Should I clean my MacBook Pro

[vmachiel]

Hi Forum,

I've had my current 15 inch MBP for almost three years now. Lately, it's been getting quite hot doing the same tasks as always. Can this be because of dust build up over the years? Should I clean this somehow?

Thanks!

 

[maflynn]

Its very possible the air vents are clogged. The only way to clean it, is to dissemble it. If you feel comfortable in taking laptops apart then go for it.

I'd not use compressed air, as that may force the dust further into the laptop.

 

[dan1eln1el5en]

the vent is by the display hinge, you might be able to clean a lot of dust out from there with a toothpick or similar.

else you get inside, there will be a fan, clean it and the vent.
but also look at the grills on top of the CPU/GPU, you can access it all without removing more than just the bottom screws (no need to cable disconnect and smaller screws...)

 

[vmachiel]

Thanks for the tips on what to do!

 

[Peter Franks]

Interesting point, I wondered if you'd meant cleaning as in cleaning out the system. While we're nearly on that subject....

Does anyone do anything when the MBP gets a little draggy. If you delete a lot of files because your HD only has 30 odd GB left, is there anything you can or should do to clean up after it, or is it a totally unnecessary act, Thinking back to the DeFrag days of Windows etc. Is there an equivalent or a waste of time?

 

[GGJstudios]

Interesting point, I wondered if you'd meant cleaning as in cleaning out the system. While we're nearly on that subject....

Does anyone do anything when the MBP gets a little draggy. If you delete a lot of files because your HD only has 30 odd GB left, is there anything you can or should do to clean up after it, or is it a totally unnecessary act, Thinking back to the DeFrag days of Windows etc. Is there an equivalent or a waste of time?

If you're having performance issues, this may help:

Performance Tips For Mac OS X​

With very few exceptions, you don't need to defrag on Mac OS X, except possibly when partitioning a drive. About disk optimization with Mac OS X

You probably won't need to optimize at all if you use Mac OS X.

You don't need "cleaner" or "maintenance" apps to keep your Mac running well, and some of these apps can do more harm than good. Most only remove files/folders or unused languages or architectures, which does nothing more than free up some drive space, with the risk of deleting something important in the process. These apps will not make your Mac run faster or more efficiently, since having stuff stored on a drive does not impact performance, unless you're running out of drive space. In fact, deleting some caches can hurt performance, rather than help it, since more system resources are used and performance suffers while each cache is being rebuilt. Many of these tasks should only be done selectively to troubleshoot specific problems, not en masse as routine maintenance. Mac OS X does a good job of taking care of itself, without the need for 3rd party software. Among other things, it has its own maintenance scripts that run silently in the background on a daily, weekly and monthly basis, without user intervention.

Five Mac maintenance myths​

 

[Peter Franks]

Great, thanks for that. MacFormat this month saying that Onyx will speed up if you clean up with it. Should I ignore? They don't actually go into any details about what to use it for, just to USE it to speed up the Mac?

 

[GGJstudios]

Great, thanks for that. MacFormat this month saying that Onyx will speed up if you clean up with it. Should I ignore? They don't actually go into any details about what to use it for, just to USE it to speed up the Mac?

Yes, I'd ignore that. A great number of developers who provided such apps for Windows decided they could make more money by offering a Mac version, counting on former Windows users to carry their maintenance mentality from Windows to Mac. They did the same thing with antivirus apps, even though the malware environment for OS X is vastly different from the one for Windows. The fact is, OS X is not Windows and doesn't have the same requirements to keep it running well.

OnyX is a great tool for specific purposes, but it's not necessary for "routine maintenance". Macs don't require regular "maintenance" or "cleaning" beyond that which is already done by OS X.

 

[Peter Franks]

Thanks, they're basically saying it will clean out the cache of old and unused.. If you use it for that, will it make any difference to space, or is it not that much. I've had over two years so may have accumulated a variety of stuff? Worth a use for cleaning cache or, again, not bother?

 

[InfinitiG]

ur gonna have to vacuum the insides. i vacuum mine once a year. it immediately runs cooler afterwards

 

[GGJstudios]

Thanks, they're basically saying it will clean out the cache of old and unused.. If you use it for that, will it make any difference to space, or is it not that much. I've had over two years so may have accumulated a variety of stuff? Worth a use for cleaning cache or, again, not bother?

Caches exist to improve performance. Deleting caches degrades performance, as more system resources are consumed during rebuilding them. You only need to delete isolated caches when troubleshooting specific problems. Clearing all caches regularly is not recommended.

 

[Peter Franks]

Thanks GGJ, For your info, this is the piece I was talking about, if you've not seen it.....

Thought it may clear out Safari cache too, which must be a bloater. Despite the 'Empty cache' in Safari, I've noticed in other files, that it doesn't clear it. But assumed this does, as well as old docs scattered?

 

[kjb0419]

I would definitely take it apart and clean a bit. I've heard that you should clean your fan every 6 months or so (if you're a heavy user) to prevent dust buildup. It's pretty simple to do and it really does help. You'll be surprised how much dust can get trapped in there!

 

[GGJstudios]

Thanks GGJ, For your info, this is the piece I was talking about, if you've not seen it.....

Thought it may clear out Safari cache too, which must be a bloater. Despite the 'Empty cache' in Safari, I've noticed in other files, that it doesn't clear it. But assumed this does, as well as old docs scattered?

You can empty the Safari cache in Safari, without needing any other app. As for other caches, they shouldn't be deleted en masse on a regular basis, as doing so only degrades performance until they're rebuilt. Just let your Mac manage and maintain itself, which it will do quite well without requiring user interference or 3rd party apps.

 

[Peter Franks]

Safari doesn't clear all on mine for some reason, but I hear what you're saying, and won't bother. Thanks