U.S. air travelers can leave their shiny new 11.6-inch MacBook Air laptops in their bags when passing through airport security checkpoints according to the TSA. The 13.3-inch model, however, is too big and still must come out for separate screening.
The iPad, Kindle and other like-devices don’t have to be removed for screening, either.
I flew to Idaho with my iPad earlier this year. Here’s what I wrote then:
The TSA announced a few weeks ago that travelers wouldn’t have to remove their iPad from their bags as they do with laptops, I didn’t find this to be the case. Both times I went through airport security, they scanned my bag twice and then pulled me aside to open it. While that drew unwanted attention my way, I guess I can understand why they wanted to double-check. Still, it was annoying.
I’d be prepared to pull out any device at airport security, no matter what the policy says.