Where I live, there is not much snow. Last year was one of those rare years that we got a lot a snow, 14 inches of it to be exact. All models of MacBooks run hot, most will melt snow with ease (yes, any computer that runs above 32˚ F will melt snow, but that is not the point). These MacBooks will efficiently melt snow better than the other computers due to their higher temperatures (I have almost burnt my hand on my daily driver MacBook Air). How did we lower our temperatures? Continue reading after a message from our sponsor:
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There have been other news outlets that talked about this, especially because of Heatgate with the Core i9 MacBook Pro. Check out our post about it here.
We decided that we would lower our temperatures by replacing the Thermal Paste. After we opened up our MacBook Air and removed the heatsink and replaced the thermal paste, we observed a dramatic difference in temperatures. We used some of Cooler Master's MasterGel Pro that we had leftover from a previous build. Based on our evidence, we were seeing 10˚C drop in temperatures under full load. We also saw a drop between 20˚C and 25˚C during normal use (we define normal use as web browsing with between 30-40 tabs open). This method appears to have worked wonderfully! Here is a picture of our temperatures before replacing the thermal paste:
We decided that we would lower our temperatures by replacing the Thermal Paste. After we opened up our MacBook Air and removed the heatsink and replaced the thermal paste, we observed a dramatic difference in temperatures. We used some of Cooler Master's MasterGel Pro that we had leftover from a previous build. Based on our evidence, we were seeing 10˚C drop in temperatures under full load. We also saw a drop between 20˚C and 25˚C during normal use (we define normal use as web browsing with between 30-40 tabs open). This method appears to have worked wonderfully! Here is a picture of our temperatures before replacing the thermal paste:
And now here is a similar load after the paste has been replaced:
This dramatic difference of temperature has impressed me. The difference allows my MacBook to run cooler and therefore have improved battery life.
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Apple acknowledges certain temperature issues with their computers. Their website has a few recommendations on how to manage the operating temperature of the device. Here is what it has to say:
- Make sure that you've installed all Mac software updates and all current firmware updates.
- Use your Mac notebook where the ambient temperature is between 50˚ and 95˚ F (10˚ and 35˚ C). Don't leave your Mac notebook in your car, because temperatures in parked cars can exceed this range. You should also use your Mac notebook where the relative humidity is between 0% and 95% (noncondensing).
- Use your Mac notebook on a stable work surface that allows for good ventilation. Don't use your Mac notebook in your bed, on a pillow, or under covers.
- Don't put anything over the keyboard.
- If your Mac notebook has ventilation openings, don't put anything into them.
- Use only Apple-authorized power adapters. Take steps to avoid overheating the power adapter.
If your Mac notebook gets warm even when it isn't doing tasks that require intensive calculations, or if it has fans that run for a long time, use Activity Monitor to check CPU activity. Look for malfunctioning processes that can put a significant load on the CPU, and check whether Spotlight is indexing your hard drive. You might also need to reset the System Management Controller on your MacBook.
Thank you for reading this post. We took apart our daily driver MacBook Air for our you. We wanted to provided this information to you and recommend that if you want to do a similar procedure we recommend you follow the appropriate iFixit guide for your device.