Is it safe to walk outside with Macbook Pro in winter?

[nameless_tee]

It's almost one month since I bought 13 inch macbook pro. I really like it, especially for its sizes. I live in Yakutsk, Russia, in winter, most of the time it is usually -30*C to -35*C degrees cold. I used to carry my old laptop with me even in winter and it was okay to start using after waiting 10-15 mins before start. The macbook is light and small so I wish I could use it in the university everyday. But it has metal body, so it will freeze much faster and more deep.

Does anyone carry it with him in winter, any advices? I already have a sleeve and can dress it in a towel, planning to carry all that stuff on my backpack.

 

[jerryk]

Here are limits for the MPB

• Operating temperature: 50° to 95° F (10° to 35° C)
• Storage temperature: –13° to 113° F (–25° to 45° C)

So you would be pushing the limits.

 

[burgman]

Depends how long it stays at that temp. Here is specs from Apple
Electrical and Operating Requirements

• Line voltage:
  100V to 240V AC
• Frequency:
  50Hz to 60Hz
• Operating temperature:
  50° to 95° F (10° to 35° C)
• Storage temperature:
  –13° to 113° F (–25° to 45° C)
• Relative humidity:
  0% to 90% noncondensing
• Operating altitude:
  tested up to 10,000 feet
• Maximum storage altitude:
  15,000 feet

 

[canuckRus]

It's almost one month since I bought 13 inch macbook pro. I really like it, especially for its sizes. I live in Yakutsk, Russia, in winter, most of the time it is usually -30*C to -35*C degrees cold. I used to carry my old laptop with me even in winter and it was okay to start using after waiting 10-15 mins before start. The macbook is light and small so I wish I could use it in the university everyday. But it has metal body, so it will freeze much faster and more deep.

Does anyone carry it with him in winter, any advices? I already have a sleeve and can dress it in a towel, planning to carry all that stuff on my backpack.

Towel next to useless. Do you have access to any thick felt (1/4”-1/2”) material.

 

[Samuelsan2001]

No that's when the bears get you!!

 

[New_Mac_Smell]

I think it'd survive longer than you would outside. Isn't Yakutsk one of those places where it's so cold, culturally people don't even kiss incase they stick to one another?

 

[Fishrrman]

That's cold!

I wouldn't "take it outside" unless it was closed and in some kind of protective case.
Otherwise, you'll be "pushing against the edge of the envelope!"

 

[lambertjohn]

It's almost one month since I bought 13 inch macbook pro. I really like it, especially for its sizes. I live in Yakutsk, Russia, in winter, most of the time it is usually -30*C to -35*C degrees cold. I used to carry my old laptop with me even in winter and it was okay to start using after waiting 10-15 mins before start. The macbook is light and small so I wish I could use it in the university everyday. But it has metal body, so it will freeze much faster and more deep.

Does anyone carry it with him in winter, any advices? I already have a sleeve and can dress it in a towel, planning to carry all that stuff on my backpack.

I think carrying it around, with the power off is fine. You're just transporting it, right? Then you're going to use it in a warm building or someplace like that? Just give it a few minutes to acclimated/thaw out once you're inside the building, then power it up! I don't see the big deal in this. If it was me, I'd do it and not think twice about it.

 

[maflynn]

How long are you outside in that cold. If you're leaving your car, to walk to a building, then it should be fine. If you're waiting for a bus for 30 minutes, then I think you might run into issues.

 

[smallcoffee]

How long are you outside in that cold. If you're leaving your car, to walk to a building, then it should be fine. If you're waiting for a bus for 30 minutes, then I think you might run into issues.

Yeah this is what I came here to say, more or less. It's largely fine if you're only outside for 10-20 minutes and it's in a backpack.

 

[MisterSensitive]

I've always heard that it's not so much the absolute temperature as quick swings in temperature. So, if you take your laptop from a toasty heated building into sub-freezing temperatures, without much insulation, the temperature swing will cause expansion (or in this case, contraction) of the components, thus stressing solder connections and ultimately causing issues, especially over time.

 

[Samuelsan2001]

It is obviously not great to expose your laptop to extremes of temperature, but if you live somewhere cold or hot then there is not a lot you can do. You need to use your computer, its a portable you need to carry it around.

Extremes of cold and heat will shorten the battery life and will put stress on some of your components, your computer may last a little less than others before needing a new battery or failing outright, but these are solid machines and often last 7-8 years without issue. Just use it as you need to that's why you bought it, expect it to last 5 years and budget to replace it around then.

Its a tool treat it as such and if that means a slightly increased replacement cycle to use the computer as you need then that's life.

 

[prisstratton]

I imagine that your trips outside would not be for a long extended time period and that you would be carrying it in a bag of some description. Plus you have already mentioned that you let your old laptop warm up before using it, so you are already doing the right thing. If it feels too cold to the touch, then wait a while.

I used to live in Northern Manitoba (+55 N) where it gets every bit as cold as the OP mentioned. If you bring something that is frozen into a warm environment with obviously more humidity than outside you get instant condensation. Clearly the OP’s laptop should never get that cold.

True story: where I used to work a young engineer left his business laptop outside in his car overnight in winter. Remembering the laptop the next morning and worried that he might have damaged it he brought it into his house and tried to start it right away. You guessed it, instant condensation and a fried computer.