Apple Review Blog

Last week we updated the RAM in our computer to make a MacBook faster. While we had the back cover off, we decided to clean out it’s fans. After about 1.5 years of continuous use there was a little bit of dust in the fan, and inside the inclosure. This can be removed easily with a vacuum cleaner, just make sure you don’t put it right on the components.

Clean the MacBook Fan

Our big tip here is to use the vacuum cleaner on the fan, if you put the hose over the intake part it will cause the fan blades to rotate in their normal direction and won’t damage the fan. Also use a dry cloth to remove any fine dust particles from the cover or other parts of the computer.

Dust gathers in fans

The problem with dust is that will accumulate over time, and once it starts gathering it will accelerate and after a few years it will look like this. You may even have hairs, and dirt stuck to the dust. This picture was taken after 5 years of use of a laptop. Here the fan’s output of hot air was completely blocked by the dust !

Dangers with dusty fans

Dust, as it collects will reduce the efficiency of your fan, and may even cause it to stop working completely. When it’s stopped your computer is at risk of overheating and damaging important components. Your CPU, Graphics card & motherboard have a specific range of temperatures that they can safely operate. Once the overheat the systems temperature monitors will tell the system to shut itself down to avoid further damage. If think you computer is over heating you can check the temperatures via special programs or dashboard gadgets like iStat Pro, pictured above.