Difficulty
Very easy
Steps
2
Time Required
5 - 10 minutes
Member-Contributed Guide
An awesome member of our community made this guide. It is not managed by iFixit staff.
Introduction
Read me: This guide is archived - EXISTING ERRORS WILL NOT BE CORRECTED. Many laptops covered by this guide usually need a set of aftermerket replacement feet with better longevity then the factory feet with anti-slip options being commonplace. Unless your OEM feet are still intact, it is best to upgrade the set as a pair with anti-slip replacements using this guide: Removing factory feet from a Mac Laptop (Non-Retina)
If your Mac laptop is running hotter then you would like, this guide will show you how to install rubber feet to lift the laptop to allow for additional cooling of the system.
Read before starting: While this guide will help reduce the temperature your Mac runs at, early systems (2006-2012 MacBook/Pro) will always run hotter then Retina systems by design. Apple relies on the ports to provide fresh air for the chassis and reuses the hot air in the system. This is not an issue with the rMBP. These laptops have real cooling and will see reduced temperature drops.
13" MacBook Pro only (Optical drive/Retina): 13" models lack a dGPU. These systems will not see as much of a temperature reduction as there is less heat the system needs to disperse due to this omission. This does not apply to dGPU systems (15”/17” MacBook Pro).
In the original guide, the author used a Early 2009 17” MacBook Pro was used by the author. Before this fix, the system regularly ran up to 180° F without taller feet. The operating temperature was reduced to 122° after adding taller feet.
Tools
No tools specified.
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Place your MacBook upside down on a clean flat surface.
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Clean the laptop surface with rubbing alcohol or a similar cleaner.
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Identify where you would like to place your new rubber feet. The new feet should be placed somewhere near the factory installed feet. Avoid placing the new feet on curved edges.
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Peel the paper backing off each foot. Once this is done, install them onto the laptop.
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