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Macbook Pro Ventilation Physical Mod
- Thread starter CjPhan
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+1 Good job and props for taking a chance. I'm not sure why people thinks it so unappealing. I mean, how often are we looking at the bottom of the laptop? Also, I don't think he voided his whole warranty, maybe just the bottom cover.
Hey People, haha you people amuse me.
Okay I am going to try to answer everyone's questions and request.
So first off. Resale value. It was never my intention to resell it. Okay here's a key factor everyone has to know. This laptop is for my personal use till the day the laptop dies. Not going to resell it. I never bought a warranty so it's irrelevant that many of you keep mentioning it. I have accidentally knocked this laptop from a meter high bed with it open. It's a tank. I have touched the motherboard with my bare fingers. I am not too worried. There's a fine line between cherishing your things and babying it. I got over the phase of being over worried. For those who thought I was overreacting because I thought my macbook was overheating I'd like to say I know it wasn't overheating it was more of an efficiency issue. Macbook pros can withstand a core temperature of 100 degrees.
Okay so I did some test, quite unofficial to say the least.
Idle time before air vent mod - 44 degree celsius (Standard Fan speed)
Idle time after air vent mod - 34 degree celsius (Standard Fan speed)
Starcraft 2 pre-mod (CPU at 83 percent)- 80 degree celsius (Fan exhaust 4100 RPM)
Starcraft 2 post-mod(CPU at 83 percent - 60 degree celsius (Fan exhaust 4100 RPM)
Okay, now to address the physical haters, OKAY.
It's not as easy as many of you think, you can't just make this mod all nice and perfect looking. The aluminum plate is not perfectly flat so you can't just put it into a precision cut machine. I have though of drilling holes instead of what I did as well. And it's not the same. The perforation process is done differently, it just wouldn't be the same. So I decided to put a piece of properly perforated metal as well. I am currently allowing the cement glue to cure still so I haven't tried to abuse it, but it seems pretty solid as of right now. For the dust issue, I believe it's very conditional and really dependent on your life style. I am not too worried about fine dust build up. I do have finer mesh material but I am afraid it will be counter productive to put in since it will reduce air flow.
Some of you asked for specifications. It's a 2010 macbook pro, dual ssds, really abused. 8gb mushkin Ram.
Okay I am going to try to answer everyone's questions and request.
So first off. Resale value. It was never my intention to resell it. Okay here's a key factor everyone has to know. This laptop is for my personal use till the day the laptop dies. Not going to resell it. I never bought a warranty so it's irrelevant that many of you keep mentioning it. I have accidentally knocked this laptop from a meter high bed with it open. It's a tank. I have touched the motherboard with my bare fingers. I am not too worried. There's a fine line between cherishing your things and babying it. I got over the phase of being over worried. For those who thought I was overreacting because I thought my macbook was overheating I'd like to say I know it wasn't overheating it was more of an efficiency issue. Macbook pros can withstand a core temperature of 100 degrees.
Okay so I did some test, quite unofficial to say the least.
Idle time before air vent mod - 44 degree celsius (Standard Fan speed)
Idle time after air vent mod - 34 degree celsius (Standard Fan speed)
Starcraft 2 pre-mod (CPU at 83 percent)- 80 degree celsius (Fan exhaust 4100 RPM)
Starcraft 2 post-mod(CPU at 83 percent - 60 degree celsius (Fan exhaust 4100 RPM)
Okay, now to address the physical haters, OKAY.
It's not as easy as many of you think, you can't just make this mod all nice and perfect looking. The aluminum plate is not perfectly flat so you can't just put it into a precision cut machine. I have though of drilling holes instead of what I did as well. And it's not the same. The perforation process is done differently, it just wouldn't be the same. So I decided to put a piece of properly perforated metal as well. I am currently allowing the cement glue to cure still so I haven't tried to abuse it, but it seems pretty solid as of right now. For the dust issue, I believe it's very conditional and really dependent on your life style. I am not too worried about fine dust build up. I do have finer mesh material but I am afraid it will be counter productive to put in since it will reduce air flow.
Some of you asked for specifications. It's a 2010 macbook pro, dual ssds, really abused. 8gb mushkin Ram.
Nice work. Any chance we can get a link to that wallpaper?
Edit: Hey I'm smart, I found it myself! This is the best resolution tineye produced:
http://pya.cc/20111015570135/omote/img200902/2009020730_9988250285.jpg
or
http://www.noupe.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/nationalgeographic_37.jpg
Edit: Hey I'm smart, I found it myself! This is the best resolution tineye produced:
http://pya.cc/20111015570135/omote/img200902/2009020730_9988250285.jpg
or
http://www.noupe.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/nationalgeographic_37.jpg
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Exactly; you can just BUY ANOTHER BOTTOM. Hell, I'm thinking about getting a spare bottom and having a hardware shop do this for me when I'm playing games through bootcamp or something.
But yea, gj.
It doesn’t look bad at all 
And at the end of the day, it’s on the bottom of the laptop, people.
It also appears to be working!
And at the end of the day, it’s on the bottom of the laptop, people.It also appears to be working!
I don't see how the plate you put in is any different than drilling holes in the bottom cover? I don't think it looks good at all, but if you like it more power to you.
Are you kidding? If I had the money I would gladly buy it, so long as he deducted the cost of a new bottom plate.
Very interesting mod, though I think laptop engineers have thought about this and decided against it for the following reasons:
- A vent on the bottom of your laptop will not do much to cool your internals unless air circulation is present. Most people use a laptop pressed flat against a desk, severely limiting air circulation to the bottom of the case.
- Assuming the laptop is flush against a desktop, the holes in the bottom will actually create a vacuum-like effect. Air will circulate in the small area provided under the bottom cover, but will be forced back into the laptop internals due to limited circulation. Any dust or dirt particles under the mesh area between the desktop and laptop bottom may be forced into the internals of the Macbook.
Having said that, it does look quite interesting, and may actually work in the fashion that you use a laptop. You obviously have great engineering skills (not to mention courage), to be able to fashion that into your Macbook Pro. Kudos.
- A vent on the bottom of your laptop will not do much to cool your internals unless air circulation is present. Most people use a laptop pressed flat against a desk, severely limiting air circulation to the bottom of the case.
- Assuming the laptop is flush against a desktop, the holes in the bottom will actually create a vacuum-like effect. Air will circulate in the small area provided under the bottom cover, but will be forced back into the laptop internals due to limited circulation. Any dust or dirt particles under the mesh area between the desktop and laptop bottom may be forced into the internals of the Macbook.
Having said that, it does look quite interesting, and may actually work in the fashion that you use a laptop. You obviously have great engineering skills (not to mention courage), to be able to fashion that into your Macbook Pro
. Kudos.Very interesting mod, though I think laptop engineers have thought about this and decided against it for the following reasons:
- A vent on the bottom of your laptop will not do much to cool your internals unless air circulation is present. Most people use a laptop pressed flat against a desk, severely limiting air circulation to the bottom of the case.
- Assuming the laptop is flush against a desktop, the holes in the bottom will actually create a vacuum-like effect. Air will circulate in the small area provided under the bottom cover, but will be forced back into the laptop internals due to limited circulation. Any dust or dirt particles under the mesh area between the desktop and laptop bottom may be forced into the internals of the Macbook.
Having said that, it does look quite interesting, and may actually work in the fashion that you use a laptop. You obviously have great engineering skills (not to mention courage), to be able to fashion that into your Macbook Pro
You do realize that even if he covers the bottom with some obstruction it will essentially function the way it did originally. He already addressed the dust/debris argument.
Not sure why such strong hatred for DIY on Mac forums; it's not like he put neons in it or something. It may seem cheap looking to you but understand what he had access to. I'm sure someone that specializes in metalwork could create the same functionality in a more applesque design.
Macbooks do not tend to overheat. If they did they would shut down because of the CPU temp protection. 85 deg C is perfectly normal for a CPU temp when running high end programs, like games. If it wasn't then the notebook would shutdown.
The mod actually looks pretty good though, but I think the holes should have been smaller and the area made bigger, and also some type of plate with a small dust blocker that can be pulled out and cleaned. I wouldn't do it, but there are lots of modders out there, mostly in the PC realm.
I think what is trying to be achieved here are to lower temperatures in general. I would love to replace my thermal paste on my i7 quad core to lower temps.
Lower temps = better longevity of internal components.
Go to Apple's discussion forums - lots of people have overheating and dying models, long before their due. All Apple needed to do was to add a vent and put on quality thermal grease (since $2000-$3000 suggests a quality powerful laptop...)
When the auto-shutdown is tripped, the fans turn off so hot air surrounds the CPU for a length of time and continues to damage it - once again, poor design engineering.
BTW: "Normal" does not equate to "good" by default. Just because it runs hot does not mean it should. My Asus laptop never gets above 75C under full load. If you want to thing to last a while and most people use laptops for mobile productivity then you don't want it getting hot for ANY length of time. 80C is pushing it, 85C is outlandish, major media sites reported 2010 MBPs going over 100C. Most 2008-2012 models DO get very hot. 100C boils water, BTW.
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How can the CPU temp be lower than the proximity sensor, since the proximity sensor detects the temperature from a distance while the CPU sensor is at the CPU location?
I hit 110C in my late 2008 model a few days back, for just a minute or so. Replaced the paste and it barely hits 100C now under high load. I think this mod, it it could be professionally done or have smaller holes, etc would be good. Saw something on kick starter about a replacement bottom plate design but my model is not covered...
Oh, and a little bit of thread necromancy going on here
I like it, but...
I know this is an ancient thread.
I like the idea and i dont think the design looks as bad as most people have said.
My only suggestion is this:
placing the air intake beneath the CPU would still increase the flow rate of cooling air, but would also force the cool air to flow directly over the CPU
but it would also ruin the symmetry and then people would complain more about the aesthetics
Just a suggestion
I know this is an ancient thread.
I like the idea and i dont think the design looks as bad as most people have said.
My only suggestion is this:
placing the air intake beneath the CPU would still increase the flow rate of cooling air, but would also force the cool air to flow directly over the CPU
but it would also ruin the symmetry and then people would complain more about the aesthetics
Just a suggestion
Every company spends plenty on research and development but there's always a way to improve (that's why they keep making new models).
You are probably aware of the existence of cooling pads for laptops. They increase cooling performance by increasing the flow rates of air into the intake fan OR by forcing convection over the hot bottom casing (like on the MBD, which has an exhaust can rather than intake).
Apples design is good enough, but if it were perfect, nobody would need the cooling pads.
If I'm not mistaken, the 2nd law of thermodynamics tells us that increasing the mass flow rate of air through an open system will increase the heat transfer rate. And you might also be aware that larger intake area allows for said larger mass flow rate.
Yes I would suggest a finer screen (as many others have suggested). But the only design aspect that makes it not "apple-worthy" is it ruins the sleekness and smoothness of the unibody. Most computers (laptop or desktop) have more space for air intake, they just don't look as keewwwl as the MBP's unibody.
You are probably aware of the existence of cooling pads for laptops. They increase cooling performance by increasing the flow rates of air into the intake fan OR by forcing convection over the hot bottom casing (like on the MBD, which has an exhaust can rather than intake).
Apples design is good enough, but if it were perfect, nobody would need the cooling pads.
If I'm not mistaken, the 2nd law of thermodynamics tells us that increasing the mass flow rate of air through an open system will increase the heat transfer rate. And you might also be aware that larger intake area allows for said larger mass flow rate.
Yes I would suggest a finer screen (as many others have suggested). But the only design aspect that makes it not "apple-worthy" is it ruins the sleekness and smoothness of the unibody. Most computers (laptop or desktop) have more space for air intake, they just don't look as keewwwl as the MBP's unibody.