4 ms·

Ask HN: Why does VSCode fully drain MacBook Pro (M2) battery in 2hrs?

4 points by nomilk 3y ago

nomilk 3y ago
According to 9to5mac [1], my 2023 16" MBP should have around 14 hours of "wireless web battery". Today it lasted 2 hours flat. I had around 5 smallish files open in vscode and wasn't doing anything at all interesting or intensive (no docker, no automated testing, just writing code, and pretty slowly, frankly). [1] https://9to5mac.com/2023/10/30/m3-macbook-pro-battery-life/ https://9to5mac.com/2023/10/30/m3-macbook-pro-battery-life/
FBISurveillance 3y ago
I suggest you to check your extensions. Local LLMs, language server bugs, maybe even a compromised extension that mines crypto?
- nomilk 3y ago
  On your suggestion, I tried `code --list-extensions` and got the list (working my way through them now to see if I can spot anything suspect): akamud.vscode-theme-onedark aliariff.vscode-erb-beautify esbenp.prettier-vscode github.copilot github.copilot-chat ibm.output-colorizer kaiwood.endwise ms-azuretools.vscode-docker ms-python.debugpy ms-python.isort ms-python.python ms-python.vscode-pylance ms-toolsai.jupyter ms-toolsai.jupyter-keymap ms-toolsai.jupyter-renderers ms-toolsai.vscode-jupyter-cell-tags ms-toolsai.vscode-jupyter-slideshow ms-vscode-remote.remote-containers ms-vscode.cmake-tools$\n ms-vscode.cpptools ms-vscode.cpptools-extension-pack ms-vscode.cpptools-themes ms-vscode.makefile-tools pkief.material-icon-theme reditorsupport.r shopify.ruby-lsp twxs.cmake vincaslt.highlight-matching-tag vscodevim.vim
  - jotaen 3y ago
    I’d probably try to disable them all, and see whether that has any effect in the activity monitor. If so, I’d turn them on one after the other to identify which one is the culprit.
    - zer00eyz 3y ago
      the process explorer In vs code should give you what you need!
      - watersb 3y ago
        Excellent! FWIW, here's the link to troubleshooting vs code performance issues from the project's GitHub Wiki: https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode/wiki/Performance-Issues https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode/wiki/Performance-Issues
jotaen 3y ago
This is more like an Ask HN, isn’t it? https://news.ycombinator.com/showhn.html https://news.ycombinator.com/showhn.html
- nomilk 3y ago
  Title updated. ty.
nomilk 3y ago
FWIW, I rebooted and VSCode's energy usage is back to normal (less than 1/10th of what it was while it was consuming extremely high amounts of energy). https://imgur.com/rFXkoin https://imgur.com/rFXkoin
animuchan 3y ago
I second the "check the extensions" answer, because for me it sure doesn't — when working from home, I only charge a similar machine (M2 MBP) at night, so it's good for at least 9 hours of work, where work == VS Code + Slack + Zoom.

4 points by nomilk 3y ago

According to 9to5mac [1], my 2023 16" MBP should have around 14 hours of "wireless web battery". Today it lasted 2 hours flat. I had around 5 smallish files open in vscode and wasn't doing anything at all interesting or intensive (no docker, no automated testing, just writing code, and pretty slowly, frankly). [1] https://9to5mac.com/2023/10/30/m3-macbook-pro-battery-life/ https://9to5mac.com/2023/10/30/m3-macbook-pro-battery-life/

FBISurveillance 3y ago

I suggest you to check your extensions. Local LLMs, language server bugs, maybe even a compromised extension that mines crypto?

nomilk 3y ago
On your suggestion, I tried `code --list-extensions` and got the list (working my way through them now to see if I can spot anything suspect): akamud.vscode-theme-onedark aliariff.vscode-erb-beautify esbenp.prettier-vscode github.copilot github.copilot-chat ibm.output-colorizer kaiwood.endwise ms-azuretools.vscode-docker ms-python.debugpy ms-python.isort ms-python.python ms-python.vscode-pylance ms-toolsai.jupyter ms-toolsai.jupyter-keymap ms-toolsai.jupyter-renderers ms-toolsai.vscode-jupyter-cell-tags ms-toolsai.vscode-jupyter-slideshow ms-vscode-remote.remote-containers ms-vscode.cmake-tools$\n ms-vscode.cpptools ms-vscode.cpptools-extension-pack ms-vscode.cpptools-themes ms-vscode.makefile-tools pkief.material-icon-theme reditorsupport.r shopify.ruby-lsp twxs.cmake vincaslt.highlight-matching-tag vscodevim.vim
- jotaen 3y ago
  I’d probably try to disable them all, and see whether that has any effect in the activity monitor. If so, I’d turn them on one after the other to identify which one is the culprit.
  - zer00eyz 3y ago
    the process explorer In vs code should give you what you need!
    - watersb 3y ago
      Excellent! FWIW, here's the link to troubleshooting vs code performance issues from the project's GitHub Wiki: https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode/wiki/Performance-Issues https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode/wiki/Performance-Issues

jotaen 3y ago

This is more like an Ask HN, isn’t it? https://news.ycombinator.com/showhn.html https://news.ycombinator.com/showhn.html

nomilk 3y ago
Title updated. ty.

nomilk 3y ago

FWIW, I rebooted and VSCode's energy usage is back to normal (less than 1/10th of what it was while it was consuming extremely high amounts of energy). https://imgur.com/rFXkoin https://imgur.com/rFXkoin

animuchan 3y ago

I second the "check the extensions" answer, because for me it sure doesn't — when working from home, I only charge a similar machine (M2 MBP) at night, so it's good for at least 9 hours of work, where work == VS Code + Slack + Zoom.