MacBook Survival guide

[FuzzyYellow]

I bought a macbook pro13 late-2011 from my aunt who was upgrading. It was a good deal for the specs, so i bought it. after improving the usability of it, i decided i would write up a little guide for things to do to make life a little bit easier. Here are a few tips and tricks on how to be a techie and survive with a macbook. 

 

part 1: Hardware:

 

Note: a T6 Torx screwdriver is needed to most internal things such as the fan, and logic board.

 

step 1: Change the Thermal paste!!! MacBooks are known to have inadequate cooling, so it needs all the help it can get.

 

step 2: Upgrade to an ssd: while the processor and RAM are fairly modern, and performing about as well as and modern ultrabook, the one shortfall of the macbook hardware is that it comes with a simple 500GB HDD, which is painfully slow. remove the 10 screws on the bottom and pop a cheap ssd in there to make it run like new.

 

step 3: upgrade the RAM: the default configuration comes with a measly 4GB of ddr3-1333Mhz RAM. throw in 4 more gigs and you’re set.

 

Step 4: Download a program called SMCfancontrol. it will allow you to better control the fan and lower temperatures. I use it to increase the minimum RPM when I'm doing something demanding like gaming or rendering.

 

step 5 (Optional, only for a used MacBook): replace the battery. if you got your macbook used, you should check to see how the battery is doing. I got lucky and got one with 95% life still in it, but you may not. you can find them anywhere from $23 for the cheapest, to $100 for an OEM model.

 

Part 2: Software

 

step 1: do a factory reset, and/or upgrade to the latest version of OS X. reinstalling the operating system can make a bogged down machine run like new again. plus, you don’t have to deal with anyone else’s mistakes on your machine.

 

step 2: install steam. yes, I said install steam. while I don’t recommend  trying to run games natively on the device due to massive throttling under load, steam in-home streaming is a great way to run games you have on your beefy gaming rig from another location. from my experience, it works well.

 

step 3: DON’T install MacKeeper. it supposedly is like an antivirus for mac, but in reality, it does more harm than good. best to stay away.

 

Step 4: Download a program called SMCfancontrol. it will allow you to change the minimum fan speed to allow for better calling, since the default fan curve doesn't ramp up until about 80C. I use it when I am doing something demanding, like gaming or rendering.

 

step 5 (Optional): If you pefer not to use OS X, you can always install your favorite linux distro, or even, *shudders* Windows, using BootCamp if that’s what you want. just note that the Hardware support on Windows can be shoddy, especially for the touchpad. same thing goes with Linux, although it natively supports the touchpad better.

 

MacBooks are aesthetically pleasing notebooks, and while they may not be the most economical, or the most practical, they can be used and enjoyed my Techies like you and me. Thank you for reading my Macbook survival guide.

 

 

*note: if you have any suggestions to add to this guide, let me know!

 

*note 2: a lot of the new MacBook's upgradeability has been stripped away, so most of the hardware tips will have to be ignored by their respective users.

 

*note 3: I recently upgraded to an SSD myself, and it now boots to the login screen in 6 seconds, and I'm using pretty much the cheapest SSD you can get, the OCZ Trion 100.

 

Update: Still daily-ing this MBP, but i've done a few things. first of all, I'm up to 12GB of RAM now, with a 120GB SSD, and the 500GB HDD in the Optical drive slot. second, I purchased a cheap used bottom cover on eBay for $12 and drilled some ventilation holes to help increase airflow. It doesn't look the prettiest, but it decreased the CPU proximity temp by nearly 20C. core temps went down about 4-7C.

 

[Jaybird]

I don't know the MacBooks throttle so much as they simply don't have the power considering your model.

[ShadowCaptain]

SNIP

 

 

This does not apply to some of the new macs since you cannot remove the CPU, cannot upgrade the ram, cannot remove the SSD

 

BUT otherwise, I agree

[TechDookie]

This does not apply to some of the new macs since you cannot remove the CPU, cannot upgrade the ram, cannot remove the SSD

 

BUT otherwise, I agree

Oh no... I really wanted to take my Macbook Air 2013 apart. Do you know if I can or is it all soldered down?

[FuzzyYellow]

I don't know the MacBooks throttle so much as they simply don't have the power considering your model.

my model is running an i5-2435M, which is about equivalent to a haswell U series i5. (with a higher TDP of course.)

[ShadowCaptain]

Oh no... I really wanted to take my Macbook Air 2013 apart. Do you know if I can or is it all soldered down?

 

RAM is part of the motherboard, the SSD is upgradable but is proprietary and expensive

[wardude1]

so you basically do the same as you should do for a windows computer........

[FuzzyYellow]

so you basically do the same as you should do for a windows computer........

yup. except some people don't realize that MacBooks (at least the older ones) can be upgraded about as much as a normal notebook.

[Guest Johnny5g]

i love my mac mini.

[DimasRMDO]

Nice guide, but you can't really change the thermal paste in macs. That sucks, but well....

[FuzzyYellow]

Nice guide, but you can't really change the thermal paste in macs. That sucks, but well....

you can in older models like mine. some of the newer ones you are right, but in my case, i got lucky.

[DimasRMDO]

you can in older models like mine. some of the newer ones you are right, but in my case, i got lucky.

That's why I like older macs, easier to fix.

But the problem is like compatibility.

[Jaybird]

my model is running an i5-2435M, which is about equivalent to a haswell U series i5. (with a higher TDP of course.)

That's not how CPUs work. You have a sandy bridge CPU. Which is much older than Haswell. It's unlikely that your 2435 can even compete with any haswell

[FuzzyYellow]

That's not how CPUs work. You have a sandy bridge CPU. Which is much older than Haswell. It's unlikely that your 2435 can even compete with any haswell

according to passmark, the cpu performs nearly identical to an i5 4200U. of course, single core performance, and IPC are going to be much lower due to it being an older architecture. 

 

people compare a 2600K to a 4790K, why can't i compare mobile CPU's of the same generation?

[pinksnowmanshandle]

I don't know the MacBooks throttle so much as they simply don't have the power considering your model.

 

iGPUs aren't that bad if one wanted to play World of Warcraft (not ideal but get the job done) an A8 4500M, A8 6410 and i5 2430M on good settings would see around 30fps.

I'd expect the 2015 rMBP 15" with the R9 M370X to get around 40 to 50fps at native or close to native resolution on WoW with high to ultra settings. (Honestly though I think they could have at least gotten a 960M or R9 M390X (which should sit between the 970M and the 960M, not quite sure)

[Firearm2112]

how easy was it to change the thermal paste in your mac? im thinking about doing it in my 13" 2012 model, but im kinda worried something will go wrong, cause its a mac

[SirSquid]

Another thing you could do if you have a macbook with thunderbolt 2 is use an akitio thunder2 dock to hook up an external graphics card.

[pwizza]

how easy was it to change the thermal paste in your mac? im thinking about doing it in my 13" 2012 model, but im kinda worried something will go wrong, cause its a mac

you probably want something like this if you are worried about doing things

[FuzzyYellow]

how easy was it to change the thermal paste in your mac? im thinking about doing it in my 13" 2012 model, but im kinda worried something will go wrong, cause its a mac

you have to remove the logic board as the CPU die is on the backside. it isn't that hard, you just have to be careful. iFixit has a great guide on it.

[FuzzyYellow]

Updated to add Note 3 and a 5th step in the software section.

[FuzzyYellow]

Update: Still daily-ing this MBP, but i've done a few things. first of all, I'm up to 12GB of RAM now, with a 120GB SSD, and the 500GB HDD in the Optical drive slot. second, I purchased a cheap used bottom cover on eBay for $12 and drilled some ventilation holes to help increase airflow. It doesn't look the prettiest, but it decreased the CPU proximity temp by nearly 20C. core temps went down about 4-7C.