macbook pro 2017 running hot - bad design - Thermal repaste

We have not had to redo the thermal paste on any of our 2016+ USB-C Apple laptops for heat issues. Yes, the Apple thermal paste does tend to dry out after several years, but not all laptops are affected to the same extent. These Apple USB-C laptops do run much hotter than older models. Idle temps are usually around 35C to 45C, while almost any activity will result in the CPU temps rising to 60C or more while the average running temps under many workloads can average between 60C and 95C with the fan speed rising to maintain the temps within this range.

Usually when a laptop ends up running hot like that it is due to some third party software that is installed on the computer which is causing the computer to work harder than it needs to do. Most likely booting into Safe Mode will allow the laptop to run cooler since it prevents third party apps (and even some Apple drivers) from automatically running during boot/login. To look for possible software issues run EtreCheck and post the report here using the "Additional Text" icon which looks like a piece of paper. If you give EtreCheck "Full Disk Access" then the report will include more information which may provide valuable clues.

You should also run Disk Utility First Aid on the hidden Container on the SSD. Within Disk Utility you may need to click "View" and select "Show All Devices" so that the hidden Container appears on the left pane of Disk Utility. Even if First Aid says everything is "Ok" click "Show Details" to manually examine the report to see if any unfixed errors are detected. If there are any unfixed errors listed, then you will need to run First Aid from Internet Recovery Mode (Command + Option + R), otherwise you will need to erase the whole physical SSD before restoring from a backup or clone. Erasing the drive destroys all data on the drive.

You should always have frequent and regular backups of your computer and all external media (including the cloud) which contains important & unique data.

Edit: Here is the link for Safe Mode:

How to use safe mode on your Mac - Apple Support

I'd never do it, and I've built computers for years. Linux and Windows, but still I'd never do it on a Mac this age. Not that it's old especially, It just wouldn't be worth the effort to me.

As to maintenance difficulty, I knew what I was buying when I bought my first modern Mac (2015) and I accepted its "repairability" or lack thereof. It did what we wanted so we bought a pair. We've never looked back.

As to age, we generally replace a computer shortly after its 5th year of operation, and keep the better of the old one as backup. That's just our personal decision but it works well for us.

As to geographic, US Macs are the same electronically and mechanically as any other country.

In over three decades I've never had the need to replace thermal paste or remove a logic board in an environment of hundreds of computers. There are millions of Macs in use. If Macs were "running hot" or were "Bad design" I think these help communities would be ablaze with posts about the issue.