Macbook suddenly slow - help?

UrBaN963

UrBaN963

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Morning dudes & dudettes,

So my work computer is a new ~2012 Macbook Pro.

Intel Core i5 2,5 GHz
4GB DDR3 1600
500GB SATA HDD
Mac OS Sierra 10.12.1
Intel HD 4000 w/ 1,5GB VRAM

Recently, it feels much less responsive, as though it's doing things in the background I'm not aware of.

Haven't noticed any odd behaviour that I would attribute to virus/malware infestation, it doesn't do anything strange particularly, otherwise than feeling slower than when I first got it (1 month ago).

I'm not a Mac fundi so would appreciate any help/suggestions as to how to speed it up / debug what's going on.

Also, I do have my photos, movies etc stored in folders on my desktop. Found that the easiest method, but not sure if that affects performance?
 
I'm by no means a Mac troubleshooting fundi, I'm also sitting with a slow iMac at the moment which I'm trying to figure out.
Firstly update to Mac OS 10.2 and see what it does.
 
MacOS generally doesn't get affected by "slowness" due to files like less advanced operating systems (Windows).

That said, you could be swapping too much and the 500GB SATA disk is not the fastest for that. Open Activity Monitor, click on Memory and note the "Memory Pressure" graph. It should not be averaging more than half the graph size (i.e more than 50% pressure). If it is, something is using a lot of memory and the Mac is trying to swap too much.

Also, try resetting your SMC if you haven't already (google that its easy to do).

Also, since you've had it a month you've probably started adding more and more software to it, which would make the experience a bit slower than a "clean" machine but it should not be extremely notable. Some applications just don't perform well too, for example Chrome, although very nice to use often consumes insane amounts of memory and even when idling its using CPU usage.
 
Go into settings and Set startup disk to 500gb sata, then reboot.

I still have to do this on Sierra sometimes.
 
Buy an SSD and add 16GB of RAM.

Spinning disk and low RAM would definitely make it feel slow.
 
jshed is right. Get a SSD and more ram.
 
jsheed_sa said:
Buy an SSD and add 16GB of RAM.

Spinning disk and low RAM would definitely make it feel slow.
Click to expand...

It shouldn't make it feel slower than a month ago though and that's the problem here.
 
jsheed_sa said:
Buy an SSD and add 16GB of RAM.

Spinning disk and low RAM would definitely make it feel slow.
Click to expand...

True, but it's a work laptop and I'm not prepared to spend the extra on a 1 month old laptop.

bwana said:
It shouldn't make it feel slower than a month ago though and that's the problem here.
Click to expand...

Exactly.
It is true that I have installed a lot of software, but given that they are not running a lot of the time (some special-use software I only run as needed), surely performance degradation should be minimal, if any?
 
Best to keep an eye on the activity monitor and see what's chowing resources.
 
Make the laptop fly/much more fun to use/better productivity and solve any slow computer issues and get a 256gb Ssd and min 8gb ram, won't cost much more than R1,5k and you can take out the parts and refit the old parts if you leave the job. Or ask the boss to pay for it, it's not going to break the bank and it's a normal thing to do, if you paid Apple for those upgrades at time of purchase or would have cost 2 to 3 times the R1.5k you are spending now.
 
UrBaN963 said:
True, but it's a work laptop and I'm not prepared to spend the extra on a 1 month old laptop.



Exactly.
It is true that I have installed a lot of software, but given that they are not running a lot of the time (some special-use software I only run as needed), surely performance degradation should be minimal, if any?
Click to expand...

Well then you'll suffer.

4GB of RAM and a spinning disk is considered sub standard nowadays.

I would refuse to work on that machine if it was given to me. Not because i'm an *******, but because it severely hampers my productivity.
 
Okay okay okay :P

Now, warranty-wise, surely these upgrades will void the warranty?
 
bwana said:
Where did you get this "new ~2012 Macbook Pro" from?
Click to expand...

My boss ordered it - eother iStore or Incredible Corruption i believe. But it is a brand new, store-bought type device, not a "brand new" Gumtree device
 
UrBaN963 said:
My boss ordered it - eother iStore or Incredible Corruption i believe. But it is a brand new, store-bought type device, not a "brand new" Gumtree device
Click to expand...
I think hard drives and ram fall under user serviceable so you should be ok.
 
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