MacBook Neo Cooling Mod Maximizes Performance

Apple utilized the A18 CPU from its phones in its low-cost MacBook Neo laptop, but its cooling system is only capable of handling light duties. As soon as something demanding occurs, the heat rises, the processor throttles down, and you see your computer struggle to achieve what its hardware is capable of.

Salem Techsperts found that the MacBook Neo was throttling under stress and decided to push it to the brink. This required him to completely remove the logic board from the chassis and design a unique cooling system around the chip from the ground up. This ‘cooling sandwich’ integrated active and passive components in a compact, functional container.

Before he could get to the board, he had to disassemble the laptop, which included removing the display, WiFi antenna, speakers, and touchpad. However, he kept the battery connected the entire time because detaching it would have caused the processor to slow down dramatically. Once the board was adequately separated, he could work on either side of the A18 chip without concern for the rest of the laptop.

Next, the chip surface had to be readied for modding, which included eliminating some of Apple’s design decisions that did not fit with his objectives. He removed the stability pads Apple had installed around the CPU to keep it regulated, as they were essentially suffocating the chip’s ability to breathe, and replaced them with thermal putty to keep everything warm and safe from electrical shocks. He also used copper shims to fill in the small gaps between the chip and the board.

Moving on to the top side of the sandwich, he applied some PTM 7950 phase-change thermal material on the chip, which transforms into a liquid at high temperatures, resulting in a highly efficient heat-escape path for the chip. He inserted a Peltier cooler on the bottom of the sandwich, which when activated transfers heat from one surface to another. The frozen side adheres to the chip, while the hot side—well, you can see why this is a delicate process.

On the hot side, he utilized water cooling, which is flowing liquid through a block to remove heat. Keeping things simple was critical, so he picked a custom air blower to bring in cold air from outside while maintaining ventilation. These two ways combined to create the optimum cooling storm, and he was able to fit the logic board snugly within the stacked cooler while maintaining the laptop’s original design.
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