I watched the recent WWDC keynote where Apple launched a bunch of new products. One of them was the high end mac aimed at the professional sector. This was a computer designed to process hours of high definition video footage for movies/TV. As per usual, they boasted about how many processes you could run at the same time, and how they’d all be done instantaneously, compared to the previous model or the leading competitor.
Meanwhile my 10 year old iMac takes 30 seconds to show the File menu when I click File. Or it takes 5 minutes to run a simple bash command in Terminal. It’s not taking 5 minutes to compile something or do anything particularly difficult. It takes 5 minutes to remember what bash is in the first place.
I know why it couldn’t process video footage without catching fire, but what I truly don’t understand is why it takes so long to do the easiest most mundane things.
I’m not working with 50 apps open, or a browser laden down with 200 tabs. I don’t have intensive image editing software running. There’s no malware either. I’m just trying to use it to do every day tasks. This has happened with every computer I’ve ever owned.
Why?
In: 5988
I get this sometimes, and it’s usually because the Mac makes indexing files of everything you do on your Mac, to make getting there again faster. Problem is, it’s a double edge sword, and by trying to load those files, it slows down your machine. This can also be made harder by using up almost all of your HD space on the Mac, as it stores and access these files from there as well as the RAM.
First port of call; restart your Mac and uncheck the “reload applications when restarted” or whatever it says, that will cut down on some memory loss.
Second; make a new non administrative account on the Mac and log into it. If everything loads and runs fine on there, like clicking file etc, then it’s specifically your user account that is bogging down your performance.
Third; take it to your local Apple Store. Even if they don’t need to repair anything, they can run tests on the HD and other components that might help identify if something is slowing down the Mac for you. But make sure you have a recent back up of your data, as some options they offer might need to restore your HD, or they might need to replace the HD all together. So be prepared with your data backed up elsewhere.
Good luck OP! 🤙
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