How long should i replace thermal paste on my macbook.

Oh, My device is a Macbook Air 13 inch (Early 2015, 2017 model) I'm not sure whether It is required to remove the entire logic board to remove the heat sink.

It's just that I want to make sure the cooling system can work optimally and that the thermal paste also works fine.

"However, unless the laptop is having a problem I don't recommend taking it apart since on some of these laptops the entire Logic Board must be removed in order to remove the heatsink. It can be very easy to accidentally damage the Logic Board or one of the cables or connectors as many of these are very fragile and easily damaged even when an experienced tech is taking extreme care when working on the laptop."

How safe is it to open my Macbook Pro mys… - Apple Community

Will this apply to my Macbook Air 2017 model?? (It's basically the same as the 2015 model of the Macbook Air lol)

I actually have a few reasons why I want the fans and the internal cooling system to be cleaned from dust. I will leave it up to you guys to judge whether these reasons make sense for me to clean it.

1. The most noticeable difference, two years ago, the hot air coming from the screen hinges used to be even, as in for about 2 inches of the left screen hinge (where the fan vent is located) i can feel the air rushing from it evenly. But now i can only feel the strong air rushing from the very left side of the hinge, moving father the air did not feel to be strong anymore as it used to. In short, the air that comes out of the vents feels less than it used to
2. When it comes to the temperature of this device, I want to rule out the dust build-up inside. So that I can only think of a few factors (surface, ambient temperature, and current software activity)
3. The device takes a noticeably longer time to cool itself (a long time until the fans run at a lower speed)
4. My mac isn't actually experiencing a problem that requires immediate attention, it's just that I live in the Philippines, a pretty hot country (no AC in my room too), plus I run my mac hot all the time, plus my room isn't as clean as an airconditioned hotel room.

I really don't know if I should do it or not, I also don't want to risk fan failure. IDK. I have seen very mixed opinions about dusting out the internal fans and fins, from the Apple community saying it is not needed at all to Quora and many other online forums saying it's something I should keep in mind since I run my computer hot all the time doing editing and gaming.

I have seen many MB pro users regularly cleaning out the fans like every 3 years or something and it has went well with them, I also heard replacing the thermal paste made a difference of what, 5 - 10c. Maybe I should give my Mac 4 years before even thinking about degrading thermal paste.

I suppose a battery replacement or any other procedure that requires opening up the mac is the same risk as cleaning it out or replacing thermal paste? Probably. Of course, I have no idea how many dust has been building up inside it, so if it looks really dusty once it has been opened up, i think i can probably say to clean it every 2 years or so (2025). It operates in an area where all the windows are open most of the time.

Also, the stock Apple thermal paste only lasts about three years before degrading; my Mac has been running daily ever since March 2020. That is two and a half years as of right now. I'm not actually focusing on thermal paste, only on dust, because I think many people online agree that dust is a bigger factor in the heat than the thermal paste itself. Is it said to be more beneficial to dust it out rather than thermal paste? Though if it is actually possible if it could actually make a difference i could replace it. but only probably after 2 more years....

If there is any risk to a procedure like this, don't know if it worth it the possible temperature difference. If I end up taking it in for the service, I can only hope that nothing can go wrong....

YES, finally i got a good answer based on my model, huge thanks to you good friend :)

I really did have a feeling that my mac wasn't own of those "soldered" macs like the one's today, and was one of the models where the internals we're easy to access.

I am taking it in for service so that an AASP will do the cleaning for me, so I guess that makes it less risky, I have seen numerous YT videos online and one of them really did disconnect both the battery and the wifi card.

I am focusing on cleaning out the dust, however, it is part of their "maintenance" procedure to also replace the thermal paste with the exact same shin-Etsu microSi paste that they use for their Apple products.

Huge thanks. :)