Hi,
I've purchased this lovely portable Mac second hand for dirt cheap in good technical condition with some minor dents and scuffs all over the place. I needed a machine that worked great, was very repairable and I didn't care for the visual condition. First thing first, I dismantled the whole thing very thoroughly and washed/dusted every morsel attached to it. I then replaced the spinning drive with a Samsung SSD for speed and cool operation. Also added 16GB of OWC RAM. Finally I removed the DVD drive, since I never use it and I didn't want to lug around the extra weight.
What I found puzzling was the complete absence of any intake air vents.
I've seen that all of the newer MacBook Pros, big or small, have these milled air intake seams at the right and left hand edges of the bottom case. They make perfect sense.
Where does the Early 2011 13" MacBook Pro intake it's air?
Should I decide to do it - would it help the machine run cooler if I milled or drilled some holes on both sides of the bottom case?
I also noticed that it is possible to completely isolate the keyboard assembly from other internals of the computer, which would be useful in case of a spilling accident. I would probably do it with some durable and moisture resistant tape. Would that negatively affect the thermals of the machine at all or should I go for it? If it did, but I also milled or drilled the holes on the bottom case - would those changes make for a better thermal environment in the machine?
Thank you.
Hi,
I've purchased this lovely portable Mac second hand for dirt cheap in good technical condition with some minor dents and scuffs all over the place. I needed a machine that worked great, was very repairable and I didn't care for the visual condition. First thing first, I dismantled the whole thing very thoroughly and washed/dusted every morsel attached to it. I then replaced the spinning drive with a Samsung SSD for speed and cool operation. Also added 16GB of OWC RAM. Finally I removed the DVD drive, since I never use it and I didn't want to lug around the extra weight.
What I found puzzling was the complete absence of any intake air vents.
I've seen that all of the newer MacBook Pros, big or small, have these milled air intake seams at the right and left hand edges of the bottom case. They make perfect sense.
Where does the Early 2011 13" MacBook Pro intake it's air?
Should I decide to do it - would it help the machine run cooler if I milled or drilled some holes on both sides of the bottom case?
I also noticed that it is possible to completely isolate the keyboard assembly from other internals of the computer, which would be useful in case of a spilling accident. I would probably do it with some durable and moisture resistant tape. Would that negatively affect the thermals of the machine at all or should I go for it? If it did, but I also milled or drilled the holes on the bottom case - would those changes make for a better thermal environment in the machine?
Thank you.
Hi,
I've purchased this lovely portable Mac second hand for dirt cheap in good technical condition with some minor dents and scuffs all over the place. I needed a machine that worked great, was very repairable and I didn't care for the visual condition. First thing first, I dismantled the whole thing very thoroughly and washed/dusted every morsel attached to it. I then replaced the spinning drive with a Samsung SSD for speed and cool operation. Also added 16GB of OWC RAM. Finally I removed the DVD drive, since I never use it and I didn't want to lug around the extra weight.
What I found puzzling was the complete absence of any intake air vents.
I've seen that all of the newer MacBook Pros, big or small, have these milled air intake seams at the right and left hand edges of the bottom case. They make perfect sense.
Where does the Early 2011 13" MacBook Pro intake it's air?
Should I decide to do it - would it help the machine run cooler if I milled or drilled some holes on both sides of the bottom case?
I also noticed that it is possible to completely isolate the keyboard assembly from other internals of the computer, which would be useful in case of a spilling accident. I would probably do it with some durable and moisture resistant tape. Would that negatively affect the thermals of the machine at all or should I go for it? If it did, but I also milled or drilled the holes on the bottom case - would those changes make for a better thermal environment in the machine?
Thank you.
Hi,
I've purchased this lovely portable Mac second hand for dirt cheap in good technical condition with some minor dents and scuffs all over the place. I needed a machine that worked great, was very repairable and I didn't care for the visual condition. First thing first, I dismantled the whole thing very thoroughly and washed/dusted every morsel attached to it. I then replaced the spinning drive with a Samsung SSD for speed and cool operation. Also added 16GB of OWC RAM. Finally I removed the DVD drive, since I never use it and I didn't want to lug around the extra weight.
What I found puzzling was the complete absence of any intake air vents.
I've seen that all of the newer MacBook Pros, big or small, have these milled air intake seams at the right and left hand edges of the bottom case. They make perfect sense.
Where does the Early 2011 13" MacBook Pro intake it's air?
Should I decide to do it - would it help the machine run cooler if I milled or drilled some holes on both sides of the bottom case?
I also noticed that it is possible to completely isolate the keyboard assembly from other internals of the computer, which would be useful in case of a spilling accident. I would probably do it with some durable and moisture resistant tape. Would that negatively affect the thermals of the machine at all or should I go for it? If it did, but I also milled or drilled the holes on the bottom case - would those changes make for a better thermal environment in the machine?
Thank you.