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Paclunch

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 5, 2016
8
1
Hi everyone, I own a 2012 rMBP(8gb ram, 256gb SSD). Recently, whenever I open up multiple PDF files to read/annotate or highlight I notice my computer starts to become incredibly sluggish and when I check activity monitor the memory that preview has taken up in the background to go up to 30gb when the file size of the pdf is just around 150mb.
I've tried deleting the files in the libraries as stated by some threads but nothing seems to be doing the trick. Additionally when I've been using Safari youtube tends to be extremely slow for me most of the time as well. Scrolling starts to inconsistent and whenever I click a video to enlarge it, it hangs for several seconds before jumping into fullscreen mode. Clearing cache, or history doesn't help either. This issues don't seem to be there when I switch over to chrome though.

Is there another PDF reader out there that is recommended? Is the Safari issue a bug?
 

Samuelsan2001

macrumors 604
Oct 24, 2013
7,729
2,153
Hi everyone, I own a 2012 rMBP(8gb ram, 256gb SSD). Recently, whenever I open up multiple PDF files to read/annotate or highlight I notice my computer starts to become incredibly sluggish and when I check activity monitor the memory that preview has taken up in the background to go up to 30gb when the file size of the pdf is just around 150mb.
I've tried deleting the files in the libraries as stated by some threads but nothing seems to be doing the trick. Additionally when I've been using Safari youtube tends to be extremely slow for me most of the time as well. Scrolling starts to inconsistent and whenever I click a video to enlarge it, it hangs for several seconds before jumping into fullscreen mode. Clearing cache, or history doesn't help either. This issues don't seem to be there when I switch over to chrome though.

Is there another PDF reader out there that is recommended? Is the Safari issue a bug?

Well I use skim for pdfs it's pretty good and resource friendly.

However I would suggest you have some issues there, firstly go into disk utility and repair the disk this may sort out your problems, if not you will have to find the rogue process and stop it or you may consider reinstalling OS X this may well sort you out.
 

Paclunch

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 5, 2016
8
1
Oh well... thanks the suggestions, I guess il try reinstalling the OS when I'm free
 

idoccurt

macrumors regular
Aug 25, 2006
131
15
Hi everyone, I own a 2012 rMBP(8gb ram, 256gb SSD). Recently, whenever I open up multiple PDF files to read/annotate or highlight I notice my computer starts to become incredibly sluggish and when I check activity monitor the memory that preview has taken up in the background to go up to 30gb when the file size of the pdf is just around 150mb.
I've tried deleting the files in the libraries as stated by some threads but nothing seems to be doing the trick. Additionally when I've been using Safari youtube tends to be extremely slow for me most of the time as well. Scrolling starts to inconsistent and whenever I click a video to enlarge it, it hangs for several seconds before jumping into fullscreen mode. Clearing cache, or history doesn't help either. This issues don't seem to be there when I switch over to chrome though.

Is there another PDF reader out there that is recommended? Is the Safari issue a bug?
Easy....replace hard drive with SSD...it will be a new machine
 

maratus

macrumors 6502a
Jun 12, 2009
701
273
Canada
well it is 5 years old almost so,.....
so?
Easy....replace hard drive with SSD...it will be a new machine
lol
Hi everyone, I own a 2012 rMBP(8gb ram, 256gb SSD)
I'd strongly recommend you to do a clean OS X installation (don't restore from your TM backup!). If you aren't sure, find a decent USB 3.0 or Thunderbolt SSD and install OS X on it. If the problem persists (which is highly unlikely, because my similar specced machine is very fast) then have it checked in a good service center.
 
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andreyush

macrumors 6502a
Oct 24, 2015
582
417
You clearly need a fresh install on your rMBP.
Mine runs perfectly and even if it's 4 years technology this doesn't mean that it's not working. The rMBP 2015 has a better SSD and....a better cpu ( but not such a big difference).
 

sartrekid

macrumors 6502a
Oct 30, 2014
531
512
Germany
The 2012 rMBP is by no means sluggish, so it does sound like there's something wrong with your particular machine (hardware/software). I've nothing to add to the suggestions already made, this is just a heads up that I own the same machine and it's snappy like it was a few years ago. No lag. No stuttering.
 

SSD-GUY

macrumors 65816
Sep 20, 2012
1,158
2,117
Interstellar
Reinstall OS and do not reintroduce all settings (as in don't put a time machine backup back on as you'll be going back to square one).

And also, as mentioned above, use Skim, it is a lot better in my experience.
 

Paclunch

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 5, 2016
8
1
I reinstalled the OSX El Capitan last night, preview does seem to be coming along better and I managed to free up some disk space with the reinstall anyway. I'll download skim to give it a shot as well thanks everyone!
 
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philosopherdog

macrumors 6502a
Dec 29, 2008
759
532
That's not a hardware problem. Clearly Preview has a memory leak if it's showing 30gb. Try Skim. Report the problem to Apple using a radar so they fix the issue. The rMBP 2012 is a very powerful machine. You could try creating a new profile to see if the bug shows up there too or has something to do with this user.
 
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