Some photos of my thermal mod of a 2015 retina MacBook

[staceyu]

First time poster here, and I went ahead and did the mod while I was replacing the USB-C port, I have a 2017 i7. I used conductonaut Liquid Metal on the CPU die -> Copper shim, and regular Corsair TM30 thermal paste on the heatsink since it's aluminum, otherwise I would have used Liquid Metal there too. I did NOT use thermal pads on the heatsink so the heatsink does not have any more direct contact with the outer casing vs stock.

At the absolute highest, the temps of the CPU gets to 80-85 C during Cinebench testing, but with less throttling, and it cools rather rapidly. During regular tasks it hovers around 45/50 C, so definitely an improvement from having one mediocre task sending temps to the 70s. Battery temp doesn't exceed 40 C but I have a suspicion that 40 is the highest that the battery thermometer will read, so I can't say the true temp readout is accurate.

Anyway, my Geekbench score: https://browser.geekbench.com/v6/cpu/6646961
Cinebench 2024 score is 48 single core, 88 multi core. I'll do more prolonged testing on Cinebench but I'll happily take the 20% boost in performance just for switching to Liquid Metal and adding a copper shim.

 

[aespana]

I'm thinking about doing this again.

I did it like 2 years before but suffer that problem with the trackpad losing the clicking effect (it worked fine but without the clicking feedback). It repaired itself magically so I don't want to make the process again and loose the clicking feedback forever.

I think is worth it since the Macbook is getting hot sometimes but that feeling or not felling the clicking feedback was insane.

 

[staceyu]

I'm thinking about doing this again.

I did it like 2 years before but suffer that problem with the trackpad losing the clicking effect (it worked fine but without the clicking feedback). It repaired itself magically so I don't want to make the process again and loose the clicking feedback forever.

I think is worth it since the Macbook is getting hot sometimes but that feeling or not felling the clicking feedback was insane.

Likely, the trackpad connecting ribbon is bad. It's a straightforward fix and the part itself is relatively cheap.

As for the mod I used some GPU thermal padding and honestly the outright performance is worse due to thermal throttling, but the CPU itself doesn't really exceed 60 C. One thing that I did notice while testing is that during sustained performance the OS will quickly curb performance and give a temperature warning if it senses that battery temperatures are getting out of hand. I'm not really expecting to get a lot of sustained performance out of the machine (This is the wrong Mac if that's the goal) but Liquid Metal and a copper shim would be your best bet if you're looking for the best performance. It seems that Apple already had in mind that the battery could see some extra wear and tear from the heat of the CPU and built some software safeguards to keep temps in line.

As for what's best for the longevity of the components, I honestly couldn't tell you. But I'm guessing that the 2017 chipsets are more resilient, and you really shouldn't be doing heavy sustained work since that's outside the case for this laptop. For sure the best thing you can do for the rMB is to get rid of that terrible thermal paste and add a copper shim to the aluminum heat spreader. That mod by itself will save 10 C at a minimum and still keep the laptop lap friendly. Even during sustained testing on Cinemark, just changing to Liquid Metal kept temps at 85 C, if not lower.

 

[EIdoradoSZ]

First time poster here, and I went ahead and did the mod while I was replacing the USB-C port, I have a 2017 i7. I used conductonaut Liquid Metal on the CPU die -> Copper shim, and regular Corsair TM30 thermal paste on the heatsink since it's aluminum, otherwise I would have used Liquid Metal there too. I did NOT use thermal pads on the heatsink so the heatsink does not have any more direct contact with the outer casing vs stock.

At the absolute highest, the temps of the CPU gets to 80-85 C during Cinebench testing, but with less throttling, and it cools rather rapidly. During regular tasks it hovers around 45/50 C, so definitely an improvement from having one mediocre task sending temps to the 70s. Battery temp doesn't exceed 40 C but I have a suspicion that 40 is the highest that the battery thermometer will read, so I can't say the true temp readout is accurate.

Anyway, my Geekbench score: https://browser.geekbench.com/v6/cpu/6646961
Cinebench 2024 score is 48 single core, 88 multi core. I'll do more prolonged testing on Cinebench but I'll happily take the 20% boost in performance just for switching to Liquid Metal and adding a copper shim.

My principle is one step at a time, so I'd just repasted thermal grease with Noctua NT-H1, and a 15x15x0.3mm copper in the middle, test. The results are unexpectedly good, peek temperature during Cinebench is around 78 Celsius, and most of the time only around 55-60. Idle temp 35-45. So I think I'm settled here. After all, when the heatsink with thermal pad direct contact with the back, the whole back aluminum case will turn hot a lot, and the SSD and the battery won't like it.

 

[turbo_nine]

After reading various threads about thermal concerns since picking one up for very cheap a few weeks ago, I completed this modification last night on my 2017 i7/16/512 running Sonoma with OCLP. Prior to modification the laptop CPU temp would spike to 100C sort of easily, real-world performance seemed kind of weak and in general the laptop could not quite live up to its promise as a take-anywhere MacBook.

I am pleased to report that the laptop now feels much more usable.


I did not document my process with photos or video, but I can emphasize a few things mentioned already in the thread.

• It's easy to break stuff in here, especially the cables and connectors. Consider your comfort level working on mobile devices and give yourself time without distractions if you aren't a pro.
• I used the plates and pads suggested in the OP for the 2015 model. The CPU die and heat sink are differently shaped and sized for 2017 so as others mentioned some modification to the copper plates and thermal pads are required. I would advise taking special care to re-flatten your partial copper plate after cutting it and stick the cut edge of it on the outside of the 'sandwich' so any flaws in the cut do not create a gap.
• I used MX6 thermal paste which is fairly thick, directly applied to CPU die and to the heat sink. The thick paste retains the copper plates nicely for assembly. Excess compound does allow the plates to shift so take care not to use too much.
• In reassembly, I took care to 'torque' the heat sink screws in a rotating fashion the way you might with automotive gaskets.
• I applied and trimmed the thermal pads to cover all of the heat sink surface and allow case contact but I did not strip away any of the black material on the inside of the bottom/battery case.

Results are better than I expected honestly. The laptop feels noticeably more responsive in extended use. CPU core temps are consistently lower, 40s C at idle and maxing out in the 70s C when running intensive tasks. Battery temps remain at or below 40C (maybe not great) and the 'warm spot' on the bottom of the case is noticeably broader and less hot than before, in other words the bottom case now sinks some heat away from the CPU.

Thanks for writing up and sharing your experiences doing this modification, I love using this thing now.

 

[cyberdogl2]

I was in the middle of performing the steps in this thread. Thanks everyone for your experiences. Especially turbo_nine your post I saw right when I was about to start. I have a similar configuration so that was helpful. A lot of what I'll describe just really echo what turbo_nine experienced.

2017 i7/16/256 running Sonoma with OCLP. Prior to modification it would stay in the range of 80-95C.

• it IS easy to break stuff in there. what i broke was the latch on one of the two connectors leading to the 3.5mm jack. I secured with with kapton tape. i don't use that port so i don't mind if it stopped working one day.
• also used MX6 thermal paste and made sure not to use too much.
• also did not strip the black material inside the bottom case.

One thing I would change if I could do it again is I would get thermal pads that were not precut into squares. I just bought them because I've seen a couple others use them. I thought I'd be able to keep the squares together but they come apart very easily. I would have rather had a solid piece that i could cut exactly in the shape of the macbook's heat sink.

I kept my expectations low, and I'll describe 3 things that I found noteworthy:

1. First the good. I've yet to see this thing go over 70C, which is amazing! Before, light use would have it in the range of 80-95C and sometimes 100C. After a weeks use the difference in temperature is night and day.
2. Second is the surprising: I thought that diverting a massive amount of heat would show up in my thermal scans. The difference isn't as big as I thought. Or, I didn't set a constant range between both pictures. Anyway, I attached a photo of before the modification and after. They look similar, and you could .kind of. see that the heat spread is wider in the 'after' photo. But only by a little bit. Also, the measurement at the brightest spot was about the same temperature. Also both photos were not taken at the same time of day and maybe not the same room temperature. Both were taken with MacBook just booted and idle for 10 minutes. Nevertheless, it's enough to convince me that while internal temperatures have improved greatly, external temperatures spread remains similar.
3. Third is the dissapointing: So I chose this model MacBook exclusively to use with Apple Vision Pro. It's actually thinner than the apple bluetooth keyboards everyone likes to use with AVP. I had hoped that this modification would improve Virtual Display in Apple Vision Pro. It really hasn't.
   
   Based off Intel Power Gadget, I notice that the GPU would sometimes kick on and max out, thus increasing the temperature of the CPU core as well. This made the CPU throttle to 1GHz and the GPU throttle to something like 300Mhz. Which, would grind the Virtual Display to a halt.
   
   My best guess is that Wireless Sidecar uses HVEC encoding (which the Intel HD 615 gpu is capable). But by doing this, my guess is that the gpu is running at 20-40% capacity serving Wireless Sidecar when the MacBook is at idle. Any additional load to the gpu would make the cpu throttle. Further proof is that CPU utilization is about 50% and throttled, so it means that the CPU is not working but is throttled by the gpu heat. Also during this, 80C is the highest reported temperature.
   
   Without Virtual Display, no lag whatsoever everything works fine. Might be a bug in Sonoma loaded by OCLP that doesn't utilize the Intel 615 hardware HVEC encoding to its potential? Not sure, but at this point I don't have the expertise to dig any further. I've tried to disable turboboost and also tried to disable thermal thorttling. Both experiences turned out really bad. Apple really honed the temperature management of this thing. I just wish it was slightly less aggressive.

Like others have said, this is a very very worthwhile modification to do. And not even that hard. Just gotta be extra careful because all the parts and connectors are very tiny.

Thanks to all for sharing your experiences, it made me really confident in attacking this modification

 

[topocalypse]

i opened up my 12 inch macbook and it seems significantly more difficult to do this mod, than it is on the m1, m2 macbook airs.
this is because, on the airs, the logic board is on the top plate and the bottom plate is just aluminium without any cables.

on this 2015-17 12" macbook, the logic board seems to be positioned on the bottom plate, with cables going to the top plate.
it's also quite risky to deal with those tiny flimsy cable and not damage it.

the chipset is facing towards to bottom plate (i think), so you have to disassemble everything to repaste or put a thermal pad on it.

in the end, i decided to just close the lid back and let it be.
too risky for me - unfortunately. i really wanted to cool the chipset down by 20c easily.

additionally, on most modern macbooks, i think the battery is on the side of the top plate.
but on this one, it is (glued?) to the bottom plate.
as such, the additional heat on the bottom plate due to this mod will transfer more easily and directly to the lithium ion batteries - which will, i think, considerably reduce their lifespan, and increase swelling risk.

so, to my dismay, the best thing might be to just leave it be.

 

[aespana]

i opened up my 12 inch macbook and it seems significantly more difficult to do this mod, than it is on the m1, m2 macbook airs.
this is because, on the airs, the logic board is on the top plate and the bottom plate is just aluminium without any cables.

on this 2015-17 12" macbook, the logic board seems to be positioned on the bottom plate, with cables going to the top plate.
it's also quite risky to deal with those tiny flimsy cable and not damage it.

the chipset is facing towards to bottom plate (i think), so you have to disassemble everything to repaste or put a thermal pad on it.

in the end, i decided to just close the lid back and let it be.
too risky for me - unfortunately. i really wanted to cool the chipset down by 20c easily.

additionally, on most modern macbooks, i think the battery is on the side of the top plate.
but on this one, it is (glued?) to the bottom plate.
as such, the additional heat on the bottom plate due to this mod will transfer more easily and directly to the lithium ion batteries - which will, i think, considerably reduce their lifespan, and increase swelling risk.

so, to my dismay, the best thing might be to just leave it be.

Yeah, I did the process like 2 years ago and was a little pain in the ass. The Macbook inside is just a little mess to deal with it.

I put a subpar thermal pad and a not good thermal paste if I remember but in that time I suffered since the trackpad lost the clicky ability after I finished the process and of course I just felt really bad but just closed the monitor and leave her there and magically the trackpad came to life again (the trackpad worked, it was the clicky feel that gone) so the I just never opened again.

I was thinking some times to repeat the process with better materials but man, the possibility to lost the feel of the trackpad is a no for me.

 

[topocalypse]

I was thinking some times to repeat the process with better materials but man, the possibility to lost the feel of the trackpad is a no for me.

yeah. is the juice worth the squeeze? probably unlikely at this point in time. the machine is old. almost classified as obsolete by apple.

that being said, i decided to open it up again and use top-shelf arctic mx-4 and pretty decent thermal pad.

i'm please to report that the temperature dropped by 30c easily (whilst watching 720p-1080p youtube videos, checking emails, managing photos, replying to messages - seperately). the laptop feels quicker and does not stutter.

the old paste was thick and dark grey like volcano ash. seriously it was 2-3mm thick. blimey. it was horrible.

P.S. by far the most difficult laptop to service. will not do again. the laptop lasted 8 years so far. i won't be using this laptop as the main one for another 8 years lol.

 

[aespana]

yeah. is the juice worth the squeeze? probably unlikely at this point in time. the machine is old. almost classified as obsolete by apple.

that being said, i decided to open it up again and use top-shelf arctic mx-4 and pretty decent thermal pad.

i'm please to report that the temperature dropped by 30c easily (whilst watching 720p-1080p youtube videos, checking emails, managing photos, replying to messages - seperately). the laptop feels quicker and does not stutter.

the old paste was thick and dark grey like volcano ash. seriously it was 2-3mm thick. blimey. it was horrible.

P.S. by far the most difficult laptop to service. will not do again. the laptop lasted 8 years so far. i won't be using this laptop as the main one for another 8 years lol.

Damn, 30c?

You are tempting me to go insane and open mine again. Do you think using a thermal pad is better than the copper? I have some thermal pad left of a project I did with the PS5.

1.5mm thick

 

[topocalypse]

Damn, 30c?

You are tempting me to go insane and open mine again. Do you think using a thermal pad is better than the copper? I have some thermal pad left of a project I did with the PS5.

1.5mm thick

yes, 30c really. i was shocked myself. but it could be that my particular one had the old thermal paste WAY too thick.

as for the copper vs thermal pad, i think they have different uses. people put copper between the chip and the heatsink, and thermal pad between the heatsink and the case. i forgo the copper, thermal paste is sufficient. pad is enough i'd say.

 

[MultiFinder17]

I did the simple version of the thermal mod to my 2016 a year or so ago, just putting a thermal pad between the existing heatsink and the bottom of the machine, and that had an impressive effect on the temps. It generally hovers around 30-35C with light stuff, and 45C or so under load, both of which I'm quite happy with. I've dug around inside this machine so many times at this point to replace bits of it lol

 

[MiamiBeach]

I did the simple version of the thermal mod to my 2016 a year or so ago, just putting a thermal pad between the existing heatsink and the bottom of the machine, and that had an impressive effect on the temps. It generally hovers around 30-35C with light stuff, and 45C or so under load, both of which I'm quite happy with. I've dug around inside this machine so many times at this point to replace bits of it lol

I’m very Interested in this mod as I don’t think I have the skill to disassemble much more than the bottom cover.

Were you able to just apply the thermal pad once you removed the bottom cover or are there additional steps involved? What thermal pad did you use and how much of the logic board did you cover? Any info would be greatly appreciated!

 

[MultiFinder17]

I’m very Interested in this mod as I don’t think I have the skill to disassemble much more than the bottom cover.

Were you able to just apply the thermal pad once you removed the bottom cover or are there additional steps involved? What thermal pad did you use and how much of the logic board did you cover? Any info would be greatly appreciated!

The thermal pad goes between the logic board and the bottom case, so it does involve removal of the logic board. It's not terribly challenging, but there's a bit more to it than just popping off the bottom cover. Check out the iFixit guide and see if it's something you'd be game for!

Once the logic board is out its not bad, I just put the pad over the entire heat spreader over the CPU to mush it into the bottom case.

 

[topocalypse]

I’m very Interested in this mod as I don’t think I have the skill to disassemble much more than the bottom cover.

Were you able to just apply the thermal pad once you removed the bottom cover or are there additional steps involved? What thermal pad did you use and how much of the logic board did you cover? Any info would be greatly appreciated!

you will be surprised. even taking the bottom cover off almost made me cry.

you will have to open up 45 degrees, remove some cables, open up to 90 degrees, remove a few more cables.
please refer to ifixit for a guide.

but yea, to put it simply, the logic board is screwed in to the bottom cover (so opposed to the top plate like literally 99% of all other laptops out there.

it's do-able, but by far the most difficult laptop i have serviced in my life.

 

[MiamiBeach]

The thermal pad goes between the logic board and the bottom case, so it does involve removal of the logic board. It's not terribly challenging, but there's a bit more to it than just popping off the bottom cover. Check out the iFixit guide and see if it's something you'd be game for!

Once the logic board is out its not bad, I just put the pad over the entire heat spreader over the CPU to mush it into the bottom case.

you will be surprised. even taking the bottom cover off almost made me cry.

you will have to open up 45 degrees, remove some cables, open up to 90 degrees, remove a few more cables.
please refer to ifixit for a guide.

but yea, to put it simply, the logic board is screwed in to the bottom cover (so opposed to the top plate like literally 99% of all other laptops out there.

it's do-able, but by far the most difficult laptop i have serviced in my life.

Thank you both for the detailed explanation, this is indeed very helpful. It looks like this mod is way too advanced for my comfort level. As it is my main laptop at present, I will wait until I move on to an Apple silicon device in the near future and then attempt the above when it won’t matter if I break a ribbon cable or connector!

 

[Macdctr]

Hey all,

I've modified the passive thermal system to improve the cooling of the CPU of my 2015 Retina MacBook following these instructions:

https://www.reddit.com/r/macbookrepair/comments/ldbye3

.

As this original reddit post lacks of photos, I've decided to share there how it went for me:

Here's the MacBook open with a plastic card to disconnect the battery. The button to power it off, next to the battery connector didn't work for me.

View attachment 1959876


Here's the extracted logic board:

View attachment 1959880


Let's remove the CPU heatsink

View attachment 1959881

and clean the old thermal past

View attachment 1959882


Then apply some new one

View attachment 1959885


After that, I placed the two thin copper plates on the top of the CPU, and applied thermal past on the back of the heatsink as well

View attachment 1959886


Here is the heatsink back in place

View attachment 1959887


View attachment 1959888


Now, we can put thermal pads on the top of the heatsink

View attachment 1959889


Eventually, here's the MacBook working again:

View attachment 1959893




Conclusion: the MacBook case is now warmer, but the CPU is way cooler, so its frequency remains high.

It should prevent CPU and SSD failings. However, the battery may die sooner as it doesn't like heat. But it's (way) cheaper to replace the battery than the logic board.

This is a very impressive process. I might have to do the same for mine when it arrives.

 

[pierrox]

Reading this on my 2016 m7 model which I absolutely love, and is my main personal machine. Got to admit I'm tempted to do this mod.
I'm trying to understand the point of the copper shim, what's their purpose really?

 

[topocalypse]

I'm trying to understand the point of the copper shim, what's their purpose really?

there is air gap between the heatsink and the bottom case, the copper shim is to fill in the gap to increase heat transfer.

note: most folks put the copper between the chipset and heatsink.

 

[aespana]

there is air gap between the heatsink and the bottom case, the copper shim is to fill in the gap to increase heat transfer.

note: most folks put the copper between the chipset and heatsink.

I re did the process like a month ago and did not put the copper. Just put some thermal paste inside between the chipset and headsink and a 1.5mm of thermal pad between the bottom case and the heatsink

 

[pierrox]

there is air gap between the heatsink and the bottom case, the copper shim is to fill in the gap to increase heat transfer.

note: most folks put the copper between the chipset and heatsink.

I understand that there is a gap between the case and the heatsink, and people put thermal pads for this. My question is about the super thin copper shim between the chip and the heatsink.

 

[topocalypse]

Before the mod: everything is very slow and throttling.
After the mod: visibly faster (still not fast-fast, but finally usable for my level of work). but after a while it still throttles and feel really hot because the table couldn't dissipate heat fast enough. this is not ideal as it is uncomfortably hot and bad for the battery for sure.

Latest update: i just purchased a block of aluminum and i just place the laptop on top of it. now it's visibly cooler and doesn't throttle.

p.s. i was considering other metal materials that are easy to source in my area.
stainless steel is easy to find and relatively cheap, but doesn't conduct as well as aluminium
copper is very good conductively, but the corroded green thingy is just gross.
gold is a great conductor, and doesn't stain, and looks god. but.....

 

[ethanhodges]

I want to do this to my 2015 MacBook but afraid of messing something up. I wish I could find a video of someone doing it from beginning to end. I'm also afraid of the part about plugging a iphone charger into the laptop before powering it up.

 

[Ganoninc]

Before the mod: everything is very slow and throttling.
After the mod: visibly faster (still not fast-fast, but finally usable for my level of work). but after a while it still throttles and feel really hot because the table couldn't dissipate heat fast enough. this is not ideal as it is uncomfortably hot and bad for the battery for sure.

Latest update: i just purchased a block of aluminum and i just place the laptop on top of it. now it's visibly cooler and doesn't throttle.

p.s. i was considering other metal materials that are easy to source in my area.
stainless steel is easy to find and relatively cheap, but doesn't conduct as well as aluminium
copper is very good conductively, but the corroded green thingy is just gross.
gold is a great conductor, and doesn't stain, and looks god. but.....

View attachment 2487827

This is a cool idea! However, don’t the rubber feet of the MacBook create a significant gap between the bottom aluminum plate and your homemade heat sink?

By the way, three years after the mod, my 2015 MacBook is still going strong. My only complaint is that it’s stuck on Monterey in terms of performance. I’ve tried Ventura and earlier versions with OCLP, but it’s too taxing on the GPU/CPU since this model doesn’t support AVX2. Emulating AVX2 is likely too demanding for it.

 

[topocalypse]

This is a cool idea! However, don’t the rubber feet of the MacBook create a significant gap between the bottom aluminum plate and your homemade heat sink?

By the way, three years after the mod, my 2015 MacBook is still going strong. My only complaint is that it’s stuck on Monterey in terms of performance. I’ve tried Ventura and earlier versions with OCLP, but it’s too taxing on the GPU/CPU since this model doesn’t support AVX2. Emulating AVX2 is likely too demanding for it.

Yes the rubber feet certainly reduces heat transfer but: 1. i don't want my bottom plate to scratch. 2. even just the aluminium block instead of my table, and the internal mods, i think we are better at discipating heat than 99.99% of the people out there lol.

The important thing is that the laptop is *finally* usable for day-to-day tasks thankfully! Before, it was a throttling heap of ancient tech.