Does removal of the Macbooks's bottom lid voids the warranty?

If you can remove it very carefully, so nothing is broken, no one would know that you'd opened the bottom cover. But, the standard claim is that the warranty is void, if you do such a thing by every maker of such devices. It is up to you to decide, whether to take that risk or not. Maybe, it's better to use compressed air to clean your Mac, only keep the nozzle as far as possible from the vents.

I did forget to add the last bit since I wanted to mention the difficulty and greater risk with the newer models. @chdsl is correct regarding the warranty. The answer may depend on your region since laws & regulations vary by region. In the US, technically from a legal perspective it will not void the warranty as long as no damage is done, however, this forum is full of posts where Apple has refused service if they discover a third party part installed (usually a battery). Even with Apple's own rules, this does not even go with Apple's own rules where they are supposed to repair the unit even with a third party part is installed (except maybe for the third party part itself). So with all this, there is no answer since it all depends on whether you do something internally that Apple would notice and who you may get when you take the computer to Apple or an AASP.

_kel0 wrote:

Hi, I want to blow out dust from fans and I wonder if unscrewing bottom lid voids the warranty.

what exact Mac is this—

This bottom panel is considered as the "lower case."

If you are still under warranty, it suggest this is a new or failry new Mac...

What exactly is your issue thinking you need to clean it, typically this is not an issue.

AppleCare Support at 1-800-APLCARE (800-275-2273)

These are specialty screws—5 point Pentalobe ( P5 Pentalobe driver)

Blowing compressed air through the vents seems less risky if in doubt

ref:

"manuals to perform your own out-of-warranty repair."

Self Service Repair

Unless you are in a very dirty or dusty environment, then the laptop should not need to be cleaned in just a year.

FYI, the Bottom Case on these newer Macs can sometimes be a bit tricky to remove because they have such strong snaps and many have clips which require sliding the case towards the front.

Plus disconnecting the battery is a bit more complicated on the Apple Silicon Macs and must be performed in the proper order, or you may damage the laptop since the Trackpad cable must be disconnected while part of the battery is still connected. The Battery flex cable connection must be disconnected first and the lever for this connector is very fragile and easily damaged especially when closing it to lock the cable. Both the Trackpad Cable and Battery flex cable must carefully be pulled back to expose the T5 screw for the battery. (Battery flex is disconnected, followed by disconnecting the Trackpad Flex Cable, then removing the T5 Battery screw located beneath the Trackpad & Battery flex cables).

Unless you have an issue with the laptop getting too hot when idle, then I would not worry about the fans unless you operate the laptop in an extremely dusty environment. You are more likely to accidentally damage the laptop.

Grant Bennet-Alder wrote:

a question for HWTech--

Can you do any good by just sending a momentary blast of canned air backward through the outputs with the computer powered off? (leaving the bottom in place.)

What do you guys do with your fleet of MacBooks? Is cleaning a propriety?

No, we rarely clean them unless we already have them open to address other hardware issues, or we notice the laptop is running hotter than normal with no sign that software is to blame. Out of thousands of laptops, only a handful have ever been packed full of dust, most others have a light coating of dust which is not interfering with the cooling. A few may have a bit more than a light coat of dust, but usually not to the point of being a problem.

The greater risk with the USB-C models is the risk of accidental damage when trying to remove the Bottom Case because the case can be difficult to remove even when you are experienced with them. The snaps (especially on the Apple Silicon models) can be very tight.

I would say only people using the laptop in a very dusty & dirty environment, or maybe people with pets which shed a lot are the only ones who may need to clean the fan & heatsink at some point.

Blowing air across the vents probably won't do anything except blow the dust & dirt back into the laptop. If dust bunnies are seen in the vents, then running a soft bristle brush such as a paint brush may be enough to grab onto the dust to pull it from the vents, but I haven't seen any dust near the vents on any of my organization's laptops.

a question for HWTech--

Can you do any good by just sending a momentary blast of canned air backward through the outputs with the computer powered off? (leaving the bottom in place.)

What do you guys do with your fleet of MacBooks? Is cleaning a propriety?