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Is it safe to reapply thermal paste on 2012 mac?

My old device macbookpro retina 15 2012 A1398 is heating up easily since i didn't clean it and didn't reapply thermal paste.

I would love to reapply thermal paste/clean,but i just read that you need to remove old paste to apply new one. This makes me nervous,cause I’m not living in EU/US,so taking my device to off-brand Apple service centers will result in dead device in 9/10 cases. 11 years old thermal paste could become a rock and i don't think it's safe to remove rock from copper core(s).

Answer this question I have this problem too

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I notice you've made a second post with a rephrased question. do you want this one to be the one you receive answers on or the other one as having 2 posts for the same issue can get confusing.

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Hi @tkrzkr,

Thermal paste is basically infinitely replaceable :). This means you can remove it from your CPU and/or GPU and re-apply. Because this is a 2012 retina, i really hope your Dedicated GPU hasn't failed because it means your too late to applying thermal paste.

In order to apply it, just remove the remaining chunks on your processing unit using some alcohol or some other recommended method, and then purchase a tube of it (Noctua NT-H1 or Arctic MX-5 are some of the best ones) on somewhere like Amazon. After you've got your materials, apply a small amount of thermal paste on each processor. You can't apply too much, so make an educated guess for how much because you'll never have too much. If your not confident in yourself guessing, look up a guide online as Macbook pro re-paste guides aren't few and far between (AKA they are everywhere).

Hope this helps and let me know how it goes.

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TIM tends to be crumbly when it dries out. So it’s not like cement! Even still it often needs a bit of solvent to fully clean.

The heatsink it’s self is not the fragile part the silicon die (the black chip) is the more sensitive to damage.

Review this guide MacBook Pro 15" Retina Display Mid 2012 Logic Board Replacement it will step you through the process. As far as the paste this guide offers how to effectively clean and apply a fresh coat MacBook Pro 15" Touch Bar 2017 Thermal Paste Replacement the only thing you need to be careful is not over do the paste. Practice using some coins gaging how much paste is needed so you get the coverage but not squeezing out making a mess.

MacBook Pro 15" Retina Display Mid 2012 Logic Board Image

Guide

MacBook Pro 15" Retina Display Mid 2012 Logic Board Replacement

Difficulty:

Difficult

—

1 - 4 hours
MacBook Pro 15" Touch Bar 2017 Thermal Paste Image

Guide

MacBook Pro 15" Touch Bar 2017 Thermal Paste Replacement

Difficulty:

Moderate

—

45 minutes - 1 hour

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tkr_zkr will be eternally grateful.
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