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Repasting a MacBook

(christianselig.com)
258 points speckx | 3 comments | 11 Jul 25 12:53 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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zdw ◴[11 Jul 25 15:31 UTC] No.44533320[source]▶
If you have any of the Air models which lack fans, there's a common hack of putting thermal pads between the CPU heatspreader and case, effectively turning the bottom case into a large heatsink, and giving your system a longer maximum performance before throttling.

The downsides is that this makes the bottom of the case quite hot on a place you can touch, but putting a plastic hardshell over the entire laptop deals with that, and also gives protection.

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ianferrel ◴[11 Jul 25 15:48 UTC] No.44533536[source]▶
Making the bottom case a heatsink and then putting a plastic insulator around it seems to defeat the purpose of the whole attempt?
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1. delusional ◴[11 Jul 25 15:52 UTC] No.44533617[source]▶
I take him saying:

> a longer maximum performance before throttling.

As implying that the purpose is to increase the thermal mass, not necessarily the dissipation. It should still be able to reach maximum performance for longer, it will then just also take longer to settle back down again.

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2. zdw ◴[11 Jul 25 16:54 UTC] No.44534413[source]▶
This is the correct interpretation - you get a bit longer max clockspeed due to the thermal mass (and thus more heat overall).

Is the added plastic shell case a "bandaid on a bandaid" sort of solution to deal with that heat? Absolutely. But you might want that case anyway - I've had several laptops that would have had broken screens or were yanked off a desk by an attached cable and survived by the sacrificial plastic shell taking the impact.

Like all things, it's a tradeoff to consider.

3. ianferrel ◴[11 Jul 25 17:05 UTC] No.44534571[source]▶
Makes sense.