What does iTunes helper do and how do I turn it off. I think I've seen it in accounts and users in preferences
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13" 5 hours battery: should I take it back?
- Thread starter Vazkor
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What does iTunes helper do and how do I turn it off. I think I've seen it in accounts and users in preferences
Good question. If there were no other apps open, normal web browsing should not require TurboBoost. The TB algorithm is complex, and depends on CPU load, process queue, CPU temp, etc. TB allows the CPU to increase the clock frequency to meet peak demand and take advantage of the lag in heat buildup.
What I believe though, is that with a relatively underpowered Sandy Bridge IGP, TB is required more often, than with the C2D/320M combo. E.g., on my Dell Latitude, i5-540M, when I open a lot of browser windows, the CPU temp jumps dramatically as TB kicks in. On the 2011 MBA, the i5/i7 chips are likely doing the same thing under moderate/heavy loads, especially when the IGP load is high. This is where the battery life takes a dramatic hit.
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Lion has decreased the battery life by half, so that could be your problem, because it is the problem I am having
Ouch. Though if that is the case it at least suggests the problem has a chance of being fixed. I suspect 2x battery consumption wasn't a planned outcome of Lion.
Thanks for the report.
I'm still on the fence on whether to bug apple to accept my return of 13" 2010 that I had for less than 3 weeks. My very first concern is the battery life, following by heat.
Seems that out of the box the 2010 13" still doing better on battery life then? I'd keep my 2010 if real world comparison of the battery life is correct.
Do you have Parallels installed (doesn't need to be running, there's a bug in Parallels that affects the Dock and causes it to eat your CPU on Lion)?
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Not sure if base 2010 is better or not. Not worse for sure, maybe similar or slightly better. Hard to say. I was getting crappy battery life with safari?? Or maybe another app I had open that I didn't know about.
Not sure what itunes helper is but xcode complained that I had itunes open when I didn't, so I had to shut down the helper. Has been off since and have been happy with my battery life so far. But once again I closed other apps I had open during my first couple of days.
13" i5, with safari and six tabs open, my time (which is ******** anyway, just watch the percentage) shows 7.5-8.5 hours @ 98% battery. while actively using safari, the time drops to about 5.5 hours. no other apps open, as far as i can tell.
also: no calibration done, screen brightness on lowest setting, keys backlit. turn your screen brightness down if you want to save battery life.
also: no calibration done, screen brightness on lowest setting, keys backlit. turn your screen brightness down if you want to save battery life.
Thanks again for the reports. I don't quite believe safari going to eat up more battery, it seems to be the most battery saving browser as I've read on some reputable review side earlier (or was it user reports).
I'm starting to be more convinced that 2010 13" is still a little better on battery life.
With few tabs opened, browsing with safari, 40% (6 bars) and nothing else, no calibration done just after couples of cycles out of the box, 98%~100% usually shown about 8~9 hours remaining and sometimes more, and the battery drop is fairly consistent throughout the surfing session. If I switch AirPort off and using just itunes and some light offline application, it can go upward to 12hours remaining.
I'd like to have more power (and the backlit keyboard is tempting) but at this point I need as much battery life as possible. I'm sticking to my 2010 13" as for now.
Thanks again for all the reports!