MacBook Pro 2017 bottom case not flush

[apressas]

Hi, the bottom case of my MacBook Pro is not flush and dust gets accumulated in there. Is this normal ? I went to an Apple store to check it out and I was told it’s cosmetic (and that I’m nitpicking) but I’m afraid debris and dust gets in the main circuit.

What should I do?

 

[puma1552]

You should do nothing, because that looks flush to me.

 

[apressas]

You should do nothing, because that looks flush to me.

But we've got two more of the same laptop in the family, one 2016 and one 2017, and the fit is perfect on these. You can surely see the dust that gets accumulated in the gap, if it was rightly sealed then it would look almost uniform - like the rest of our laptops and my previous macbooks.

 

[puma1552]

It's fine.

If it's not fine for you, return it. If you waited too long to return it, well then you either have to accept it or sell it. Not much else to it.

 

[apressas]

It's fine.

If it's not fine for you, return it. If you waited too long to return it, well then you either have to accept it or sell it. Not much else to it.

So what you say by 'it's fine' is that no dust can get into the internals of the computer judging from the picture - because that is what i mostly care about. Is there some sort of insulation (like rubber) where the two pieces connect?

 

[puma1552]

The inside of your computer is going to get dusty no matter what, because it's drawing in air for the fans and blowing it out.

Open up the computer and you will see it is not dust-proof. It also does not matter.

You can always try to remove/reseat the bottom panel, but really, you don't need to.

For the third time, your computer is just fine.

 

[jerryk]

Is this a MacBook Pro 13"? My 15" has a open air intake slot that runs from under the USB port to the front feet on both sides. Does yours not have such an air intake?

Anyway, my system is much more likely to ingest dirt and particles from these 2 intakes and I have not heard of issues with the 15" getting full of dust.

 

[apressas]

i'm sure these exhausts are connected to pipes leading to the fans, right? Surely the motherboard should not be exposed to dust like that for no reason - and I do not see the cooling benefit if you just have two big openings on the chassis - these should be fan exhausts.

Coming back to my case, it just seems weird to me that this is right - I've never seen a laptop with a sealing problem before, especially one advertised as "unibody".

 

[MacNut]

Any computer that uses fans to cool it will ingest dust. Open any tower computer and look at how much accumulates in there.

 

[IngerMan]

It’s hard to see anything wrong from the picture. Does it sit flat on a table and not rock?

 

[apressas]

Any computer that uses fans to cool it will ingest dust. Open any tower computer and look at how much accumulates in there.

Dust around the fan, sure. The rest of the electronics - I dont think that is necessary. I do not think a tower computer is a correct analogy. There fan/s in the macbook should be sealed and airflow should be coming in/going out via a tunnel leading to the intakes. The rest of the mobo does not need active cooling.
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It’s hard to see anything wrong from the picture. Does it sit flat on a table and not rock?

Yes, when the screen is closed it sits flat. When it is open there is a little play (maybe i can fit a sheet of paper under one corner) but I think that has to do with the weight of the screen, and maybe again the imperfection of the bottom chassis.
I attach another picture maybe it can be seen more clearly. The fit is good where the screws and the clips are, and it slightly bulges anywhere else.

 

[IngerMan]

Check ifixit.com tear down and see if a battery is under that location. Maybe the battery is bulging.

 

[jerryk]

i'm sure these exhausts are connected to pipes leading to the fans, right? Surely the motherboard should not be exposed to dust like that for no reason - and I do not see the cooling benefit if you just have two big openings on the chassis - these should be fan exhausts.

Coming back to my case, it just seems weird to me that this is right - I've never seen a laptop with a sealing problem before, especially one advertised as "unibody".

Nope. Below is a picture of the cooling fans and ducting to the heat sinks. The dark lines on the edge of each side of the case are intakes. These run from the fans to the within an inch of the bottom of the case. The fans suck air through these ports, over the components, into the fans, and exhaust out the top at the bottom of the display where there is series of exhaust port holes.

You can see the exhaust ports if you close the display, flip the unit over, and look in the area of the screen hinge.

The design is this way because in addition to cooling the CPU and GPU, you need to cool the battery packs, memory, power subsystem, etc. So you need to move air throughout the chassis. To achieve this, Apple puts those big intakes on each side.

Here is someone's (Apple?) picture with airflow lines.