Beach holiday! Have you ever taken MacBooks to the beach?

[Marty_Macfly]

Hi all,

Beach Holiday coming up! ?

Not a swimmer at all. I will be mostly looking after our patch, reading, surfing web etc. and eating ice cream


I have taken Kindle and iPhone to beach in past, no problems.
Can I extend this to the iPad? or even the MacBook Air M1?! Be nice to use them on holiday when I finally have time on my hands.

I'm going to pop this question in both the iPad and Mac sections of this forum. It will be interesting to see the replies ?


We won't be near the sea and do not have a hoard of young wet kids running around. With covid, we will have wind breaker posts to mark distance away from other families etc.

2020 got my 1st iPad 12.9 - awesome screen! great for my old eyes.
2021 got my 1st MacBook Air, M1.
I have apple care on both and are using for personal use only. My attitude is not to be too precious about them and just use them as much as possible in the real world. Amazing portable tech!



RE: M1 MacBook Air
I am a bit concerned with sand etc getting under the keys and into the ports, and sound grills.
Or sand scratching the screen? Its never been a problem with the iPhone or kindle etc.

I don't have the luxury of leaving the keyboard at home with the mba, unlike the magic keyboard on the iPad.
I also don't have a screen protector on the MBA
So is a laptop on the beach a complete no no?



Hope you can advise.
Be great to hear how people have got on, using their apple gadgets out in the wild! ?

Regards.
Martin.

 

[bsamcash]

Maybe on a chilly, overcast day with no wind. But if there’s any wind or direct sunlight, I’d be worried about sand or heat damage.

 

[hg.wells]

I would stick with the kindle and iPhone, I wouldn’t risk taking my Mac to the beach.

 

[chown33]

iPhones are water-resistant and dust-resistant (see their specs, or here). Some Kindles are water-resistant or have a water-resistant case available. MacBooks are neither water nor dust resistant, and will certainly need a case to become so.

Anything I took to the beach, I'd get a rubber cover/protector for the port, USB or Lightning or whatever. If not a port protector, I'd get a water/dust/ice-cream resistant case that fits the entire device.

If you can't find a port protector or case, use a zipper-lock plastic bag, or anything to keep sand out of the ports and moving parts.

The last thing I'd want to be trying to dig out of any device port are tiny grains of sand, not least because they're often composed of quartz or magnetite, both of which are much harder than any of the materials in a USB or Lightning port.

 

[glenthompson]

My Mac? Never. I would use my iPad but bright sun makes the screen hard to read and really burns battery.

 

[Fishrrman]

I wouldn't do it (but that's just me and I'm not a beach person anyway).
Sand, intense sun, salt water ... NONE of these are good for any kind of laptop.

iPad? Perhaps (but I'd be worrying even about that).
But leave the laptop at home.

 

[Mousse]

Hail no. When I'm at the beach, I don't want any tech tagging along to intrude upon my nature time. I don't want a George Costanza worlds colliding scenario.

I'll take my phone, but that's only emergency contacts. When I'm at the beach, I don't want to think about work or anything work related.

 

[Marty_Macfly]

Thanks for all the advice guys! Much appreciated.

Additional points from Ipad thread as well - Heat, theft, salt water mist on windy day.

ok, talked out of idea - had to ask though ?


Regards
Martin

 

[Boyd01]

I thought we were supposed to be able to use our computers on the beach starting in 2010! ?

I remember people were speculating that Apple would release an LCD screen for the Apple //c after that movie came out (1984).

 

[Marty_Macfly]

Hi All,

1st chance to report back ??

Took the Mac and iPad and iPhone on holiday.
Only used the iPhone SE2 on the beach - ok for kindle, did not have to hang around long really.


As a side note, using the Mac as a laptop for a change, it is an awesome bit of kit! Feels really premium and everything just clicks.


Martin