How protect MacBook from desert heat? (Climate crisis students check in...)
I am going to be getting a MacBook soon, probably the more expensive $1500 black one and black color absorbs more light and heat. (Presently I have an iMac OS 9.2.2 that needs to be replaced.)
I will be involved in a project in the hot, dry Arava and Negev deserts. These adjacent deserts are very dry, especially due to the compounding effect of the Sinai and Sahara deserts to the west. Very little rain to offset the desert heat.
The Negev desert is 20 degrees Celsius in winter but commonly OVER 40 degrees Celsius in summer. (Not sure what that equals in Fahrenheit. But hotter parts of Israel can get over 120 degrees Fahrenheit on occasion, over 100 more commonly. In the summer. The project might be done in cooler months but I can't be sure.) I also expect to be carrying my MacBook around in a knapsack a lot and want my hands free, so a separate carry case similar to an attache case is not good for me.
My knapsack is heavy with a lot of pressure inside when on my back. I need a sturdy METAL case for the MacBook so it can't get crushed in there, and yet one that is very compact so it will fit in the knapsack (with little room for much padding between the metal case and the MacBook, just a little). And of course, metal compounds any heat problem.
No one seems to know of a compact metal case like that which I could buy so I will have to build my own, mostly out of sixteenth inch sheet aluminum, with some sturdier aluminum around the rim for reinforcement.
The metal case could be perforated in many places for ventilation, though that won't help enough in my stuffy knapsack or even outside the knapsack when I'm out in the desert heat.
Rube Goldberg outlandish invention department: I've seen a novelty item sold that's a wide-brimmed hat with a small fan positioned in a hole in the brim, pointed at the wearer's face. A damp sponge in front of the fan supposedly cools the fan air through evaporation. Cute idea. But not greatly appealing to have wetness near a computer, and I'm mostly looking for more passive cooling methods. Even an external fan has to have sufficient battery to avoid running down if a fan is to be relied on. Though obviously I'll consider an outlandish idea if it could protect my MacBook.
One possibility might be to have a separate cooling unit and it could even employ water, PROVIDED it's kept far away from the MacBook, and that could even be a unit I wouldn’t mind carrying separately, outside the knapsack, since it’s not as critical if I lose that. Such a unit could have a tube with dry cool air leading to the MacBook and/or its metal case. It could be solar powered, run on convection currents or battery powered (less preferable). I'm willing to consider anything, even the most outlandish solution, if someone can come up with an idea.
There are many different aspects to this problem and there may be many different angles that may help. I'd be very grateful for any ideas and advice.
Many thanks.
I will be involved in a project in the hot, dry Arava and Negev deserts. These adjacent deserts are very dry, especially due to the compounding effect of the Sinai and Sahara deserts to the west. Very little rain to offset the desert heat.
The Negev desert is 20 degrees Celsius in winter but commonly OVER 40 degrees Celsius in summer. (Not sure what that equals in Fahrenheit. But hotter parts of Israel can get over 120 degrees Fahrenheit on occasion, over 100 more commonly. In the summer. The project might be done in cooler months but I can't be sure.) I also expect to be carrying my MacBook around in a knapsack a lot and want my hands free, so a separate carry case similar to an attache case is not good for me.
My knapsack is heavy with a lot of pressure inside when on my back. I need a sturdy METAL case for the MacBook so it can't get crushed in there, and yet one that is very compact so it will fit in the knapsack (with little room for much padding between the metal case and the MacBook, just a little). And of course, metal compounds any heat problem.
No one seems to know of a compact metal case like that which I could buy so I will have to build my own, mostly out of sixteenth inch sheet aluminum, with some sturdier aluminum around the rim for reinforcement.
The metal case could be perforated in many places for ventilation, though that won't help enough in my stuffy knapsack or even outside the knapsack when I'm out in the desert heat.
Rube Goldberg outlandish invention department: I've seen a novelty item sold that's a wide-brimmed hat with a small fan positioned in a hole in the brim, pointed at the wearer's face. A damp sponge in front of the fan supposedly cools the fan air through evaporation. Cute idea. But not greatly appealing to have wetness near a computer, and I'm mostly looking for more passive cooling methods. Even an external fan has to have sufficient battery to avoid running down if a fan is to be relied on. Though obviously I'll consider an outlandish idea if it could protect my MacBook.
One possibility might be to have a separate cooling unit and it could even employ water, PROVIDED it's kept far away from the MacBook, and that could even be a unit I wouldn’t mind carrying separately, outside the knapsack, since it’s not as critical if I lose that. Such a unit could have a tube with dry cool air leading to the MacBook and/or its metal case. It could be solar powered, run on convection currents or battery powered (less preferable). I'm willing to consider anything, even the most outlandish solution, if someone can come up with an idea.
There are many different aspects to this problem and there may be many different angles that may help. I'd be very grateful for any ideas and advice.
Many thanks.
imac, Mac OS 9.2.x
