My MacBook Air is about 3 years old and the battery was still great until recently. Now it sometimes only lasts 2, sometimes 3 hours, even though I barely have anything open. Is there anything I can do myself, or do I have to go to the Apple Store?
After 3 years it's totally normal for the battery to start degrading - they're just not made to last forever. Before you head to the Apple Store, you can check a few things yourself. Take a look at your energy-saving settings to see if anything weird is configured there. Some apps run in the background and drain a lot of power - you can see which ones under "Battery" and then disable them if needed. Also, having your screen brighter than necessary uses a ton of energy.
If you've checked everything and nothing helps, then you'll need to go to the Apple Store or a certified service center. With a device that's 3 years old, Apple will probably suggest a battery replacement, but that's not free - it used to cost around 100 or so, but I have no idea what the current prices are. Sometimes the device is still under warranty or AppleCare+, then it'd be free, but that's pretty rare with devices this old. Just call them or book an appointment online - they can check it quickly.
With a MacBook that old, unfortunately that's pretty normal - lithium batteries just lose capacity over time. But before you head to the Apple Store, I'd check if something in the background is unnecessarily eating up resources. Look in Activity Monitor (Cmd+Space, then "Activity Monitor") and see which processes are maxing out your CPU or GPU. Sometimes it's also browser tabs that keep rendering. If that doesn't help and your battery really is badly degraded, you'll probably need a professional diagnosis - Apple can run a battery test and replace it if needed, but that'll cost you.
At three years old, your battery is definitely at the end of its lifespan - that's completely normal for lithium batteries. Before you head to the store, check your energy settings to see which apps are draining the most power, and make sure there aren't any updates or indexing running in the background. If that doesn't help, a battery replacement at Apple is really your only option - DIY repair isn't feasible without destroying the device. But after three years of use, a new battery is a fair investment anyway, and it should run normally again after that.
At 3 years old, battery wear is completely normal, but before you head to the Apple Store, I'd check one more thing: look at your battery settings and see if "Optimized Battery Charging" is turned on - it should be on by default, but sometimes updates reset it. Even more important: open Activity Monitor and look for processes that are constantly keeping the CPU core running, especially in the background. I know several people who had an app freeze up and drain resources all day without them noticing. If none of that helps and the battery really is just done for, then unfortunately you need to go to the Apple Store - you basically can't swap it yourself on MacBooks.
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