2011 Macbook Pro beachballs all th etime

Launch Activity Monitor and change "My Processes" at the top to "All Processes", then click on the CPU column heading once or twice, so the arrow points downward (highest values on top). Also, click on the System Memory tab at the bottom. Then take a screen shot, scroll down to see the rest of the list, take another screen shot and post them.

 

have you tested its using all 8GB of RAM, as GGJ pointed out in Activity Monitor on the Memory tab make sure its using all 8GB if its using less than 4 than 1 stick could be defective

 

Even if one stick were defective it shouldn't be having that issue as there is still 4GB left which is more than enough for the avg user, especially with you saying it's happening with only Safari running. I've used a computer before where one stick was defective and it was fine untill doing heavier stuff with virtual system, wherein we found out one stick wasn't working. Try pulling one stick or the other and see if one or the other let's the computer run fine. Might want to check disk permissions, or try a fresh install and see what happens.

Sounds dumb but do you know which RAM it's using? Some people have mix-matched sticks before not knowing and caused glitches like this too.

 

post your findings.

I'm curious....actually

See if you can troubleshoot this yourself, otherwise a time consuming trip to an Apple store will do it.

----------

Oh yes that's right, repair disk permissions in the disk utility. You need to do this anyway. It's not a big deal, but needs to be done occasionally, and sometimes really can be an issue in rare occasions.

note: I wonder why this isn't more automated? (permissions, that is). I don't know. There must be a reason I don't know about (as in...I don't know squat anyway )

 

Excellent thought. Automated permissions verification. Would be a great enhancement.

 

Some people repair, or recommend repairing permissions for situations where it isn't appropriate. Repairing permissions only addresses very specific issues. It is not a "cure all" or a general performance enhancer, and doesn't need to be done on a regular basis. It also doesn't address permissions problems with your files or 3rd party apps.

Five Mac maintenance myths

Repairing permissions: What you need to know
About Disk Utility's Repair Disk Permissions feature​

There are times when repairing permissions is appropriate. To do so, here are the instructions:

Repairing Disk Permissions​

If repairing permissions results in error messages, some of these messages can be ignored and should be no cause for concern.

Mac OS X: Disk Utility's Repair Disk Permissions messages that you can safely ignore​