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jnyepu

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 5, 2007
95
0
Dallas, TX
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Got a 13" MBA this past Friday and am waiting for my Wrapsol skin to arrive. This will be my first skin on a computer - have used on phones before.

In one of my obsessive fits of thought, I started wondering whether or not skins like the Wrapsol would make the MBA run hotter and affect battery life.

Thoughts?
 

Mechinyun

macrumors 6502
Jun 24, 2010
361
75
I dont have it, but my guess would be yes. Since the air uses it's aluminum housing as a large heat sink to a certain extent, putting a plastic "coat" on it will keep the heat in longer. Just how much? dont know.. may be splitting hairs at this point.
 

2IS

macrumors 68030
Jan 9, 2011
2,938
433
Under heavy usage it most certainly would. When I'm doing something in iMovie, particularly when the Air is plugged in, the entire base gets warm. Aluminum is a great conductor of heat so I think it goes a long way in keeping everything as cool as possible. Plastic is an insulator, so you'll be depending on the fan for all your cooling, which will be fine for basic tasks but for anything intensive I think your CPU will start to throttle down quite a bit.
 

philxor

macrumors regular
Dec 21, 2010
181
0
In my past experience with the MBP it has no effect on temperatures in any way, even during heavy loading. The MBA may be different but there are plenty of folks on here using Wrapsol who can probably comment.
 

sm0

macrumors regular
Jun 5, 2007
171
0
Wellington, NZ
just my 2c but have u considered hardening up and going naked? i did and its a good move. i paid a premium price for a seksi piece. aint wrapping or covering or protecting it or nothing.

feel free to tell me to bugger off.

peace
 

jnyepu

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 5, 2007
95
0
Dallas, TX
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

Wrapsol arrived yesterday, so now the moment of truth.....to apply or not to apply, that is the question.....

Thanks for all the replies so far!
 

ritmomundo

macrumors 68020
Jan 12, 2011
2,022
543
Los Angeles, CA
i put a ZaggSkin on my MBA 11, full body coverage, and I think its great. Gives it a unique look, for sure, plus a little grip. As for heat issues, I dont really notice a difference. It didnt heat up before, and it doesnt heat up now, althought I'm not a very processor-heavy user. The laptop doesnt feel cold to the touch anymore though, as the bare aluminum is no longer exposed. It makes sense that the aluminum acts to disperse heat, but I wouldnt imagine it makes a huge difference having something covering it, as long as you're not covering the opening for the fans (which is in the hinge).
 

MacMur

macrumors regular
Feb 24, 2008
100
0
California
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

Wrapsol arrived yesterday, so now the moment of truth.....to apply or not to apply, that is the question.....

Thanks for all the replies so far!

I have a Wrapsol on my 11.6 MBA and it looks better than the invisible shield. However, when I installed it I did not know that you need to stretch it to fit. Mine has a very slight border around it exposing the MBA a tiny bit. I do not believe it is a problem and it works very well. I have not noticed any heat issues.
 

philxor

macrumors regular
Dec 21, 2010
181
0
I installed the Wrapsol skin and honestly I think it makes the MBA look better than it does without it. My only issue is I did not quite use a clean enough area to apply it and unfortunately got some small hairs (pets) under the Wrapsol. Not that noticeable though and I really don't feel like taking it off and reapplying it.
 

oakie

macrumors 6502
Oct 16, 2008
407
2
seattle
i have a bodyguardz skin on mine and have had no heat related issues at all. even according to iStat, the operating temperatures havent changed.
 
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