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Will Genuis Bar apply Thermal Paste to your macbook?

I

iMackPro

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Mar 31, 2011
333
0
I see that the Thermal Paste really helps your computer temperatures not rise as fast and keep a constant lower temperature, id like to apply it to my MBP but i do not want to do it myself, especially after seeing the thread about the guy who's mac wont boot.

anyways, will the Genuis Bar perform this task for me if i pay them? and bring the material? or is this a non-approved method performed by users?
 
Apple will definitely not do this. From what I have heard, they won't even replace the ODD with an SSD or add an extra SSD to 27" iMac, both which are simpler than this. A reseller might do this because they are not bound by Apple's rules that much. Of course, you should always ask but I doubt Apple will do it.
 
what a bummer, id really like to have this done on my mac but theres no way im going to try it, maybe one day after some extensive research ill try it on my old uMB. but im still not so sure. thanks for the reply though mate.
 
iMackPro said:
what a bummer, id really like to have this done on my mac but theres no way im going to try it, maybe one day after some extensive research ill try it on my old uMB. but im still not so sure. thanks for the reply though mate.
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Well, it does already have thermal paste, so unless you're having slowdowns or shutdowns from too much heat, reapplication won't do much for you. Some people got computers with poor applications of it, causing unusually high temps.
 
alust2013 said:
Well, it does already have thermal paste, so unless you're having slowdowns or shutdowns from too much heat, reapplication won't do much for you. Some people got computers with poor applications of it, causing unusually high temps.
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ohhhhh, thanks for the clarifications, after reading the threads i had understood that anyone that puts their Macs into high temps via encoding or gaming that it will help with heat dissipation and keep your compuer heat lower. Like it will help anyones mac not just the ones with faulty paste?


So you're saying that if i don't have ridiculously high temps right now then i wont notice it anywise?
 
iMackPro said:
ohhhhh, thanks for the clarifications, after reading the threads i had understood that anyone that puts their Macs into high temps via encoding or gaming that it will help with heat dissipation and keep your compuer heat lower. Like it will help anyones mac not just the ones with faulty paste?
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All Macs have pretty poor thermal paste job and the paste Apple uses it total crap. Reapplying it on your own would definitely decrease the temperatures.

So you're saying that if i don't have ridiculously high temps right now then i wont notice it anywise?
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How high your temps are now? If it's not uncomfortably hot, then there is no need to do anything.
 
Hellhammer said:
How high your temps are now? If it's not uncomfortably hot, then there is no need to do anything.
Click to expand...

i was playing Portal earlier for less than 20 minutes i couldnt have it set on my lap, now i know that GPU is all the heat blah blah and the fans were running max and i expect all of that.

but if i could cool my mac down within a reasonable amount (say lower it 9 degrees or more Fahrenheit) i say why not fix the paste?!

but then again if im looking at only two or three degrees then its just not worth it.
 
iMackPro said:
i was playing Portal earlier for less than 20 minutes i couldnt have it set on my lap, now i know that GPU is all the heat blah blah and the fans were running max and i expect all of that.

but if i could cool my mac down within a reasonable amount (say lower it 9 degrees or more Fahrenheit) i say why not fix the paste?!

but then again if im looking at only two or three degrees then its just not worth it.
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Gaming will do that. No matter how good your paste is, it will still be too hot to put on your lap. It may cool it down a few degrees, but it could void the warranty, mess up the computer, etc. Generally, I'd say not worth it unless it is causing major problems.
 
Get it done yourself.

The chance of Apple seeing / knowing in the future is slim
 
alust2013 said:
Gaming will do that. No matter how good your paste is, it will still be too hot to put on your lap. It may cool it down a few degrees, but it could void the warranty, mess up the computer, etc. Generally, I'd say not worth it unless it is causing major problems.
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Actually, it's quite easy. So far, I've only seen one person mess up their computer against a lot of people getting it right
 
Ommid said:
Get it done yourself.
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You are suggesting this to the TO, who didn't even know that there is thermal paste applied from stock.

On the topic: As far as you are experiencing no problems with heat I would not suggest trying to reapply the thermal paste. If you have problems, better take it to Apple and have them take a look at it.
 
iMackPro said:
I see that the Thermal Paste really helps your computer temperatures not rise as fast and keep a constant lower temperature, id like to apply it to my MBP but i do not want to do it myself, especially after seeing the thread about the guy who's mac wont boot.

anyways, will the Genuis Bar perform this task for me if i pay them? and bring the material? or is this a non-approved method performed by users?
Click to expand...

Not to dig up an old post, but

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2764570?start=375&tstart=0

A guy claims he got the Apple Store to do it. (pg 26, toward the top)

So are you saying that istat menus gives you 40-50 when just browsing? I'm lucky to get below 60 when just letting it idle. Keep in mind I got Apple Service technicians to change the thermal paste to arctic silver as well. I have the 2.2ghz.​
 
Doing this kind of repair will void your Applecare warranty. I am sure they have some mechanism in place to detect unauthorized intrusion.

What do you have to say about that?
 
crypticlineage said:
Doing this kind of repair will void your Applecare warranty. I am sure they have some mechanism in place to detect unauthorized intrusion.

What do you have to say about that?
Click to expand...
Ever seen "some mechanism in place to detect unauthorized instruction" in any of the 50-gazillion iFixIt tear downs of Apple notebooks?
 
Sometimes MacRumor posts cause more confusion than they do good. Your Macbook is fine, leave it alone. You would not have thought about it if you hadn't seen the earlier thread.
 
aristobrat said:
Ever seen "some mechanism in place to detect unauthorized instruction" in any of the 50-gazillion iFixIt tear downs of Apple notebooks?
Click to expand...

This is the biggest thing I'd be worried about is if there was some sort of seal in there, like a ribbon that rips easily.
 
fattire357 said:
This is the biggest thing I'd be worried about is if there was some sort of seal in there, like a ribbon that rips easily.
Click to expand...

There's not, but the mere presence of thermal paste that wasn't Apple's standard would alert any tech that the machine had been opened by someone who wasn't authorized.

jW
 
I'm considering speaking to Apple about thermal paste re-application because I'm idling in the 50-60c range and have gone over 100c consistently when rendering in iMovie. Even though this is within the threshold my MBP runs hotter that what most users report at idle and load by 10+ degrees celsius.
 
Do it when your warranty expires, assuming it still bothers you. It's not worth the risk to do it while you still have warranty. While your at it you could upgrade your RAM and swap in an SSD by removing the Superdrive. Should revitalise your computer. But not worth the risk of voiding your warranty.

EDIT: My new 17" obviously has a great paste job (which my 4 year old 15" definitely did not). Just browsing the net, but my CPU temp is below 30˚C. Which is only about 12-14˚C above the present air temp. Even after hours of gaming, the case is only warm, not hot. Far cry from the scalding hot of my 15".
 
It's also important that people know that the heatsink for the CPU and GPU are linked together. If the GPU is doing a ton of work, then the CPU will get hot as well. As such, if you REALLY want lower temps while web browsing, install ClicktoFlash.

As for gaming, the fans are always going to be spinning like crazy. No computer manufacturer EVER advertises that you can game on your lap. That's why they are always referred to as notebooks in advertising, to prevent from getting sued for infertility and other silly claims.
 
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