Can a MBA 13" handle being on all day in a dusty environment?

[farmermac]

I've been using a 2010 15" MBP with antiglare display at work in a dusty shop environment for the past 2 years. The computer is on all day attached to a 24" ACD, so the discrete graphics chip is on all day. I have a windows VM running alongside a bunch of programs on the mac doing various things. The shop gets hot and there is a lot of dust.

My main concern is with heat in a 13" MBA. The fans in my 15" are on all day between 3000-5500 rpm, sometimes higher. This doesnt bother me, but the MBP has 2 fans... Im a bit less worried about heat then i am about a smaller computer with a single fan like the 13" MBA.

So my question is, Would you consider swapping to a 13" MBA in this kind of environment? I really like the form factor of the 13" and im drawn to it despite not really needing to upgrade the MBP.

 

[mitty]

Well the heat in the new models is meant to be better, and they have the snazzy new fan, the same one as the RMBP, so although it's early days, I don't think heat will be an issue, if anything it might be better.

Dust is obviously an enemy of any sensitive electronics. Thankfully in the MBA there are no moving parts whatsoever (well, apart from the keyboard switches and the screen hinge). This means it's probably less likely to fail, where as in an older style MBP dust can get into the optical drive.

I think as long as you kept it clean externally, you could always look at removing the bottom of the unit to get rid of dust out of the cooling system. I regularly remove the bottom of my MBP and get rid of dust which helps a great deal (and this is just in my lounge room at home).

If your MBP has survived in your dusty shop environment, I don't see why an MBA wouldn't either, as long as you don't accidentally drop it!

 

[willia75]

Hi, I'm not sure if my experience is common, but my 13" MBA tend to run fans at high speeds even in a moderately warm room, about 80 degrees F. I've seen the fans run over 6000 rpm, even with the computer sitting idle and no applications open. The CPU temperature never gets above the recommended limit (though it gets close, around 70C), so the fans are doing their job. If it were kept in a hotter room (with dust, which would make it harder for the fans to run properly I'd assume) I'm not sure how long it would take to actually overheat. As long as the room I'm in is comfortable for me, the computer has been able to handle fairly intensive processes without getting unreasonably hot. Good luck, the Air is a great machine if you decide to go that route!

Edit: I should mention that I have a 2011 Air, and just realized you're probably getting the new Air, so feel free to ignore my post!

 

[farmermac]

i was eyeing the 2012 Air, but since i got applecare for my 2010 last year, i still have a bit over a year of coverage and running on a SSD, not sure i'd notice much of a difference in speed doing what im doing. As much as I want a new shiny toy it doesnt seem like a wise financial decision.