2011 MBP Slow Down

[Ninja25]

Hello All,

I have a Macbook Pro Early 2011 that i just recently upgraded. I installed 16gb of RAM and a SSD drive.
I'm having problems with regular tasks like Safari or opening an application. It stutters and will open with a 3 second delay. Is there anyway i can make it instant? If i click on a website bookmark, i want it to be instant. If i want to open the calendar app, i want it to be instant. Is this impossible because it is an older computer? If anyone has a solution, please let me know it drives me insane!

 

[mildocjr]

Since you have an SSD and ample RAM you shouldn't be seeing any slow downs (obviously).

You can try a safe boot (hold down shift, turn on the computer, release shift when you see the loading bar) to see if that fixes it for that session, if it does, you probably have a conflicting piece of software installed, or a external device attached that the OS just doesn't agree with.

I would try doing a PRAM reset, which has fixed problems like this in the past for me. See link below.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204063

If that doesn't work, disable any extensions you have enabled for the apps you are having problems with (System Preferences > Extensions), then try launching the program again.

Some programs that I know slow a Mac down are Microsoft Office 2011 and 2016, Parallels Desktop, and VMWare Fusion.

Outside of all of that, the next step would be to repair permissions, which requires some technical prep work. I am not going to post a link for that process as it increases your attack surface and makes your computer more volatile to users, but if you look up Repair Permissions on El Capitan, you'll see a link with a walkthrough on how to do it. Just make sure that you re-enable those protections when you are done.

 

[tubeexperience]

Enable TRIM.

 

[JTToft]

If the issues coincided with the SSD upgrade, it's possible the internal SATA cable is on its way out. SSDs require more of the cable, so installing one might make its defects more visible.