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To evaluate potential bruise damage caused by impacts during transport in a newly developed vacuum apple harvester, tests were conducted using an Impact Recording Device (IRD). Four pneumatic suction tubes with related decelerators and distributor were used for transporting the IRD into a dry fruit bin. Three different fill points (bottom third, middle third and top third) were defined and three different vacuum pressures (higher, normal and lower) were measured. During a complete test cycle through tubes into the empty bin, the IRD recorded impact data and the data recording threshold was set to 8 g (1 g = 9.81 m s-2). Results showed that 10.7% of impacts occurred in the bin (apple to apple and apple to bin impacts). All of these impacts were below 20 g, which could be considered as non-bruising impacts. Of the remaining 89.3% of impact points that occurred in the machine, 88.5% to 93.3% of them were recorded in the tubes. However, the impacts caused by the vacuum harvester remained at a low non-bruising level, approximately 17 g, because of the use of shock absorbent materials. Under manufactures recommended vacuum pressure, only 23 impact points in 478 tests had more than 10% possibility to cause bruise damage on apples. Furthermore, 99.6% of the apples in the study would meet the bruise criteria for the U.S. Extra Fancy grade.