This morning I caught a stripe of dust under my iMac. It seems that this has fallen out of the openings at the bottom of my iMac. Is that normal? Do I have to vacuum these openings at the bottom from time to time?
iMac with Retina 5K display, macOS Sierra (10.12.4)
I've thought about this some more... I have a 21.5 inch i-Mac that is in an especially dust-free environment and still see that I need to vacuum the vents (bottom edge and on the back, just under the hinge pivot point) a couple of times a year. Yours being a 27 inch i-Mac would use more cooling air, especially if the fans are running frequently. Seeing the dust fall to your work surface may mean that the vents had a large amount of dust around them that static cling could not longer support. I suspect you will need to vacuum them more frequently than I do.
That is great advise from pokey b.
I vacuum the air intakes on my Mac's at least 2 time a year.
FWIW you should shut down to stop the air flow before vacuuming, so that the dust buildup is not sucked deeper into the iMac.
That is unusual to see the accumulated dust fall that has been trapped at the ventilation ports on an i-Mac but yes, it is a good idea to vacuum all ventilation ports occasionally to remove any accumulated dust. It'll improve the air flow and help keep the dust from the interior of the Mac.
You're welcome. Hard to say "why now" and not before. Maybe the accumulated dust finally built up to the level that it just too heavy to stay in place any more(?).
Thank you for your suggestions. I will vacuum my iMac. The fans however do not run frequently. On the other hand I am using this iMac since 2014 without vacuuming.
Stripe of dust below bottom of 27" iMac
