Does anyone know if I can have the inside of my MacBook Pro cleaned from dust in Apple Store and if so, how much does it cost (I'm with active Apple Care)? I couldn't find the needed info through searching.
Macbook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.4)
It's likely something that you can do yourself. There are instructions in the MacBook Pro manual (available here) about how to take the back cover off and install RAM or a new HD. With access to this part of your computer you can carefully use canned air to get to most of the 'innards' of your computer including fans (where you'll usually find the most dust).
Hope this helps,
Clinton
There is a grill located behind the fans that exits the machine, it can get clogged with dust there, so you use a can of compressed air with a tube, stick it through the fan opening and blast the dust out the back of the machine.
Don't need to remove the fans and if you do so, will void your warranty/AppleCare as a user inflicted damage as only the hard drive and RAM are user replaceable in some modesl, RAM only in other models according to your manual.
Thanks guys, for spending time helping. Truth is, I've opened it before to upgrade RAM, and it's a bit of a hassle. That's why I would prefer to avoid doing it myself if there is an acceptable Apple Store alternative. Has anyone had a cleaning experience there?
Otherwise I'll wrestle the tiny screws again. Good tip about not removing the fans!
I brought my macbook pro for cleaning to apple genius bar the other day.
The genius bar guy was really helpful.
He even helped me to wiped my screen and do some necessary reset on my battery.
So you had the inside of your MacbookPro cleaned? How much did it cost?
well, when i called in to the apple store. They said i need to pay for the labor charge as it is not covered in the one year warranty. So, i brought it in. The guy was really nice. No charge at all. He did a quick vacuum and even wiped my fingerprints off from the screen.
Thanks, so I guess when I can I'll just go to the Apple Store and see how it goes.
So, I went to the nearest Apple Store (it's Japan, and it's pretty crowded) and they told me it takes 5000 yen (maybe around 64 USD) and a week(!) without my computer. Even with AppleCare, as it's off-warranty maintenance. So I bought a can of condensed air, opened the computer and thoroughly blew all the dust away myself.
I had to open my Macbook to change hard drives today. I used one of these guides. http://eshop.macsales.com/installvideos/
While I had it open I thought of cleaning the dust. I used a dust blower and a vaccum but I could see the fan was still dirty. I deciced to remove it. It was just 3 screws, I didn't disconnect any wires, just moved it to the side. There I saw 1/4 inch thick dust on the grill that separates the fan from the external. Looked something like this 
Dust sticks on the grill like lint on a dryer and there is no way to remove it without removing the fan. Now that it's clean I can't hear the fan anymore unless I put my ear on the keyboard, plus it doesn't have to run all the time because when it runs it's much more effective.
Thanks, this has been helpful. What I did was to blow the fans all the way, until I couldn't find any more dust in them. Next time I open it, I proably will remove them too.
Cleaning dust inside of a MacBook Pro in Apple Store?
