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Ant in my Macbook Pro

S

shlee10

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 1, 2011
4
0
So my apartment has been having an army of ants marching around for the past month or so and those persistent suckers are all over the carpet of my room. Last night, in a sleepy haze, I put my laptop on the floor and went to bed. I woke up in the morning and opened it again, only to find about five or six ants crawling across my keyboard. I tried to blow them off, thinking this would be an effective method (I had just woken up and was obviously in an ant-induced panic-stricken state of mind) but that apparently compelled the ants to burrow inside my keys.

Most of them have come out by now and since this is a fairly new computer, I doubt that I've spilled enough sweet/food-type stuff for them to build a nest under my keyboard, but I did see one ant crawl under my G key and it hasn't come out yet. I tried to catch it right before it could disappear and probably broke its leg or something so I'm pretty sure it's just going to die under my key. Is that really gross? Will it harm any hardware? Do dead ants give off any signals for others to come rescue it? Is it worth dismantling my keyboard just to scrape it out? LET ME KNOW, I'M DESPERATE AND ANTSY (ha, pun totally intended). Thanks.
 
GGJstudios

GGJstudios

macrumors Westmere
May 16, 2008
44,543
943
This is what you need:
ScreenCap 3.png​
:D
 
P

pricej636

macrumors 6502
Mar 30, 2010
390
1
Florida
Actually, Ive had this happen before with my 2008 Aluminum MB. I opened the bottom case and used compressed air and blew all the ants out. I have been told insects can short out electronics, although I have no idea how true this really is. I probably had a dozen or more ants in mine.
 
S

shlee10

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 1, 2011
4
0
Oh my gosh, all your witty but useless replies are not helping! Ants can definitely fit under the keys.. I didn't think they could either but you also tend to forget how tiny and agile ants are. They can slip in and out of your keyboard quite easily.

@pricej -- how do you open the bottom case? Forgive me, I'm a recent Mac convert, so I'm relatively clueless.
 
GGJstudios

GGJstudios

macrumors Westmere
May 16, 2008
44,543
943
shlee10 said:
Oh my gosh, all your witty but useless replies are not helping!
Click to expand...
If you haven't been able to pick up on it from our replies, it's nothing to worry about. It won't harm your MBP if an ant dies in it. If if was serious enough for concern, we would have responded differently.
 
S

shlee10

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 1, 2011
4
0
@GGJ -- Oh, that's a relief. Let the flippant replies run wild then! Even if the dead ant can't do anything, it still makes me a little uneasy thinking that my G key is its tombstone. Is there an easy way to get it out?
 
GGJstudios

GGJstudios

macrumors Westmere
May 16, 2008
44,543
943
shlee10 said:
@GGJ -- Oh, that's a relief. Let the flippant replies run wild then!
Click to expand...
He's stealing all your info and will soon be running up charges on your credit card. If you see lots of ant farm accessories showing up via UPS, you'll know I'm right!
shlee10 said:
Even if the dead ant can't do anything, it still makes me a little uneasy thinking that my G key is its tombstone.
Click to expand...
Just paint some tiny flowers on the G key and you'll be fine.
shlee10 said:
Is there an easy way to get it out?
Click to expand...
You could try compressed air. I wouldn't work too hard at it, though.
apple_wireless_keyboard_us.jpg
​
 
Last edited:
gorskiegangsta

gorskiegangsta

macrumors 65816
Mar 13, 2011
1,281
87
Brooklyn, NY
I have an easy and reliable solution to this. Install Windows on it. That should generate more bugs that will, hopefully, kill each other and your computer will be bug free.
 
M

Mactrillionaire

macrumors regular
Oct 16, 2010
211
0
For future reference, put it somewhere inaccessible to bugs while not in use. Of course, we can always hope for the day when Apple offers accidental damage insurance...
 
F

FubsyGamr

macrumors regular
Sep 20, 2010
116
0
shlee10 said:
@GGJ -- Oh, that's a relief. Let the flippant replies run wild then! Even if the dead ant can't do anything, it still makes me a little uneasy thinking that my G key is its tombstone. Is there an easy way to get it out?
Click to expand...

Also, it is possible to pop off the key, to see underneath it, but I don't know if it's worth the trouble.

Check youtube for how-to videos to pop the key off
 
P

pricej636

macrumors 6502
Mar 30, 2010
390
1
Florida
shlee10 said:
Oh my gosh, all your witty but useless replies are not helping! Ants can definitely fit under the keys.. I didn't think they could either but you also tend to forget how tiny and agile ants are. They can slip in and out of your keyboard quite easily.

@pricej -- how do you open the bottom case? Forgive me, I'm a recent Mac convert, so I'm relatively clueless.
Click to expand...

Remove screws on the bottom, the bottom lid comes right off. Just be careful with the air, you can damage some of the smaller connectors if you hit them directly.
 
M

MultiMediaWill

macrumors 68000
Aug 1, 2010
1,634
378
Minneapolis
shlee10 said:
So my apartment has been having an army of ants marching around for the past month or so and those persistent suckers are all over the carpet of my room. Last night, in a sleepy haze, I put my laptop on the floor and went to bed. I woke up in the morning and opened it again, only to find about five or six ants crawling across my keyboard. I tried to blow them off, thinking this would be an effective method (I had just woken up and was obviously in an ant-induced panic-stricken state of mind) but that apparently compelled the ants to burrow inside my keys.

Most of them have come out by now and since this is a fairly new computer, I doubt that I've spilled enough sweet/food-type stuff for them to build a nest under my keyboard, but I did see one ant crawl under my G key and it hasn't come out yet. I tried to catch it right before it could disappear and probably broke its leg or something so I'm pretty sure it's just going to die under my key. Is that really gross? Will it harm any hardware? Do dead ants give off any signals for others to come rescue it? Is it worth dismantling my keyboard just to scrape it out? LET ME KNOW, I'M DESPERATE AND ANTSY (ha, pun totally intended). Thanks.
Click to expand...

Psych, april fools.
 
M

mallieliz880

macrumors newbie
Mar 4, 2012
1
0
ants in my keyboard

I have ants in mine too! I tried to blow them out with compressed air but they just keep coming in and out on their own. Could they nest in there?! I never eat near my computer so there is no food in there for them.
 
J

jackrv

macrumors 6502
Jul 14, 2011
300
0
Step one: Download Final Cut Pro X.
Step two: Transcode a 2 hour video.

The resulting nuclear inferno type heat should reduce them to miniscule husks of their former bodies.
 
SpaceKitty

SpaceKitty

macrumors 68040
Nov 9, 2008
3,204
1
Fort Collins Colorado
I saw the first ant of the year trying to make it's way into my MacBook. I moved the MB before the ant could get inside.

I was going to try and put a joke here but all the best ones have already been thought of.

We're getting closer to that season now. Spiders and ants oh my.:eek:
 
A

aaron580

macrumors member
Apr 9, 2010
94
0
jackrv said:
Step one: Download Final Cut Pro X.
Step two: Transcode a 2 hour video.

The resulting nuclear inferno type heat should reduce them to miniscule husks of their former bodies.
Click to expand...

+1 vote for this method :D
or play a very graphic intensive game.
 
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