Just did this with a 2015 15 inch. Very easy. One thing to watch for is the brackets holding the heatsink over the CPU have spring tension to press down when installed. They could easily send your screws flying across the room if you're not careful when removing them.
I just stumbled on this episode. Yes, I agree. My Macbook Pro (Retina, Early 2013, A1398) kept freezing up after only a couple of seconds of UA-cam video. The top of the keyboard was also very hot, very quickly (from a cold boot up). So I got myself a good quality thermal paste and did the job myself. Now, the computer runs very cool and the top of the keyboard only slightly warm to the touch even after hours of watching UA-cam. It's like a new machine now. :-)
Thanks so much for this video dude! I have a 2013 MBP that was constantly getting hot and kicking the fan on, especially when using Lightroom. I cleaned it up and added some new thermal compound and it really has made a big difference!
From what I’ve seen online, spreading is necessary when replacing thermal paste on cpu/gpu without heat spreader (ihs), this applies to gpus and mobile cpus. The pea method works when using desktop cpus with ihs.
@Annon Moose sorry you're misinformed. Direct die applications need the thermal spread. If you have an ihs then you can use the pea method without too much of an issue. Been doing computers for the past 15yrs and I can confirm you do not want to leave areas of the die exposed as you can make a proper Hotspot that is infact detrimental to performance at the very minimum. Worst case for example, you end up fring the igpu accidently. Ask me how I know. Everyone compares thermal paste applications but it's all done on ihs'. Direct die applications are very different story since the whole die produces heat.
@@kenjifox4264 you can either spread a thin layer and let the mounting pressure push the excess out or you can use an additional amount how you choose so you get complete coverage. Only difference will be the amount of wastage really. As long as the thermal paste has low viscosity and easily speads under pressure you won't have any contact issues by using an excessive amount. It will just push out when being tightened and leave the correct amount to fill the gaps. It's always better to have a little too much than not enough specifically in a direct die application! Have fun with whatever task you are upto kenji! And always take your time
1. When undoing screws of any tentioned rectangular/square component (like the CPU cooler, PC Case Fan, or this Heat Sink), do it in a zigzag like he does when putting it back on. Go across diagonally and evenly loosen the tention until loose, then remove screws. Do the reverse when fastening/installing. 2. Use Isopropyl Alcohol (I use 99% but many people just use 70%+ and is fine. Just make sure it's all dry before doing next steps) with some lintless fabric or towel to clean the die and heat sink contact surface. Clean Coffee Filter is actually good for this. Lintless, cheap. 3. Go slow and just put a tiny dollop of thermal goop near the center of each die. Let the compression do the spreading. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DO NOT SPREAD THAT THING. 1. there is no need 2. you increase chance of air pockets forming during application.
The reason the pea method works on desktop CPU’s is because the heat sink has much higher pressure when mounted. In laptops and GPU’s, you are free and recommended to apply more as it won’t have as much mounting pressure. Plus, applying more thermal paste is nowhere near as detrimental as applying too little.
The pea method (a circular drop) only makes sense when you’re applying paste to a square surface area. The pressure will evenly push the paste outward in a circular fashion. On a rectangular shape, like in this video, there won’t be enough paste to cover the cpu. So you have to apply a line
I talk slowly because I want people to understand what I am saying, 60% of my audience are non-native English speakers, so I need to make sure I give them the best possible chance of understanding my content.
"Still got a whole tube of thermal paste I can use on other things!" He said, walking around the house looking for things he can use his thermal paste on. Picture frame on the wall... TV... Cat... 😂
It doesn't help much since with any paste since these have inadequate heatsinks and will hit 100C under full load, but it does help a lot when doing regular tasks and idling.
The best upgrade you can make for your MBP is to open the case up once every six months and use a canned air spray to get rid of the dust. Instantly running 10 degrees cooler. Changing the thermal paste didn't really do much, and the laptop failed to start up again the first time as I added too much of it. The thermal paste should be as thin as paper.
I know this post is old, but do and SMC reset as well as a pram reset and your system should turn on and boot up fine, i had same issue after repasting and scree. Wouldn't even turn on, reset the system management controller and voila it worked great.
I did this with some liquid metal and was amazed to see my temps drop nearly 25 degrees under load. (I don't suggest this to most people as the liquid metal does react, albeit very slowly, but it does degrade the cooler)
Pro tip: While you have the machine open, grab yourself the can of compressed air and clean out the cooling fan. If you're doing this for a customer, they'll appreciate you going the extra mile.
Thank you for this! I just did this to my MacBook Pro retina (the exact same as in this video) and it was really easy to follow, I choked on seven years worth of dust but hey it was worth it haha
@@Hmmmmmmm1234 Yes, even in America, I am american.. Look up any forum posts or UA-camrs that are american and they will still talk about their computer temperature in Celsius.
Oh, and be very careful if you are using a metal based thermal compound not to use too much or it will squeeze out onto the motherboard when you reattach the heatsink and cause short circuiting problems. I'd avoid metal based thermal compounds altogether so that can never happen.
I have an old MacBook Pro 2010, I almost removed out everything, and replace the thermal paste. And get everything back!!! Do not want to think this again. Luckily it works, cost my 5 hours! I can say you are lucky to do on this Mac.
8:20 actually, when applying thermal paste directly to the die, you should spread it out manually, as any part not contacted will create a hotspot that will either kill the cpu or force throttling.
I still have my 2013 Retina 15.7 in and I paid for the upgrade to 16GB of 1600MHz DDR3L onboard memory 2.6GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 (Turbo Boost up to 3.8GHz) with 6MB shared L3 cache and I’m glad I did because it’s pristine today and I don’t need anything more than it does still today.
I know i'm supposed to do that but i'm always afraid to open my laptops that way, especially since i've started using macbooks... I LOVE my 2015 Retina MacBook Pro and i'll end up doing it anyway, cause it's my daily driver and it runs too hot for my taste... Thanks for the video, it will be a tremendous help !
Don't listen to this guy, you shouldn't replace the thermal paste on your macbook. Engineers know very well how to design the heatsink and what thermal paste is the best choice. I've never heard of macbook breaking due to overheating, there were problems with some gpu models but it was a welding fault.
Nicola Serra Don’t spread ignorance. A properly cooled computer is known to last longer. Regardless of how good the engineering is, thermal paste needs to be replaced every couple years. Your comment is the equivalent of telling people to never fill the coolant in their car because the engineers knew what they were doing when they built it.
Sometimes when there are "blank spots" on the top cover of a chip, where there's no thermal paste, you'll find that these are the spots where the thermal paste came off onto the heat sink. But that's not entirely the case in this video--the shiny area on the CPU cover that Luke points out, really doesn't have a corresponding patch of thermal paste on the heat sink, so this area really wasn't being thermally cooled as well as the areas where the paste is present. This shows why it's a bad idea to just place a small ball of thermal paste onto the center of a chip (or even to just partially spread it out, as Luke does here for some reason) and then expect that it will spread out to cover the entire surface of the chip's top cover when you screw the heat sink down into place--instead, you should always spread thermal paste across the whole top, shiny raised cover of a chip to get the best heat transfer from the chip to the heat sink. The clamping force of the heat sinks in many (most?) laptops isn't enough to always thoroughly spread out thermal paste that's been applied as just a ball or a patch that only partially covers the chip's top cover, so you should always use a small spatula to spread out the paste as a thin coating, across the entire surface of the chip's top cover--it doesn't need to be thick at all, since the main purpose of thermal paste is to fill in tiny scratches and other irregularities on the heat sink to maximize thermal transfer from the chip to the heat sink.
Luke, I must say this did help reduce my CPU up to 20 degrees, and in Cinebench, my Macbook 15" 2.5 GHZ went from 1352 to 1440 a small improvement! Thanks again!
I guess you are using MacBook Pro 15’’’ mid-2015, if you rerun test again, after the thermal paste was applied for a week, you gonna find the score drops back. If you run the test right after applying new thermal paste you can have very good result, because it is still wet.
A screen protector is also a good idea on early Retina models. There was an issue with the anti-glare coating wearing off and leaving an impression of the keyboard on the screen.
I have an early 2015 macbook pro and it wasn't covered under warranty. I had an issue where the screen wouldn't turn on and the keyboard wouldn't work (I now realize this is a super easy fix but apple was quoting me like $1000 for a new screen). When I took it into the Apple Shop, they looked at the keyboard marks on the screen and said this was an issue they fix for free. Got a whole new screen and paid next to nothing. Doubt they would or even could still do this as this was over 4 years ago but it may be worth looking into.
@@Poire33 yes sir, and without a thermal camera and some testing, it may be worse? mac knows there stuff. but i am working on my down lap top now. we will see
*Jony Ive believes this. The problem really is that Ive for quite a few years had too much control over the design of their devices, use-ability or thermal performance be damned, and now that he's gone, they're already making choices for the better.
Done this, was so simple, being a techy. The original thermal paste in my mid2014 was well not much left, put on thermal paste over CPU and GPU now much cooler 10-15 degrees cooler. Really helped. I Also replaced my battery as well while i was at it.
Great video. This didn't even occur to me. My wife's macbook pro has been FAN-tastic for awhile anytime she does practically anything. I followed the vid and did the thermal paste (had some Arctic Silver left over from my desktop build) and it worked great. Thanks!
instead of taking your laptop apart if youre not comfortable. You can always install smcfancontrol and have your fans always spinning. downside to that is well your fans are always on but upside is. your laptop runs at 40-50 degrees
to remove the thermal paste use isopropyl alcohol (rally cheap available everywhere) on a soft lint free cloth. That removes every trace and does not react with the components.
Use a high alcohol % isopropyl alcohol to help clean the old thermal paste! Also don’t spread the thermal paste around, this could introduce air pockets which would bring the heat transfer rate down, the heat sink will spread it for you as you put it back on!
not true Explain why Luke's mac in the video above had shiny spots on the die from the factory? Surely it should have spread out from the heat sink, right? Also, explain why most pastes come with a spreader? See: MX4, Arctic Silver, Thermalright, etc.
Dude, why no new paste thermal test? Was it worse? Was it better? The same? Why should we replace the paste if we do not have a repeattest showing better thermals?
Yeah, I don’t see the point of applying thermal paste to the igpu if the het sink doesn’t touch it. There was already paste on there when he removed the heat sink, tho.
After so many years, I still can't believe that for this model, Apple engineers was like: Dang it, let's just cover part of the GPU die by the tube and it will be OK.
Leo Ren It’s actually the PCH which doesn’t need any cooling, Intel integrated it on to the CPU package to save space on the “U” processors, on the 15” MacBooks it isn’t integrated and is fine sitting with no cooling...
and the cooler does not have that high clamping force , as dont most of apple coolers , and people forget that spreading the paste is needed when clamping force is low , its not a pc with a thick lid
always fully spread the paste on a cpu that had no lid like this one. do not leave any empty spots before putting the heatsink back on. all the way to the edges!
I hear this 'cheap thermal paste' stuff all the time but why is it ALL manufacturers would skimp on the cost of this when it causes so many foreseeable problems, it would be easier to go cheap on some other spec.
Typically manufacturers choose thermal paste that LASTS a long time, because people aren't going to change it. So they prioritize long lifespan rather than peak thermal performance.
Yeah I also was surprised by that, and the gap between GPU surface and heat tube is huge there, so thermal paste won't work there. I used thermal pad for that, but honestly without noticable effect anyway :D
I will do it tomorrow. My MacBook Pro is 6 years old. I hope not find a crocodile in it. Hey Luke, you forgot to run Cinebench afterwards to compare the performance and overheating. Thanks for the video.
Thanks Luke didn't realise it was so easy would have done it a long time back, has certainly helped not only running cooler but also cools down quicker after running something a little stressful. I used Arctic MX-4 on MacBook Pro early 2015 3.1GHz i7. Cliff : currently running CPU 54C deg now ambient is 32C. As pointed out the GPU section doesn't really have much of a heatsink room for an aftermarket one maybe.
I repasted my early 2015 13 inch Macbook Pro with thermal grizzly kryonaut it did improve, yet it's still runs hot, I'm very experienced building gaming pcs and repairing macs, so I know what I'm doing. It just seems that Monterey and modern apps are not helping this machine. When I upgraded the NVME to the fastest one it can support I even put a thermal pad that will be in contact with the bottom case to insure the SSD is cool as well. in the end this laptop would definitely be replaced by an M3 Macbook air, and I know it will be heck of an upgrade, since I started doing youtube on the side and I would need a capable enough machine to run photo and video editing with no problems.
This helps, but unfortunately there are no decent ventilation around fan anyway, so overheating still be there, just not as severe as before. Drilling few holes around fan from the bottom of the Macbook Pro will decrease CPU temperature by ~15C easily. :D
You can wrap the tip of your finger in plastic wrap and spread the paste evenly. That was way too much paste. The tiniest of pea drops will do. Also, you should tint the heatsink, it will speed up the break in period of the application of paste. You'll see better temps and performance after about 300 hours of normal use. Try not to stress it out until it's broken in, otherwise the paste will not set optimally.
Sitting here watching this video stuttered on a 2012 MBP retina due to throttling issues because of this exact thermal issue. Kernal Task at 300% How Meta.
this is good to do to any old computer in general thermal paste doesn't last forever though it holds up pretty good around the 5 year mark or so it starts to show it's age.. With many macbook like this one being 10 years and older yeah it's a good idea to do this... At least it's not a flip board design like on the uni bodies..
4:00 if you want to skip the waffle. Thermal paste dries with heat over time in every kind of electronic device - not sure that Apple specifically use "crappy" paste.
I use gelid GC extreme thermal paste, it's been in both my MacBook Pro non retina 2012 and windows desktop i7 2600k overclocked to 5.6 GHz for close to 6 years and hasn't dries out yet since this thermal paste is for overclocking.
Typically manufacturers choose thermal paste that LASTS a long time, because people aren't going to change it. So they prioritize long lifespan rather than peak thermal performance. They are not above saving a few cents here and there...hence why you sometimes see poor applications like the one in this video.
Kryonaut is the best thermal paste you can get. It’s $10 for a gram but it’ll make your system reach its best potential without the risks and problems of liquid metal like how it eventually alloys with the copper which becomes a solid and loses performance over time
… UA-cam recommendations did it again. I thought this was new when it popped into my feed, but the production quality being significantly lower than your newer stuff tipped me off
Afternoon Luke This is a bit off topic, but I was able to pick up a Mac Pro (2009) entry-level computer for $275.00 with two 1TB hard drives and 16GB of ram. The only real shortcoming is the need to do some cosmetic work on the case itself (clean and polish). But given the size of the ram and the number of hard drives and their size, I trust the amount was ok. Here's hoping you will agree. Looking forward to upgrading the unit over time. In the end, I would like to see it maxed out. My current mac is a maxed-out Mac mini (2010) which is facing software issues going forward and currently having problems with both its onboard hard drive and it just started not mounting on startup (now and then) I think it's a hard drive issue but given that the drive is new and under warranty. I need only to pull it and return it to Seagate for a replacement. Your throughs and sorry about the rant. Ric Houston/San Francisco
A better solution is to drill speed holes into the bottom case right over the internal fans to improve air flow and connect the internal heat sink to the bottom cover. with a thermal pad. This allows more heat to be taken off the CPU and GPU.
@@jadesluv I would recommend not to drill right over the internal fans, doing so would reduce airflow all around the inside of the whole laptop, other motherboard parts and ssd need cooling.
BEST WAY: get a thin but strong copper plate that could cover the cpu and the gpu . Cause if you you at it the gpu is just half covered. its done on purpose for the GPU to fail .This model always have the same issue. GPU
I got an early 2011 17inch Macbook Pro, I picked up dirt cheap with a failed GPU. I bypassed the AMD HD 6750m & only use the Intel HD 3000. But damn does this thing get hot! Just 1080p 60fps videos of any length I gotta expect the fans to run full blast the whole time to keep the cpu around high 80's and low 90'sc...... I'm waiting on a screw driver I need, and I am going to take the plunge on dealing with all the tiny little connectors and screws to re do the thermal paste on this.... But if your saying the Retina models are easy..... Well that's one good thing..... But hardly worth taking away the ability to upgrade & replace things easily..... But I'll keep this early 2011 model going for as long as I can.... I even have a means to get Mojave on it... This means could likely last me a good while..... (as in another 2 or 3 OS upgrades) But if I decide to continue using a Mac past this Macbook...... It's something I'll have to stomach... That being smaller screen, and no upgrades..... I might just step out of the Mac world again, by the time this laptop is to old to do anything.....
Kareem Ragab I'd be glad to help, It's been detailed how to do this on Macrumors. But if your anything like me, watching videos is even more reinsuring. So luckily a small UA-camr did a video showing every step you need to do. Only thing to make note of there is a few differences pending what OS is installed on your Mac currently. If your Mac is running something older then Sierra, aka OS X El Capitan or older. Follow everything that is shown in his video, if you made the upgrade to Sierra, things are a little different, the person who made the video made a detailed comment on his video, showing the differences. Now if your running high Sierra things change once more. Basically follow the comment that the video's poster made, but when you type these commands your not going to want to type "sudo" first. For whatever reason High Sierra removed that command, and you just write everything that is shown minus the "sudo" at the start of the line of code you type. To simplify that, a random commenter "Sean Witzke" re wrote the video's creators comment just minus the sudo command and any other changes. Here is the video, check it out & good luck! ua-cam.com/video/nFFPk3SeQbQ/v-deo.html I got it done in about an hour, but I was doing everything super slow, and triple checking things. Could only imagine the headaches if I did something wrong in here haha.
@Luke Miani you are completely wrong about that temperature as 97 degrees Farenheit -- that's just 25 degrees above nominal room tempeerature. It is 97 degrees Celsius. The Intel mobile CPUs throttle to keep themselves below 100 C.
Surprising that the GPU gets hardly no contact with copper plate to wick away heat. I presumed the lil die next to cpu is a GPU, i'd make a custom block so both chips have adequate coverage.
UA-cam autplayed this, just a little note from me. Notice how the smaller die does not have any contact with the copper plate? well thats how it should be. It is not gpu, it is a PCH (platform controller hub). It should not have any thermal paste added on to it, as it runs at much lower temperatures than the cpu, and by adding thermal paste there you are also "connecting" the heat to it. It was left unpasted and cutout from the heatsink intentionally
I just did this on my 2015 13" MBP with 3.1 Ghz i7. Cinebench sped up by about 10% and the idling temperature dropped 6-8 degrees C. It's easy to do, cheap and worth doing. I used Thermal Grizzly Cryonaut, because it's highly rated for lowering temperatures and non-corrosive and non-conductive. I watched a lot of videos on using liquid metal, but it scares me to use it in a laptop and the long term effects are (IMHO) problematic. A top of the line non-conductive, non-reactive paste will likely get you nearly all the benefits will almost zero risk.
Hey I just bought a used one the same like yours . What temperatures is it usually on idle and what under load? I could not find much on the "normal" temperatures it should work. Do you use macs fan control?
It would be really cool if you made a video on all the upgrades you can do for the retina Macs. I am looking to keep my retina for a long time because of the lack of io on the new Macs.
![Дон ДОН, Алаудинов и СБЕЖАВШИЕ из под Курска ахматовцы 😁 [Пародия]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/dEfCf5IK26Q/mqdefault.jpg)
Just did this with a 2015 15 inch. Very easy. One thing to watch for is the brackets holding the heatsink over the CPU have spring tension to press down when installed. They could easily send your screws flying across the room if you're not careful when removing them.
Pro Tip: It also helps to speak to the Thermal Paste in a gentle and reassuring tone, so that it may relax and do it's job better!
I just stumbled on this episode.
Yes, I agree. My Macbook Pro (Retina, Early 2013, A1398) kept freezing up after only a couple of seconds of UA-cam video. The top of the keyboard was also very hot, very quickly (from a cold boot up). So I got myself a good quality thermal paste and did the job myself.
Now, the computer runs very cool and the top of the keyboard only slightly warm to the touch even after hours of watching UA-cam.
It's like a new machine now. :-)
Thanks so much for this video dude! I have a 2013 MBP that was constantly getting hot and kicking the fan on, especially when using Lightroom. I cleaned it up and added some new thermal compound and it really has made a big difference!
From what I’ve seen online, spreading is necessary when replacing thermal paste on cpu/gpu without heat spreader (ihs), this applies to gpus and mobile cpus. The pea method works when using desktop cpus with ihs.
@Annon Moose sorry you're misinformed. Direct die applications need the thermal spread. If you have an ihs then you can use the pea method without too much of an issue.
Been doing computers for the past 15yrs and I can confirm you do not want to leave areas of the die exposed as you can make a proper Hotspot that is infact detrimental to performance at the very minimum. Worst case for example, you end up fring the igpu accidently. Ask me how I know.
Everyone compares thermal paste applications but it's all done on ihs'. Direct die applications are very different story since the whole die produces heat.
@@lewisanth4986 so you should dab a little near the corners then ?
@@kenjifox4264 you can either spread a thin layer and let the mounting pressure push the excess out or you can use an additional amount how you choose so you get complete coverage. Only difference will be the amount of wastage really.
As long as the thermal paste has low viscosity and easily speads under pressure you won't have any contact issues by using an excessive amount. It will just push out when being tightened and leave the correct amount to fill the gaps.
It's always better to have a little too much than not enough specifically in a direct die application!
Have fun with whatever task you are upto kenji! And always take your time
1. When undoing screws of any tentioned rectangular/square component (like the CPU cooler, PC Case Fan, or this Heat Sink), do it in a zigzag like he does when putting it back on. Go across diagonally and evenly loosen the tention until loose, then remove screws. Do the reverse when fastening/installing.
2. Use Isopropyl Alcohol (I use 99% but many people just use 70%+ and is fine. Just make sure it's all dry before doing next steps) with some lintless fabric or towel to clean the die and heat sink contact surface. Clean Coffee Filter is actually good for this. Lintless, cheap.
3. Go slow and just put a tiny dollop of thermal goop near the center of each die. Let the compression do the spreading. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DO NOT SPREAD THAT THING. 1. there is no need 2. you increase chance of air pockets forming during application.
The reason the pea method works on desktop CPU’s is because the heat sink has much higher pressure when mounted. In laptops and GPU’s, you are free and recommended to apply more as it won’t have as much mounting pressure. Plus, applying more thermal paste is nowhere near as detrimental as applying too little.
The pea method (a circular drop) only makes sense when you’re applying paste to a square surface area. The pressure will evenly push the paste outward in a circular fashion.
On a rectangular shape, like in this video, there won’t be enough paste to cover the cpu. So you have to apply a line
1.25 playback speed, thank me later.
ffs this is so much better lol he needs to talk like this in general, kinda makes me not wanna watch, but this fixed it
I talk slowly because I want people to understand what I am saying, 60% of my audience are non-native English speakers, so I need to make sure I give them the best possible chance of understanding my content.
that makes sense, didn't think internationally lol I didn't mean any hate from my comment, still like your channel a lot
Thanks.
Thanks..😅1.5 was better!
"Still got a whole tube of thermal paste I can use on other things!" He said, walking around the house looking for things he can use his thermal paste on. Picture frame on the wall... TV... Cat... 😂
HAHAHAHAHAHA
Well, you can surely repaste a PlayStation
This video is so good that UA-cam feels like I should watch it again a whole year later. Thanks UA-cam! 😃
Where is your profile pic from?
Where's the post new paste CineBench test?????
I figured it wouldn't make much difference, more a piece of mind thing vs. a real upgrade like a faster SSD NVME
@@abc123fhdi It does make a difference. The cpu turbo boosts more and keeps better base clocks. Basically doesnt throttle as much
Yeh where is it? Bet it got a lower score ;-) VIDEO FAIL !
I assume it doesn't help much, otherwise he'd have posted it.
It doesn't help much since with any paste since these have inadequate heatsinks and will hit 100C under full load, but it does help a lot when doing regular tasks and idling.
When I applied the new thermal paste, I actually saw a better results after I reset the SMC too.
The best upgrade you can make for your MBP is to open the case up once every six months and use a canned air spray to get rid of the dust. Instantly running 10 degrees cooler. Changing the thermal paste didn't really do much, and the laptop failed to start up again the first time as I added too much of it. The thermal paste should be as thin as paper.
what paste did you use?
@@Nicole-ui5wvThermal grizzly.
I know this post is old, but do and SMC reset as well as a pram reset and your system should turn on and boot up fine, i had same issue after repasting and scree. Wouldn't even turn on, reset the system management controller and voila it worked great.
You know why i like this channel. It makes us appreciate what we have not to be the slave of newest tech.
I did this with some liquid metal and was amazed to see my temps drop nearly 25 degrees under load. (I don't suggest this to most people as the liquid metal does react, albeit very slowly, but it does degrade the cooler)
Pro tip: While you have the machine open, grab yourself the can of compressed air and clean out the cooling fan. If you're doing this for a customer, they'll appreciate you going the extra mile.
Thank you for this! I just did this to my MacBook Pro retina (the exact same as in this video) and it was really easy to follow, I choked on seven years worth of dust but hey it was worth it haha
a bit late, but a before and after temp or performance comparison would have been awesome.
I just changed my thermal paste at this moment for an arctic silver 5 and got more than 15 degrees less! MBP 13 late 2013
°C or °F?
@@FormulaManuel when people talk about temperatures with computers it will always be in celsius
@@daveblueballz6659 not when you're an american
@@Hmmmmmmm1234 Yes, even in America, I am american.. Look up any forum posts or UA-camrs that are american and they will still talk about their computer temperature in Celsius.
zxcvbnm mnbvcxz even intel sets their temperature delta in 100C until it’s not able to operate
A week ago, I replaced the thermal paste on my early 2013 15-inch MacBook. Easy as pie! And the difference was startling!
Great video. I don't even own one, but kept watching just to see you finish the task. Very well delivered and easy to understand instruction.
Oh, and be very careful if you are using a metal based thermal compound not to use too much or it will squeeze out onto the motherboard when you reattach the heatsink and cause short circuiting problems. I'd avoid metal based thermal compounds altogether so that can never happen.
I have an old MacBook Pro 2010, I almost removed out everything, and replace the thermal paste. And get everything back!!! Do not want to think this again. Luckily it works, cost my 5 hours! I can say you are lucky to do on this Mac.
Macs fan control app is life changing
Jup. Makes out of 97 Celsius 50-60. ^^
@@jensharbers6702 Yes that app is a mac saver!
Can give me the link for the app
muhammed yasir alakır crystalidea.com/macs-fan-control
I use TGPro Fan control. It is very good as well.
8:20 actually, when applying thermal paste directly to the die, you should spread it out manually, as any part not contacted will create a hotspot that will either kill the cpu or force throttling.
I still have my 2013 Retina 15.7 in and I paid for the upgrade to 16GB of 1600MHz DDR3L onboard memory 2.6GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 (Turbo Boost up to 3.8GHz) with 6MB shared L3 cache and I’m glad I did because it’s pristine today and I don’t need anything more than it does still today.
Spookymedic Aka Brandon who made this upgrade seriously?
@@andyzimmerer2284 you do it before you purchase the macbook
I know i'm supposed to do that but i'm always afraid to open my laptops that way, especially since i've started using macbooks... I LOVE my 2015 Retina MacBook Pro and i'll end up doing it anyway, cause it's my daily driver and it runs too hot for my taste... Thanks for the video, it will be a tremendous help !
I just did this on my model and it's made a night and day difference and I don't think I'll be forced to upgrade for another few years.
@@vapidthot that's great cause I really don't like the new MacBook Pro. I'd like to stick to the retina for a while.
Don't listen to this guy, you shouldn't replace the thermal paste on your macbook.
Engineers know very well how to design the heatsink and what thermal paste is the best choice.
I've never heard of macbook breaking due to overheating, there were problems with some gpu models but it was a welding fault.
Nicola Serra Don’t spread ignorance. A properly cooled computer is known to last longer. Regardless of how good the engineering is, thermal paste needs to be replaced every couple years.
Your comment is the equivalent of telling people to never fill the coolant in their car because the engineers knew what they were doing when they built it.
How'd it go?
Sometimes when there are "blank spots" on the top cover of a chip, where there's no thermal paste, you'll find that these are the spots where the thermal paste came off onto the heat sink. But that's not entirely the case in this video--the shiny area on the CPU cover that Luke points out, really doesn't have a corresponding patch of thermal paste on the heat sink, so this area really wasn't being thermally cooled as well as the areas where the paste is present. This shows why it's a bad idea to just place a small ball of thermal paste onto the center of a chip (or even to just partially spread it out, as Luke does here for some reason) and then expect that it will spread out to cover the entire surface of the chip's top cover when you screw the heat sink down into place--instead, you should always spread thermal paste across the whole top, shiny raised cover of a chip to get the best heat transfer from the chip to the heat sink. The clamping force of the heat sinks in many (most?) laptops isn't enough to always thoroughly spread out thermal paste that's been applied as just a ball or a patch that only partially covers the chip's top cover, so you should always use a small spatula to spread out the paste as a thin coating, across the entire surface of the chip's top cover--it doesn't need to be thick at all, since the main purpose of thermal paste is to fill in tiny scratches and other irregularities on the heat sink to maximize thermal transfer from the chip to the heat sink.
Luke, I must say this did help reduce my CPU up to 20 degrees, and in Cinebench, my Macbook 15" 2.5 GHZ went from 1352 to 1440 a small improvement! Thanks again!
I guess you are using MacBook Pro 15’’’ mid-2015, if you rerun test again, after the thermal paste was applied for a week, you gonna find the score drops back. If you run the test right after applying new thermal paste you can have very good result, because it is still wet.
So, did you ever perform the test this guy talked about?
@@fairytale7778 not all paste dries out
A screen protector is also a good idea on early Retina models. There was an issue with the anti-glare coating wearing off and leaving an impression of the keyboard on the screen.
I wish the previous owner of my MBP 2015 did that
@@JustARegularNerd I recently took the plunge and just cleaned off the anti-glare coating and I feel all the better for it
I have an early 2015 macbook pro and it wasn't covered under warranty. I had an issue where the screen wouldn't turn on and the keyboard wouldn't work (I now realize this is a super easy fix but apple was quoting me like $1000 for a new screen). When I took it into the Apple Shop, they looked at the keyboard marks on the screen and said this was an issue they fix for free. Got a whole new screen and paid next to nothing. Doubt they would or even could still do this as this was over 4 years ago but it may be worth looking into.
Funny you mention that. I was cleaning up my old MacBook Pro and I saw that… 💀 Rip display but it’s not noticeable when it’s turned on at least.
Apple somehow believes that thinner is better than efficient cooling of the CPU.
I agree with you.
@@Poire33 yes sir, and without a thermal camera and some testing, it may be worse? mac knows there stuff. but i am working on my down lap top now. we will see
They're largely about form over function.
*Jony Ive believes this. The problem really is that Ive for quite a few years had too much control over the design of their devices, use-ability or thermal performance be damned, and now that he's gone, they're already making choices for the better.
Not with the new 16” thicker and better thermals :)
I don’t have a Mac (iPad Pro is great) but I LOVE your videos!
Done this, was so simple, being a techy. The original thermal paste in my mid2014 was well not much left, put on thermal paste over CPU and GPU now much cooler 10-15 degrees cooler. Really helped. I Also replaced my battery as well while i was at it.
Luke Isopropyl alcohol works excellently removing thermal paste - I use cotton swabs as well Love your videos as I'm new to Apple products
Love this Lo-Fi background noise
Solid advice. But you would want to get a better thermal paste, mx-4 minimum.
Artic MX2 bad?
Great video. This didn't even occur to me. My wife's macbook pro has been FAN-tastic for awhile anytime she does practically anything. I followed the vid and did the thermal paste (had some Arctic Silver left over from my desktop build) and it worked great. Thanks!
instead of taking your laptop apart if youre not comfortable. You can always install smcfancontrol and have your fans always spinning. downside to that is well your fans are always on but upside is. your laptop runs at 40-50 degrees
Most people talk too speedy but your optimum I like that
to remove the thermal paste use isopropyl alcohol (rally cheap available everywhere) on a soft lint free cloth. That removes every trace and does not react with the components.
Wow I didn’t realise so many professional laptop tech’s watch this channel!!!😱
Use a high alcohol % isopropyl alcohol to help clean the old thermal paste! Also don’t spread the thermal paste around, this could introduce air pockets which would bring the heat transfer rate down, the heat sink will spread it for you as you put it back on!
not true Explain why Luke's mac in the video above had shiny spots on the die from the factory? Surely it should have spread out from the heat sink, right? Also, explain why most pastes come with a spreader? See: MX4, Arctic Silver, Thermalright, etc.
Dude, why no new paste thermal test? Was it worse? Was it better? The same?
Why should we replace the paste if we do not have a repeattest showing better thermals?
10:05
Cant belive that heatsink size, if u notice it didnt even cover/touch the igpu ...like wow, on the other side great video dude!
The second chip is the Package Controller Hub, not the graphics chip.
Yeah, I don’t see the point of applying thermal paste to the igpu if the het sink doesn’t touch it. There was already paste on there when he removed the heat sink, tho.
Thanks for this. It significantly increased my battery life and my fans don't run nearly as often.
After so many years, I still can't believe that for this model, Apple engineers was like: Dang it, let's just cover part of the GPU die by the tube and it will be OK.
Leo Ren It’s actually the PCH which doesn’t need any cooling, Intel integrated it on to the CPU package to save space on the “U” processors, on the 15” MacBooks it isn’t integrated and is fine sitting with no cooling...
Always spread the thermal paste evenly all over the die! It's important in this case because it's direct die cooling.
and the cooler does not have that high clamping force , as dont most of apple coolers , and people forget that spreading the paste is needed when clamping force is low , its not a pc with a thick lid
Do this to every laptop or computer, checking for dust is important too.
You can use rubbing alcohol to remove the old thermal paste
Did it. Amazingly simple. Cheap and fullfilling. Thnx Luke👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
always fully spread the paste on a cpu that had no lid like this one. do not leave any empty spots before putting the heatsink back on. all the way to the edges!
I hear this 'cheap thermal paste' stuff all the time but why is it ALL manufacturers would skimp on the cost of this when it causes so many foreseeable problems, it would be easier to go cheap on some other spec.
Because by the time the thermal paste causes problems you're out of warranty. Planned obsolescence.
Typically manufacturers choose thermal paste that LASTS a long time, because people aren't going to change it. So they prioritize long lifespan rather than peak thermal performance.
8:50 The heatsink don't even covers the gpu, we can see the reflective part, wtf.
JR 007 yeah that’s really dumb. Oh wait, it’s apple
It's the PCH
@@Minicraftiano No.. it's not the PCH
Yeah I also was surprised by that, and the gap between GPU surface and heat tube is huge there, so thermal paste won't work there. I used thermal pad for that, but honestly without noticable effect anyway :D
Well this was a 2010-2012 model...
I don't even have a Macbook, yet I'm watching all of your videos
Lol same😂 but I plan on getting one
I will do it tomorrow. My MacBook Pro is 6 years old. I hope not find a crocodile in it. Hey Luke, you forgot to run Cinebench afterwards to compare the performance and overheating. Thanks for the video.
I just got a 15” 2015. I’m going to do this
Smart. Same here.
me2
Did it work well? Just came across the video and I’m considering it.
Yeah did it work
The Trammell no his computer blew up
I never knew MacBook pros were upgradable
Thanks Luke didn't realise it was so easy would have done it a long time back, has certainly helped not only running cooler but also cools down quicker after running something a little stressful. I used Arctic MX-4 on MacBook Pro early 2015 3.1GHz i7. Cliff : currently running CPU 54C deg now ambient is 32C. As pointed out the GPU section doesn't really have much of a heatsink room for an aftermarket one maybe.
did you paste both the CPU and PCH ?
I repasted my early 2015 13 inch Macbook Pro with thermal grizzly kryonaut it did improve, yet it's still runs hot, I'm very experienced building gaming pcs and repairing macs, so I know what I'm doing. It just seems that Monterey and modern apps are not helping this machine. When I upgraded the NVME to the fastest one it can support I even put a thermal pad that will be in contact with the bottom case to insure the SSD is cool as well.
in the end this laptop would definitely be replaced by an M3 Macbook air, and I know it will be heck of an upgrade, since I started doing youtube on the side and I would need a capable enough machine to run photo and video editing with no problems.
Owned a 2015 MacBook Air with constant fan running and temps in the 200s
This helps, but unfortunately there are no decent ventilation around fan anyway, so overheating still be there, just not as severe as before. Drilling few holes around fan from the bottom of the Macbook Pro will decrease CPU temperature by ~15C easily. :D
Was going to upgrade my SSD soon since my late 2013 runs fantastic still. Might give this a try since it does seem to run a bit hot now.
You can wrap the tip of your finger in plastic wrap and spread the paste evenly. That was way too much paste. The tiniest of pea drops will do. Also, you should tint the heatsink, it will speed up the break in period of the application of paste. You'll see better temps and performance after about 300 hours of normal use. Try not to stress it out until it's broken in, otherwise the paste will not set optimally.
I'ver never heard my 2012 Retina MacBook Pro fan turn on, doesn't get too hot and works perfect.
Sitting here watching this video stuttered on a 2012 MBP retina due to throttling issues because of this exact thermal issue. Kernal Task at 300%
How Meta.
this is good to do to any old computer in general thermal paste doesn't last forever though it holds up pretty good around the 5 year mark or so it starts to show it's age.. With many macbook like this one being 10 years and older yeah it's a good idea to do this... At least it's not a flip board design like on the uni bodies..
Great tip. My 2012 retina gets blazing hot just thinking about playing videos while doing anything else
It took you the length of a Rush song to get to the point.
All good save for your use of ceramic based thermal paste.. My preference is arctic silver or something similar.
I always love your vids cuz there're a lot of informations that I needed for a projet
What’s the benchmark score and heat after doing this?? You didn’t re run the bench marks mate.
Yup, no change seen probably, also yes he mentioned only 10 degree F difference.
@@VijayKanta Pretty sure it was either a 10c difference or he's just a real bad tech guy; I'd go with the latter
Without benchmarks there's no point in doing this, I'm betting you'd see no real world difference.
best Apple laptop gen. Period. There's even a guy on YT which managed to upgrade the CPU on it
4:00 if you want to skip the waffle. Thermal paste dries with heat over time in every kind of electronic device - not sure that Apple specifically use "crappy" paste.
Yeah this is just clickbait. He also never showed a benchmark AFTER applying new thermal paste.
It was a terrible paste job from the factory too.
I use gelid GC extreme thermal paste, it's been in both my MacBook Pro non retina 2012 and windows desktop i7 2600k overclocked to 5.6 GHz for close to 6 years and hasn't dries out yet since this thermal paste is for overclocking.
Typically manufacturers choose thermal paste that LASTS a long time, because people aren't going to change it. So they prioritize long lifespan rather than peak thermal performance. They are not above saving a few cents here and there...hence why you sometimes see poor applications like the one in this video.
Thank you! Very helpful. Just did this on my Mid 2012 15” Retina MacBook Pro.
Kryonaut is the best thermal paste you can get. It’s $10 for a gram but it’ll make your system reach its best potential without the risks and problems of liquid metal like how it eventually alloys with the copper which becomes a solid and loses performance over time
… UA-cam recommendations did it again. I thought this was new when it popped into my feed, but the production quality being significantly lower than your newer stuff tipped me off
You're awesome! Thank you so much for this wonderful video!
Afternoon Luke
This is a bit off topic, but I was able to pick up a Mac Pro (2009) entry-level computer for $275.00 with two 1TB hard drives and 16GB of ram.
The only real shortcoming is the need to do some cosmetic work on the case itself (clean and polish).
But given the size of the ram and the number of hard drives and their size, I trust the amount was ok. Here's hoping you will agree. Looking forward to upgrading the unit over time. In the end, I would like to see it maxed out.
My current mac is a maxed-out Mac mini (2010) which is facing software issues going forward and currently having problems with both its onboard hard drive and it just started not mounting on startup (now and then) I think it's a hard drive issue but given that the drive is new and under warranty. I need only to pull it and return it to Seagate for a replacement.
Your throughs and sorry about the rant.
Ric
Houston/San Francisco
Richard Ramsowr hey are you in the San Francisco area? I can help you with the Mac Pro and Mac mini if you would like. I’m in the Bay Area once a week
A better solution is to drill speed holes into the bottom case right over the internal fans to improve air flow and connect the internal heat sink to the bottom cover. with a thermal pad. This allows more heat to be taken off the CPU and GPU.
Hi Gustavo Fring!!!!
Got any pictures because this sounds pretty boneheaded
@@jadesluv I would recommend not to drill right over the internal fans, doing so would reduce airflow all around the inside of the whole laptop, other motherboard parts and ssd need cooling.
Is this guy talking at a slow pace just to get to that magical UA-cam number of 11min. to get some youtube ad money...
dude it takes you 4 minutes to get to the point can you hurry it up and put the part in
BEST WAY: get a thin but strong copper plate that could cover the cpu and the gpu . Cause if you you at it the gpu is just half covered. its done on purpose for the GPU to fail .This model always have the same issue. GPU
Do you have any examples of that method? A video or a guide? I changed the paste and saw also that it covered only the half...
I'd advise just before doing this, to backup your Mac via time machine to a portable drive.
Arctic Silver would have been better, no new bench mark to show and you didn't put the little rubber caps back on top of the screws.
Got Artic mx2, also good?
I got an early 2011 17inch Macbook Pro, I picked up dirt cheap with a failed GPU.
I bypassed the AMD HD 6750m & only use the Intel HD 3000.
But damn does this thing get hot! Just 1080p 60fps videos of any length I gotta expect the fans to run full blast the whole time to keep the cpu around high 80's and low 90'sc......
I'm waiting on a screw driver I need, and I am going to take the plunge on dealing with all the tiny little connectors and screws to re do the thermal paste on this....
But if your saying the Retina models are easy..... Well that's one good thing..... But hardly worth taking away the ability to upgrade & replace things easily.....
But I'll keep this early 2011 model going for as long as I can.... I even have a means to get Mojave on it...
This means could likely last me a good while..... (as in another 2 or 3 OS upgrades)
But if I decide to continue using a Mac past this Macbook...... It's something I'll have to stomach...
That being smaller screen, and no upgrades.....
I might just step out of the Mac world again, by the time this laptop is to old to do anything.....
how did you bypass the amd graphics? any help would be good thank you
Kareem Ragab I'd be glad to help, It's been detailed how to do this on Macrumors. But if your anything like me, watching videos is even more reinsuring.
So luckily a small UA-camr did a video showing every step you need to do.
Only thing to make note of there is a few differences pending what OS is installed on your Mac currently.
If your Mac is running something older then Sierra, aka OS X El Capitan or older.
Follow everything that is shown in his video, if you made the upgrade to Sierra, things are a little different, the person who made the video made a detailed comment on his video, showing the differences.
Now if your running high Sierra things change once more.
Basically follow the comment that the video's poster made, but when you type these commands your not going to want to type "sudo" first.
For whatever reason High Sierra removed that command, and you just write everything that is shown minus the "sudo" at the start of the line of code you type.
To simplify that, a random commenter "Sean Witzke" re wrote the video's creators comment just minus the sudo command and any other changes.
Here is the video, check it out & good luck!
ua-cam.com/video/nFFPk3SeQbQ/v-deo.html
I got it done in about an hour, but I was doing everything super slow, and triple checking things.
Could only imagine the headaches if I did something wrong in here haha.
I use liquid metal as thermal paste even though it’s electrically conductive since it’s the most effective
This was really helpful Thank you✨
The algorithm is so rare tbh
i love all of your videos so informative! thank you
Only compound paste ?
“WHYY??!!” -louis rosmann
@Luke Miani you are completely wrong about that temperature as 97 degrees Farenheit -- that's just 25 degrees above nominal room tempeerature. It is 97 degrees Celsius. The Intel mobile CPUs throttle to keep themselves below 100 C.
Surprising that the GPU gets hardly no contact with copper plate to wick away heat. I presumed the lil die next to cpu is a GPU, i'd make a custom block so both chips have adequate coverage.
Yes mate
I wonder if you know a better cooler
It's the PCH
UA-cam autplayed this, just a little note from me. Notice how the smaller die does not have any contact with the copper plate? well thats how it should be. It is not gpu, it is a PCH (platform controller hub). It should not have any thermal paste added on to it, as it runs at much lower temperatures than the cpu, and by adding thermal paste there you are also "connecting" the heat to it. It was left unpasted and cutout from the heatsink intentionally
That is not even an upgrade, that is maintenance!
fax
Many thanks Luke MacBook running cooler with artic Mx-4 your guide helped a newbie
I just did this on my 2015 13" MBP with 3.1 Ghz i7. Cinebench sped up by about 10% and the idling temperature dropped 6-8 degrees C. It's easy to do, cheap and worth doing. I used Thermal Grizzly Cryonaut, because it's highly rated for lowering temperatures and non-corrosive and non-conductive. I watched a lot of videos on using liquid metal, but it scares me to use it in a laptop and the long term effects are (IMHO) problematic. A top of the line non-conductive, non-reactive paste will likely get you nearly all the benefits will almost zero risk.
Hey I just bought a used one the same like yours . What temperatures is it usually on idle and what under load? I could not find much on the "normal" temperatures it should work. Do you use macs fan control?
My Late '13 MBP daily driver actually never gets very hot but I'll be referencing this video again if and when! Thanks.
Thank you so much man
It would be really cool if you made a video on all the upgrades you can do for the retina Macs. I am looking to keep my retina for a long time because of the lack of io on the new Macs.
Well apple now has a 16“ and 14“ pro with the IO you want!
I'm so early! Hi Luke. I love your channel, even though I use Samsung and Apple.
Use Noctua NT-H1 if you want great long lasting results and dust the radiator from time to time
I know your comment is a bit old, but the H2 is even better, since there's no pump out effect