Most computers have inbuilt obsolescence that’s fundamental to the way they were created. When the chips were made they semiconductor capability was implanted by doping areas of the silicon with atoms to change the electrical behaviour. Often performed by diffusing those atoms at a higher than normal operating temperature. Once in server, over time the atoms continue to diffuse and eventually they diffuse enough to cause the semiconductor to fail. The CPU stops functioning, or the memory chip becomes… oh whats the word… forgetful.
Under normal conditions this takes a long time, and the older the chip the longer it takes. Older chips, from the 1980s were built on a huge feature scale relative to todays silicon giving atoms extended journeys to complete before diffusion did its damage. 2 years ago I replaces a marine auto pilot, installed in 1984 with a failed 16MHz micro controller the size of a football field. It had survived almost 20 years in a black box in the sun before the doping atoms completed their journey.
Sitting on the train with my legs being slowly roasted by a hot MackBook Pro I realised something wasnt right. I was only reading a PDF with both CPUs at 1% and the fans whirling like dervishes trying in vain to keep the CPU temp below 85C. My legs would recover but I like my MBP and even though it’s becoming old its slow(er) processor and lack of RAM makes me write faster code. I don’t really want those atoms to finish their hop skip and a jump of a journey ending the life of the CPU. At 85C I’ll bet they are hopping all over the place.
After
Before
On opening the back I discovered the fan exhausts were clogged with fluff. After cleaning the fans are hardly spinning and the CPU temperatures are well below 50C most of the time. Unintentionally, Apple have added inbuilt obsolescence to their laptops. As you use your MBP it will get hot. The fans will pull in dust even in the most sterile office and home environments and they will eventually block. The silicon components will run hotter than they should, the dopant atoms will be hopping, finish their diffusion journey and your digital life will be in the bin sooner than it should.
Having cleaned the fans, my MBP feels like when it was new and cool…. or am I just getting old and forgetful, where is my fan?
