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Cleaning My MacBook After 16800 Hours of Use
- henriquez 6y agoThis is something people often forget about with laptops. Between dust buildup and thermal paste degradation, performance will always slow over time due to rampant thermals. Even tech-savvy people often seem to think their laptop is simply “slowing down” and “too old” when the solution is often as simple as a can of compressed air. I’d really recommend doing the dust cleanup every year or so. It’s usually easy enough to remove the bottom cover of any laptop without particularly special screwdrivers. Desktops (especially the PCs with the case Windows) are a bit easier to understand because you’ll see the clogged intakes and dust buildup much more readily. One thing I like about mechanical keyboards is that the keys can be removed making cleaning much easier. Six months is a better timeline for keyboard cleaning, these things get _nasty_ especially if you have pets.
- jessriedel 6y ago> It’s usually easy enough to remove the bottom cover of any laptop without particularly special screwdrivers. "particularly special"? The screwdrivers needed to open up a Macbook are special enough that I've never seen them used for any other object. So are you just glad that Apple didn't decide to create a new screwdriver standard for each Macbook model? :)
- bdcravens 6y agoHuawei has also used those screws https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentalobe_security_screw#Non-Apple_manufacturers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentalobe_security_screw#Non-A...
- cgriswald 6y agoI'm not sure Apple is representative of the category, although it could just be that the GP only has a narrow range of experience with laptops. A generous interpretation would exclude from "particular special" anything which is standard and not bespoke, even if it is less common. In any case, the bits are readily available. I've been using this guy for years: https://www.amazon.com/ORIA-Screwdriver-Professional-Precision-Smartphone/dp/B01E16J6RQ https://www.amazon.com/ORIA-Screwdriver-Professional-Precisi... Currently $18. I haven't come across a device for which this kit didn't have a bit and the driver feels good in the hand. The outer case is hard plastic, but the inner "lining" is soft plastic, unfortunately. I wouldn't mind a similar kit with a better case, or just a carrier that will handle this kit neatly if anyone has suggestions.
- larrywright 6y agoI have the same set, and agree on the case. If they spent $5 more on the case they could probably charge twice as much.
- hombre_fatal 6y agoA popular meme but seems somewhat overstated. Most people don't have small pen-sized phillips screwdrivers either on hand and would need to purchase one for this case as well.
- jessriedel 6y agoYes, maybe greater than 50% of people. But if Apple used a standard then you could get them from your hardware store, or your neighbor. And you could keep them to work on your eyeglasses too.
- jessriedel 6y agoAlso, the fact that Apple bothered to use a weird screw is evidence that this represents a substantive barrier to many people. I mean, most people are never going to open their laptop in the first place; of those that would, a large fraction will have standard small screw drivers on hand.
- aspenmayer 6y agoFor all the parents of curious young hackers, a minor hurdle preventing easy access to internals has likely saved an untold number of laptops from unauthorized disassembly. It’s good to learn at a young age to have permission beforehand, instead of exceeding authorized access. A little help from the manufacturer goes a long way in that regard.
- ACow_Adonis 6y agobut the entire way many of us learnt to be hackers was through unauthorised disassembly :(
- aspenmayer 6y agoGood point, and it's one well taken. It's preferable to have a close relationship with your kids so they don't hide things from you, except things you're better off not knowing. To the point at hand, part of hacking, and life generally, is discretion. I learned not to do something I shouldn't as much from my upbringing, as I learned from my own testing. I was the kid who touched the hot stove after being told not to, as well as the electric fence. It wasn't such much defiance as discovery. I didn't find the potential for harm especially dissuading. I'd rather suffer a little harm in a controlled way than not know something so simple about my constructed environment. I was kind of a weird kid, now that I think about it. I like to think that I'm not the only one.
- neilv 6y agoBTW, one of the most useful tools I've found for working on arbitrary modern electronics (after a basic set of ordinary screwdrivers and jewelers' drivers, a needlenose pliers, and some kind of spudger) is a $10-$20 set of as many different security screw bits as you can get. IME, it pays for itself the first time you need one of the bits, and I wish I'd bought a bigger set the first time.
- isoskeles 6y agoI also find these very useful, but I have some that wore down and start stripping the screws. I'd like to find a set that isn't prone to wear, unless that is simply a fact of life. I'm wondering if I was just being too cheap when I bought my first set.
- neilv 6y agoGood point. One of my sets was of noticeably poor quality compared to the others. For bits I was using frequently, I'd try to find a tools seller with a brand to protect (probably not on Amazon, with their SKU commingling).
- simcop2387 6y agoI've had good luck with the iFixIt kits, but I haven't had to use them often enough that wear might be a real issue, so perhaps I just haven't seen it.
- Reason077 6y agoI bought this set a year ago and have been very happy with them. The heads/bits seem very solid hard steel. Not the soft ones that you often get. Comes with all the weird pentalobe etc bits for Apple and Nintendo etc. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0728BJ7TH/ https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0728BJ7TH/
- mirashii 6y agoI've had good luck with Wiha tools.
- _bxg1 6y agoThey make screwdriver kits specifically for working on electronics and many of them include an Apple-style head. It's annoying that you need to buy one, but they aren't hard to find.
- TheSpiceIsLife 6y agoYou’re hyperventilating about a $5 tool.
- gauravjain13 6y agoApple uses Torx screws, as do several other products. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torx https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torx
- lambda_tango 6y agoSince when? They used Pentalobe on just about everything the last decade. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentalobe_security_screw https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentalobe_security_screw Though it's gotten easier to get pentalobe screwdrivers, albeit made of Chinesium.
- wtallis 6y agoApple products often use pentalobe only for the outer casing, and standard torx for all the interior screws.
- GeekyBear 6y ago>So are you just glad that Apple didn't decide to create a new screwdriver standard for each Macbook model? :) Compared to Microsoft? They created a laptop that was impossible to open at all without destroying it. >According to iFixit, the Surface Laptop isn’t repairable at all. In fact, it got a 0 out of 10 for repairability and was labeled a “glue-filled monstrosity.” The lowest scores previously were a 1 out of 10 for all previous iterations of the Surface Pro It’s clear that Microsoft never intended for the Surface Laptop to be repaired because it’s a completely sealed device. There aren’t even any screws to take out, so iFixit had to slice the fabric cover open to peel it away from the metal chassis. That’s never going back together. The inner metal shield is also devoid of screws, relying instead upon spot welds and glue. Again, this is probably not going to be reassembled. https://www.extremetech.com/computing/251046-ifixit-labels-surface-laptop-glue-filled-monstrosity https://www.extremetech.com/computing/251046-ifixit-labels-s...
- slivanes 6y agoYou must be talking about the Surface laptop first and second generation only. The latest generation is actually quite repairable as far as laptops go: https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Microsoft+Surface+Laptop+3++(13.5-inch)+Teardown/127330 https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Microsoft+Surface+Laptop+3++... Microsoft are improving in this regard, unlike Apple.
- tinus_hn 6y agoDid they start offering screen repairs for the tablets yet? Preferably for less than the price of the whole thing.
- jessriedel 6y agoWhat about my comment makes you think I intended to make a Apple vs. Microsoft comparison?
- dexterdog 6y agoI have always been able to remove my MacBookPro screws with a small slotted driver.
- def8cefe 6y agoThey're security torx, iirc T7 size. You can get these bits at pretty much any hardware store.
- fermienrico 6y agoWhy not non-secure T7 screws?
- jandrese 6y agoThe security versions have a raised part in the middle that makes it impossible to use the regular Torx bit.
- fermienrico 6y agoI don’t think we are getting to the bottom of what the parent’s parent comment is talking about. Apple decided to use T7 security screws instead of just normal T7 torx. Why!? I am not looking for answers to the differences and what makes a security bit different. I am asking a more abstract rhetorical question - Why make it harder for the consumer to take the laptop apart? Especially, if it’s not impossible - just a little bit harder.
- evan_ 6y agothe more surface area that’s contacted between the driver and the fastener, the more friction and the better they hold on to the automatic drivers used to assemble the devices. On such a tiny screw the center pin probably adds an extra 20% or more surface area. I don’t know if that’s absolutely the reason but if they wanted to keep people out they could easily make a custom head that looked like the Apple logo or something. Nintendo has used tri-wing screws for decades because they expressly do want to keep people out of their devices. You can stop get a tri-wing driver but you have to special order it.
- def8cefe 6y agoThe security torx bits are much weaker, I've actually snapped quite a few of them which has never happened to me with any other type.
- cameldrv 6y agoI got one of these: https://www.tekton.com/everybit-tech-rescue-kit-28301 https://www.tekton.com/everybit-tech-rescue-kit-28301 It has everything you need to open essentially any computer and iPhones as well, and it's very compact.
- tw04 6y agoThey’re standard torx bit. Not particularly special and I’ve come across all manner of gadgets that use the same thing.
- amiga_500 6y agoUsing compressed air on a laptop or pc is so satisfying. The way the dust disappears and the evaporation of the moisture! Fast results.
- Symbiote 6y agoThose "gas duster" cans don't contain compressed air. It's a mixture of volatile solvents.
- siberianbear 6y agoYes, it's true. You can see this for yourself if you turn the can upside down while you press down the button on the top. Then, it will spray liquid solvent out, which will immediately vaporize, and therefore rapidly chill anything it's on. In my former life debugging signal timing issues on circuit boards I used to use this trick (using those "gas duster" cans upside down) to chill individual components to try to find out where the problem was.
- userbinator 6y agoThey used to be a CFC like R12 before the ozone depletion was known, now they are a HFC like R134a or R152a. ...which also means they are a cheap source of refrigerant. Look up "charging A/C with gas duster" if you want to go down a rabbithole...
- ectocardia 6y agoMy flatmate tried to "compressed air" his laptop once using his lab's compressor. Didn't turn the laptop off. Only two fan blades survived. We glued the other blades back on to tide him over until a replacement arrived, but each day one or two would break off and we'd have to give the laptop a good shake to expel them. ...it's often difficult to know how precise one must be when advising flatmates about compressed air.
- m463 6y ago> mechanical keyboards is that the keys can be removed that's true, but I don't do it all the time because it seems the keys are more likely to pop off on their own.
- TedDoesntTalk 6y ago> a can of compressed air Is there any truth to the rumors I’ve heard that these cans of compressed air expel things that are detrimental to health (not just nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon dioxide)
- koolba 6y agoI'd be impressed if there's a cheaper thing to fill into a can of compressed air then regular air.
- deathanatos 6y agoThen you'll be impressed: http://www.3m.com/us/office/advisory/DusterFAQs-fromInhalantDotOrg.pdf http://www.3m.com/us/office/advisory/DusterFAQs-fromInhalant... ; http://www.3m.com/us/office/advisory/3MDustRemoverAv152aMSDS.pdf http://www.3m.com/us/office/advisory/3MDustRemoverAv152aMSDS... My understanding is that this is because a typical compressed air can could not actually withstand the pressured required to hold normal air, compressed.
- jerzyt 6y agoCompressed air is definitely cheaper than any other gas you could use, but you can't liquefy air at room temperature, at least not reasonably. As result, a can of compressed air would have very low capacity compared to a gas which can be liquefied at room temp. A gas like propane for your BBQ liquefies at room temp, and once it's liquid you can put a lot of it into a cylinder without increasing the pressure. That's why compressed air is not used in the spray cans.
- AdmiralAsshat 6y agoVery true. I had a Toshiba laptop that was simply on for the better part of its 8-10 year lifespan, with the result that it overheated a few times due to clogged fans and it was never the same since. Even after I thoroughly blew out the vents, the thermal paste probably spread a bit, and the ambient temperature was always still way above what it should be. I finally let it die over Christmas. Or rather, I planned to power it up one last time, get fully updated on Windows 7, and then power it down forever and yank the HDD out to put in an enclosure. Of course, it chose to die in the middle of updates. Feh.
- 29athrowaway 6y agoI have a dust blower, they're very inexpensive. I don't think vacuums are a great idea for electronics.
- lightwin 6y agoA vacuum cleaner or dust blower will also pull more dust particles from the air and throw at your electronics. A can however is supposed to be clean air.
- aloukissas 6y ago"especially if you have pets" -- I clean up my laptop quarterly, TONS of cat hair :)
- cecja 6y agoThere is no thermal paste degredation. Stop spreading FUD. https://youtu.be/DzJFHTjuIww https://youtu.be/DzJFHTjuIww
- thenoblesunfish 6y agoOn the topic of mechanical keyboards, when I was considering cleaning mine, I was surprised to read that a vacuum cleaner is the way to go, and compressed air (which I was about to use) is to be avoided "at all costs"! https://www.daskeyboard.com/blog/updated-guide-how-to-clean-a-mechanical-keyboard/ https://www.daskeyboard.com/blog/updated-guide-how-to-clean-...
- jve 6y agoAnother point: dead battery completely tanks permance and makes macbook unusable. Could only turn on with charger. Had some 10+ years old macbook - cpu was throttled to some 500+ mhz (with charger attached) After changing battery, computer flies again.
- ksec 6y ago>thermal paste degradation Are there any thermal paste that doesn't degrade? Or minimal degrade within 5 years. We can fix dust with cleaning, we can get to a point where our computing needs could be done fanless ( Current iPad Pro ). But what about thermal paste degradation?
- dr_zoidberg 6y agoOnce you open your notebook for cleaning you can remove the heatpipies and reapply thermal paste. Of course, you need to throughly clean the old paste, and need to take extra care (wrt a desktop). My 3yo notebook could be needing such a treatment. OTOH, I could just buy a new one notebook since there are some interesting things happening in mobile space this year (Renoir and Tiger Lake).
- g_airborne 6y agoI just replaced my MacBook Late 2013 after similar usage. No repairs, no hiccups or any component failure whatsoever except for a very badly degraded battery - it lasted about 1.5 hours on a full charge at the end. There’s a lot to be said about Apple but honestly I don’t see any other manufacturers that produce laptops that last so insanely long. Hopefully my new one will last as long as well :)
- myth_drannon 6y agoDell's business line models are very good. I still use my Latitude from 2010, 10 years of heavy usage. It cost 2000$ but well worth it.
- thedjinn 6y agoI'm on a 2012 MBP with similar experiences. Every year I think about finally replacing it, but hold off on it because everything still works fine apart from some increased fan noise and reduced battery capacity (which doesn't concern me too much). If you treat your laptop with care it really does last a long time. At some point I expect I will stop getting MacOS updates which will force me to upgrade to a newer model.
- galuano1 6y agoAnother happy mid 2012 MBP owner here. I am happy that I could upgrade the RAM as soon as I bought it to 16GB, and replaced the HDD with SSD after 5 years, and have replaced batteries twice. Running 10.15 without any problems. The screen hinge has loosened, but nothing a screw driver and ifixit couldn't fix.
- jkestner 6y agoI’m still running my 2010 MBP (it was worth maxing out the config, and I've replaced the optical drive with an SSD), though recently I bought a 2009 Mac Pro for my main machine. The MBP has fallen several feet into a concrete shop floor with only a squished corner in that milled aluminum case, and is on its third or fourth battery (I should stop cheaping out). I did splurge a few years ago on a replacement keyboard when the original's PCB traces started corroding. That's one of the first parts they integrated to the detriment of its repairability. With a tweak I was able to get Mojave on it, and another tweak to get Xcode to compile for iOS 13 on it. That should do me for a while, until either the video cable exposed through a hinge breaks, or they can’t get the latest iOS to compile on it. But I’m loathe to get a machine that won’t let me keep it alive the next 10 years. Intel CPUs haven’t advanced that much since this machine's 2.66x4 i7. The video probably hurts more. It points to a future where we can just expect to put some money into maintaining our computing machinery instead of consuming it like it's a service. But given that John Deere has moved this way, I’m not hopeful that computers will go back that way. Support right-to-repair bills!
- bobosha 6y agoI didn't know they needed "cleaning".
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- hn_check 6y agoIf airflow travels through something and you don't work in a dust free environment, it needs to be cleaned periodically. It's too bad that OS' weren't more wise to this. Right now there are certainly millions of desktops and laptops that are running far below their potential because it is forced to thermally throttle, yet there is no indication for the user beyond things being slower than it once was.
- pbhjpbhj 6y agoWindows doesn't have a temperature display accessible to users. That strikes me as being in order to sell more hardware. In-laws were going to throw away their computer, random freezes in the summer. Needed a thorough clean, "good as new". PC World/Microsoft lost a sale though.
- hn_check 6y agoA temperature display itself probably wouldn't be of much use because the CPU will reach an operating temperature and modulate the frequencies/boost to avoid exceeding it. One user could be enjoying full performance at that temperature, while another user is running at 1/10th the speed. The OS does see the perpetually fluctuating frequency state of the processor, though, and can monitor it over time in a correlation with the temperature and display a simple aggregate performance metric, flagging as a system alert when performance falls below a set threshold. I've had relatives whose system saw a dramatic, very noticeable usability improvement after a couple of quick bursts of compressed air.
- sukilot 6y agoMalware and badware is far more a performance hog than getting the last few hundred MHz for sustained operations.
- mothsonasloth 6y agoFor anyone doing this, please do not use a vacuum hose (unless its anti static) as it can cause ESD discharge, especially on exposed PCBs I wrecked a DVR doing this with a Dyson vacuum. Compressed air or small piece of cotton cloth with rubbing alcohol is the way to clean exposed electronics.
- umvi 6y agoIf you don't use a vacuum though the dust just flies out and settles in your house. I usually hold the vacuum near where I think the dust will fly out without touching any components. Never had an ESD problem yet.
- chrisseaton 6y ago> If you don't use a vacuum though the dust just flies out and settles in your house. Do it outside.
- kadoban 6y agoCould just dust it outside. Though if you're not personally running into any issues I suppose it doesn't matter. Probably depends on the vacuum and the weatherd
- imglorp 6y agoIs a shop compressor with an air gun adequate or is that air too moist or oily?
- rhinoceraptor 6y agoCompressors can get a build up of condensation in the tank. I've personally never had that be an issue, but it's definitely a concern.
- jacquesm 6y agoA bit of moisture actually helps to reduce the chance of static discharge, shop compressed air is probably one of the better ways of doing this. I've done it for many years like that and never had a computer fail on me due to cleaning. The best thing is to avoid doing this on cold winter days when static build-up is very rapid, and to avoid touching the guts of the computer with your fingertips near the circuitry until you have grounded the case against your fingers. Easy enough with metal frames, much harder with plastic ones.
- lewis1028282 6y agoLooks like the anti-glare coating is coming off too. That happened to my MacBook and Apple replaced the whole screen for free, that's pretty good considering it was 4 years old.
- prashnts 6y agoI ended up rubbing it off. Used a mouthwash for it (alcohol didn't work, perhaps "microcrystals" did the job). If you do that there will be lots of micro scratches on screen, but it's still better than looking at stains, and quite pleasant in dark. I couldn't get the replacement (didn't know "stain-gate" was a thing).
- kasabali 6y agoNever use alcohol anywhere near an IPS screen. You might get away with it if it only touches outermost layer but if it leaks to inner layers the screen will be ruined for good.
- prashnts 6y agoThis... is a good warning (after I found this googling [1]), thank you! But, this made me more curious; is there something specific about IPS panel (vs. TN) that I should know? In that link, it seems like that the panel survived but the backlight diffuser layers got ruined. Theoretically, one could replace that... I ask this because I wonder if you meant the glass-sandwich construction of the panel when you say "inner layers", and some chemistry of the liquid crystals. Or am I assuming too much? In any case, thanks! [1] https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/isopropyl-alcohol-under-screen.2057481/ https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/isopropyl-alcohol-under...
- kasabali 6y agoUnfortunately I'm not knowledgeable on displays. I only learned it after pouring isopropyl alcohol into SIM slot of an iPhone 6S. It hasn't touched on top of the display. On the first boot it had a lot of moisty look and funky colors. After leaving it rice and under sunlight for some time the moisture has dried but left a dirty stain. The nasty surprise was dead pixels. There's a grain sized area in mid-bottom left side of the screen, some black, some green colored. I'm not knowledgeable on nuances of different types of display defects but I've tried variety of things like massaging, stuck pixel fixer videos etc. but no dice, I guess they're proper dead.
- wiredfool 6y agoA year ago, I opened up the kids’ 2012 MBP because it was overheating with the fan on all the time. (This machine has had a long, hard life, including requiring a new keyboard when a glass of water was poured on it, several hard drive cables, a couple of batteries, several power adaptors, and I forget what else) I extracted a chunk of lint about 1/2 cm thick and the consistency of felt from the fan intake. After that, the fan didn’t turn on nearly as often, and thermal management during Minecraft was much better.
- switz 6y agoEvery 6 months or so I clean out the fans on my macbook. I used to take them out entirely, but realized with an old toothbrush and a soft-handed can of compressed air[0] you can do 90% of the job without the headache. Always runs like a new machine after that. [0] be careful not to damage the fan's teeth
- daneel_w 6y agoMy 2009 13" MacBook Pro still runs great after all these years of heavy use. I've cleaned it and reapplied thermal paste on the CPU/bridge chips twice.
- soygul 6y ago> reapplied thermal paste on the CPU/bridge chips twice does it help noticeably?
- wtallis 6y agoI recently reapplied the thermal paste on my 2015 13" MBP. It lowered CPU temperatures by about 5°C so fan noise is only slightly diminished, but it's no longer crashing under load on a weekly basis. And this was using an old tube of cheap paste I had lying around for years.
- czbond 6y agoWhat does re-applying thermal paste do?
- brandly 6y agoIt improves the transfer of heat to the heat sink, cooling the CPU.
- sungam 6y agoTyping this on my 2011 MBA which has been used a similar amount. Screen replaced during warranty and keyboard replaced subsequently but working fine!
- tekstar 6y agoI'm on a maxed out 2013 Macbook Pro and I will fight tooth and nail to keep this laptop functioning for as long as possible. It has a decent keyboard, still powerful processor (2.3 GHz Intel Core i7), 16GB RAM, dual GPU. and MagSafe!!! Beloved MagSafe why on earth did they kill you I will never understand.. I had the Apple store replace the screen and battery about a year ago. The screen was suffering from the anti-reflective coating (1) recall, but I missed the repair program window. In every customer support conversation I had leading up to the repair, they would hint at "consumer protection law". This was a clue that if I then said "CONSUMER PROTECTION LAW" they would be forced to do the recall for free even though it was out of date. They ended up giving me the screen and battery for free. Apple Store failed to identify and fix one issue that plagued me though, which was spontaneous black screen and poweroffs, especially when running on battery below 80%. It seemed like a power issue, or heat issue. I lived with it for two years, lugging a power brick around whenever I moved spots. With the Apple Stores closed due to covid, I contacted a local third party mac repair person. They said they've seen this before, it's a CPU power issue, and if you run a small script to keep the CPU out of really-low-power state it will stop happening (2). And they were right! So if you're experiencing this annoying problem as well, try this python script: from time import sleep import os while True: sleep(0.0002) You may have to tweak the sleep value - higher values will let your CPU relax more but may trigger the power issue. Lower values will increase the CPU load but decrease the chance that the CPU hits this condition. I've been running this script for 2 weeks now and no freezes. It generates about 6-8% CPU load, so obviously my battery time is suffering, but the alternative (random freezes all day) was so annoying that I'm okay living with this. 1: https://www.macrumors.com/2017/11/17/apple-extends-free-staingate-repairs/ https://www.macrumors.com/2017/11/17/apple-extends-free-stai... 2: https://www.reddit.com/r/mac/comments/9pyort/apple_macbook_pro_sudden_crash_fix_for_models/ https://www.reddit.com/r/mac/comments/9pyort/apple_macbook_p...
- mik3y 6y agoAwesome tips, thank you! I'm in the exact situation - same MacBook, same goal to keep it running, & same screwup missing the reflective coating recall. I think you might have bought the trusty ole thing a new lease on life, cheers!
- 6y ago
- compumike 6y agoI recently did the same on my MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2012) A1425 while performing a battery replacement. Definitely helped to have a thorough cleaning. Documented here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAYFDDxUxHA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAYFDDxUxHA
- soygul 6y agoGood stuff right there!
- lmilcin 6y agoSo note #1: swollen batteries are not a normal state of the battery. This is a sign of a defect and battery that is swollen is a safety hazard and should definitely be immediately replaced. Do not throw batteries in a garbage can. I don't know how it is done in US, here in Poland most large shops take used batteries for proper disposal. Note #2: every breathing computer keeps accumulating dust and requires cleaning every couple of months of years. It is worth it if only to keep the noise down. Note #3: it is not safe to vacuum the laptop as it can cause static discharge. Technically, even just waving a charged object over a piece of conductor can induce a current and damage susceptible component. The damage might not be immediately apparent and may cause various types of malfunctions. If you have no other way of doing it at the very least ensure it is done in humid environment (over 70% humidity but the more humid the better).
- hombre_fatal 6y agoFor fun, here's a whole subreddit dedicated to pics of swollen batteries: https://old.reddit.com/r/spicypillows/ https://old.reddit.com/r/spicypillows/
- vmurthy 6y agoIf you’re on mobile , use this : https://www.reddit.com/r/spicypillows/ https://www.reddit.com/r/spicypillows/ For some reason, pre-fixing “old” in the url makes the website unusable on mobile :-(.
- kinkrtyavimoodh 6y agoThat's part of the reddit mission to erode usability and make it a normie-social-network, one commit at a time.
- smnrchrds 6y agoEven better, use this: https://i.reddit.com/r/spicypillows/ https://i.reddit.com/r/spicypillows/ It brings the old design of Reddit on mobile, which was actually trying to be usable, unlike the new design that is user-hostile on purpose in order to frustrate people enough to force them to install Reddit apps.
- hombre_fatal 6y agoI know very little about electricity. What is it about vacuuming particles that produces static electricity where shooting the particles with compressed air does not?
- gumby 6y agoThe dust traveling through the plastic vacuum tube is what gives rise to the static electricity. When you blow clean air into the fan the dust goes into a cloud in the air.
- solatic 6y agoLaptop makers who make it nigh impossible to take the back cover off without special tools: "Performance degradation due to the inescapable characteristics of typical user environments is God's sign of favor for planned obsolescence."
- LeoPanthera 6y agoThis is why I loved the no-suffix "MacBook". No fans - no vents - no dust - no cleaning! For me, the most valuable feature and very under-appreciated. Eventually I had to replace it and now I'm stuck with a noisy dusty MBP. I suppose the iPad now fulfills the role of "maintenance free computer".
- chrisseaton 6y ago> I suppose the iPad now fulfills the role of "maintenance free computer". ...but he didn’t need to maintain his MacBook Pro in this video either. It worked fine until the battery degraded and he had to recycle it for that reason. The MacBook also had a battery that would expire after time.
- sergeykish 6y agoCould be his battery was overheating.
- dan_m2k 6y agoI use the Dyson on my Mac’s exhaust every so often for the same reason, it’s satisfying to see the amount of crud that comes out of it.
- russtrotter 6y agoI got the 2-for-one variant of this with my 2016 MBP where I purchased a replacement battery assembly from iFixit to replace the swolen ones. In the kit, they include: the tools, a link to their iFixit video on the steps as well as some protective gear to do the job. Highly recommended! Replacing batteries is a way more involved task on MBPs, but while you're there in the early stages, you can vacuum or take compressed air to anything you see.
- Scuds 6y agoI replaced the thermal compound my trust old dell Latitude. Barely an hour of effort undoing Phillips screws and scraping off the seven year old gak. Roughly a 15 C decrease under load. Fans are less of a blowdryer and more of a hand warmer.
- vz8 6y agoHighly recommended for keeping things clean: Metro Vacuum ED500P DataVac 500-Watt, 0.75-HP Electric Duster. I've had one since ~2012 and it helps me maintain a small fleet of laptops and workstations for my large family (with many pets).
- milleramp 6y agoI also have one and am so happy with it, no more buying canned air. Also useful for blowing out vacuum filters and roomba’s.
- czbond 6y agoThanks for sharing. My battery is swollen on my 2014 MBP, and trackpad becoming unusable. New battery replacement coming soon - I'll do this along with it.
- TedDoesntTalk 6y agoI’ve read a lot of the comments here. I don’t see many people mentioning the amazing reliability of this laptop. I’ve had a similar experience with MacBook Pro (7 years, only problem was some keys started going bad). There was a time you could not keep a laptop 7 years without significant component replacement or just having to replace it because it was no longer able to run modern software due to slower cpu, not enough ram (and not upgradable enough)... basically hardware obsolescence. Now the components last AND the hardware is still fast enough to be useful after 7 years. What a wonderful world we live in!
- coronadisaster 6y agoMost of the computers (PCs & laptops) that I've had in the last 25 years lasted about this long, except for phones. I never had an Apple computer though... One Toshiba laptop, I had to replace a fan in that time frame.
- elboru 6y agoI have a similar experience, I'm typing this on my 2013 MacBook Pro, I don't notice any significance performance issue, and all the hardware is still intact, it's really amazing. This was my first Mac, I'll 100% sure buy another one when this one decides to finally retire.
- snowwrestler 6y agoAgreed. My family uses daily a MacBook Pro I bought in a Thanksgiving sale in 2008. My wife is watching a movie on it as I type this. A few years ago I thought, if I can get this thing to 10 years, that’s a great deal and I’ll be happy to upgrade. Now it seems like maybe I’ll be able to use it forever? I’ve had to replace one battery and one fan in almost 12 years. The DVD drive does not work anymore, but I don’t use DVDs anymore. Honestly I think security will be the biggest concern long term. It can’t upgrade the OS anymore and while whatever version of OS X it’s on seems very stable (it never crashes), it’s not getting patches anymore from Apple. Something will come along at some point.
- eigenvector 6y ago
- greggman3 6y agoMini rant only tangentially related. I have a 6 year old MacBook Pro (Mid 2014 NVidia). It mostly works fine. Except, the GPU drivers are crap and Apple has no intention of fixing them. This shows up as bugs in Firefox and Chrome, the apps that hit the most GPU edge cases, and when I've filed bugs I've basically been told "too old, get a new machine" Which isn't an unreasonable POV. I'm sure there just are not that many 2014 NVidia MBPs in the world. Apple doesn't care to fix the bugs. Why should the browser teams waste time working around GPU driver bugs for so few users? And yet, it's really hard to justify spending $3400 for a new MBP when nothing will actually change in my day to day usage. I also have a 3yr old 1060 Razer gaming laptop. That actually enabled something, VR, to justify spending $$$$ on it. But, getting a current dual GPU MBP gets me nothing that my 2014 MBP doesn't already get me except fixing a few annoying bug livable browser bugs. Note I have a similar issue with the Razer. Windows won't update to the most reason version and says their are issues with the hardware and maybe some day in the future once the issues are worked around Windows will update. Unfortunately that means I can't use WSL 2 so again, I can spent $3000+ for a 2020 Razer but when I'm done all that will happen is some software bugs will be fixed, my actual day to day usage won't change. Tech can be really annoying and it's frustrating to be told the solution is spend $7000 Just Kvetching
- markdown 6y agoA reminder that Apple refuses to fix 2017 Macbooks that were poorly constructed (Flexgate), even after having acknowledged that they were poorly built (by offering a free fix for the same issue on a previous model and changing the part on later models). https://support.apple.com/13-inch-macbook-pro-display-backlight-service https://support.apple.com/13-inch-macbook-pro-display-backli...
- TheDesolate0 6y agoIt's a mac book, use a hammer.
- dghughes 6y agoI used my 17 inch Macbook Pro everyday for six years. It would still be going if not for a failed GPU. I did take it apart hoping it was dust and heat causing the problems but no it was a fatal hardware fault. It's now just a shiny aluminum lump. There's nothing worse for electronics than heat. The damage is cumulative but nearly impossible to notice until it's too late.
- mastazi 6y agoNever use a vacuum on electronics! Use cans of compressed air instead. The author partially addressed this in the article but I feel that the message doesn't really come out as clear as it should. The static generated by a standard vacuum cleaner can damage electronic components, the author is wrong in their belief that this only applies to desktops and not laptops (and why would that be the case?). PS air compressors are not a good alternative: they might suffer from internal condensation and emit air that is too moist, that's why it's best to use cans instead. PPS there are vacuum cleaners specifically designed for electronics. They tend to be pretty expensive. It's OK to use those.
- jacquesm 6y agoMoist air is fine, wet is not. It even helps to cut down on the static risk. And you should always let it sit for a bit after cleaning before turning it on in case there was moisture build up. The biggest risk is to reach into the guts and zap a component, that's a much higher chance of incidence than any effect from the air itself, after all, the fan also sucks air through all day long and usually is not grounded. Make sure you always reach for the frame first before touching anything else in the guts of a computer.
- polynomial 6y agoHow about compressed air on a MacBook Air? Seems trickier than on a normal MacBook Pro.
- bserge 6y agoThe Air fan is basically useless, you might as well leave it be. https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/9vbks0/retina_macbook_air_teardown_cooling_fan_does_not/ https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/9vbks0/retina_macboo...
- pelim 6y agoI would not recommend to clean the fan with a vacuum cleaner because the rotation will generate a low voltage
- jpalomaki 6y agoHas Apple commented on the ”swollen battery syndrome”? Are these batteries just expected to behave like this when they get old? This seems to be very common problem with old MacBooks.
- jacquesm 6y agosome swelling is ok, the batteries are not rigidly enclosed so they tend to do that over their design life. Excess swelling is not ok and usually an indication of overheating for instance due to bad airflow. The laptop on display here looks like a textbook case of that.
- artellectual 6y agoI just got my 4 year old macbook pro's battery replaced. The guy who did it also cleaned up the internals. I can easily use my laptop for another 2-3 years. I spent 100 USD to get it cleaned and battery replaced. Best 100 USD spent.
- knolan 6y agoHere is a Schlieren visualisation of the airflow from my 16” MBP. https://youtu.be/88mXfMm0M58 https://youtu.be/88mXfMm0M58
- gambiting 6y agoWait, recycling a 2013 laptop? What? I hope he means selling it on, not actually recycling. Computers just don't age the same way anymore, a 2013 laptop is still perfectly usable nowadays, it would be an incredible waste to recycle it.
- liveoneggs 6y agomy 2018 macbook pro just got cleaned by apple when they replaced the keyboard. I assume it will be done by them every 18 months or as long as the recall is in effect. (sucks that your data is all deleted though)
- vilius 6y agoI'm a bit sad that his MacBook is not getting more love after 16800 hours of service. I have 2013 MacBook Pro 15, never opened, the battery lasts for 1.5 hours, tends to overheat a bit. Same story. Morally it felt old but it was still good and fast machine for me. I was contemplating of buying 16" but just could not justify throwing away this solidly engineered machine. During quarantine bought iFixit battery replacement. Disassembled every part, cleaned religiously every area with blower, replaced swollen battery and assembled again. Took 2 hours, works fine, no fan noise, battery lasts for a long time, finally upgraded to Catalina. Now I have a great laptop and after 7 years of using same machine I felt that I still needed to upgrade something. So I went to buy a desktop PC. It was interesting to assemble a modern PC, try Alyx and Windows 10 with WSL. I no longer need to use Paperspace for SketchUp rendering. After COVID I am planning to leave PC at home and have my MacBook at Office / Co-working. Not saying this is the best decision, just sharing a different path taken when it came to computer upgrading.
- 11thEarlOfMar 6y agoSide note on cleaning Apple products, may be of interest to iPhone users. My 2017 6S wasn't charging properly. Charge would start, then a few minutes later, sometimes less, it would stop. I found that many times, if I inserted the plug with a bit more force, it would start charging, but later, it would stop. As is common the cable was frayed near the plug, so I replaced the cable. The situation didn't change. I was at the point of deciding to replace the iPhone, since it was getting dated anyway, when my daughter suggested I clean the plug receptor.... the light bulb went on. I grabbed a toothpick and started pulling out lint. Like your bellybutton lint. There was a lot of lint. It had become packed into the base of the receptor sufficiently to prevent the plug from making the contacts. I had carried it in my pocket for 3 years, it likely gathered a few specks of lint each time I put it in there, and then I compacted the lint when I plugged it in next.
- willio58 6y agoSame thing happened to me. An alarmingly massive ball of lint came out of my phone.
- k7f 6y agoNext time. Making peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
- brunojppb 6y agoIt reminds me 6 months ago when also opened up my 6 years old macbook pro and saw the dirt inside. The battery was totally destroyed so I ordered a kit at ifixit and replaced it myself. Now the macbook feels like new and the battery last forever. I hope we still have the option to repair our devices in 5 years.
- opan 6y agoThank you for the video + article combo. I enjoyed listening, but also that I was able to look back at the text to see specific things instead of having to rewind the video/audio and listen again.