000 feet in an airplane. I guess it would take more work to keep it closer to sea-level pressure. Does that mean they have to use high-altitude baking directions?
<3 spy.macrumors.com
EDIT: Interesting, I didn't know it was 8000 feet in an airplane. I guess it would take more work to keep it closer to sea-level pressure. Does that mean they have to use high-altitude baking directions?
Not necessarily more work, but the increased pressure differential (particularly at the highest altitudes) puts more stress on the airplane. The new carbon fiber planes are able to push this further: the 787 will be pressurized to 6,000 feet, while the A350 may go to 5,000, increasing passenger comfort.
The 80GB Samsung hard drive in the air is Rated to 3000 meters operating which is just under 10k feet so I bet you thats the primary reason for the restriction.
It also depends on where you are getting off the plane. I once was on a flight to Santa Cruz, Bolivia with a stop in La Paz. It was the first time I got winded after they opened the door just switching seats. For flights to places like that, I wouldn't want to go from 5 or 6,000 ft. to 11,000 ft. instantanously.
If I remember correctly, the altitude restriction for devices that contain hard drives has to do with the aerodynamics of multikilo-RPM spinning platters functioning a little differently in thinner air. Since virtually no one (or at least a very, very small percentage of people) lives or works above 10K feet, that's what the hard drive designers design to. If they built all hard drives to work as high as, say, 30K feet, the design would have to be slightly different (to accommodate the greater variation in atmospheric pressure) and hard drives would probably be slightly larger and/or more expensive to build.
I would imagine that the SSD-equipped MBA does not have this restriction... although I do know that some screen technologies (plasma, mostly) also have altitude restrictions because the gas-filled elements may behave differently under lower atmospheric pressure.
lol. i can't tell if you're joking, but the reason air marshal bullets make the whole airplane explode is the interior is pressurized.
...and as an interesting side note: the nice bizjets (e.g., Gulfstream G5) fly higher (up to 51,000ft vs. the high 30s that airliners typically fly in) but maintain a lower cabin altitude (typically 6,000ft). That + lower noise + comfier seats/beds makes flying first class commercial feel like a painful way to fly.
Another cool plane will be the boeing dreamliner, apparently it will be pressurized to a be equivalent to a somewhat lower level.
I'm not sure if you're joking,
but bullets won't make an airplane explode. This is a movie myth. Mythbusters actually did an episode where they debunked this.
And I can't tell if you are joking. Piercing an airplane window or skin with a bullet does not make the whole airplane explode. Very little happens actually except for loosing cabin pressure. Oh Hollywood, your entertainment is fun to watch, but so misleading!
EDIT: LOL, great minds think alike... I was actually thinking of the exact same episode, but I typed too slow...
