Does the Macbook Air need to have a fan under it to prolong its life?

Question

I just bought a Macbook Air and would like to know if an external fan is necessary as it was for my Macbook. Even with the fan the Macbook would get really hot. I noticed that the Macbook Air gets warm also, but with everything internal being solid state I don't know if the external fan would be beneficial or not. Thanks for your thoughts, in advance.

Answer 1

Anytime you can keep an electronic device nearer to a preferred temperature, you will do nothing but good for it. In this case, you may make the fan work at slightly lower RPM. Primary cooling of the MBA is acccomplished by means of an interior fan, coupled to a heat sink/pipe leading to the CPU/GPU. This same fan also draws air over the logic board. Interior heat is also expelled, to a lesser extent, by means of being radiated and conducted by the case bottom.
However, blowing a fan across the bottom is probably the least efficient manner in which to aid cooling of the MBA, especially if you are drawing power from the MBA to run that fan.
If your goal is to extract heat from the case, you can more efficiently do so if your heat conduction to the case itself is more efficient than air, as the case bottom has a rather low surface area to exterior dimension ratio. There are heat conducting materials suited for contact cooling, such as the Targus Heat Defense Pad. This device also consumes no power from the MBA. The downside is that it is only functional for a finite period, wherein the crystals remain somewhat solidified and are able to take on heat.
If you are using the MBA for extended periods, perhaps a fan type cooler will offer some help, but don't expect much if it also contributes to heat generation by being powered from the MBA itself. Look for something that actually conducts heat from the case, and uses a fan across a high surface area element to transfer conducted heat to the air.
But as far as the MBA actually "needing" additional cooling, ...in most cases no. If it were the case, then Apple would be making the recommendation. However, there are definite situations where users are putting much more heat loading than what would be considered "normal", and in such cases, it is definetely something to consider. I use a heat defense type pad from time to time, and it works great.