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Ask HN: node kills your Macbook battery and AppleCare doesn't cover it?

1 points by ldn_tech_exec1 ↗ HN
My Macbook Air is 6 months old, and I've been noticing that it no longer has its killer 7hr battery life like it used to.<p>I took it to the Apple Store Genius Bar and they ran the battery diagnostic program. The battery only holds 85% of its charge now, but all cells are in working order.

When the Genius asked me to load up my apps I use everyday, I loaded Terminal, booted my node server and Sublime Text 2.

When he checked Activity monitor the Genius immediately pointed out that the node process was consistently hammering 30% of one of the i7 cores.

As most developers must do, I run the little node server for 18hrs a day. He said, 'consistently hammering the core at 30% is killing your battery'.

To which I said, 'ok, but I have Apple Care etc...' and he explained that Apple Care does not cover this type of "battery depletion", it only covers "battery failure" when one of the battery cells malfunctions. A new battery is £100.

Has anyone else had this same experience? What to do?

2 comments

[ 157 ms ] story [ 78.4 ms ] thread
benologist
Take it to another store and just say you browse facebook all day and you don't know why the battery's deteriorating.
cmrx64
Apple Care, as far as I can tell, is just an extended warrantee and support contract. Why should they replace hardware that is acting as expected? That's how galvanic cells work, get used to it.