I don't get it, with every update on Monterey my computer gets slower. I can't do 2 things at once otherwise I get the spinning wheel of death. It's like I'm back using Windows. I open Safari and while the computer is thinking of opening Safari, I try to open a folder and it takes forever (more than a minute or 2) for the folder to open.
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Computer is getting slower
- Thread starter jquest68
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I know this is a Beta version but it's been like this way before I got into beta's
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Yes, pretty slow. But, you only have 8GB of RAM and 2GB of video memory. Not enough in todays world.
Lou
Lou
8GB of memory is OK, as demonstrated by the performance of the most inexpensive M1s.
I’ve seen this improve after performing the Erase all content and settings procedure. Try this, perhaps, although not before making a copy of your data.
Because this computer (ostensibly) uses a classic hard disk drive instead of solid state storage, do not expect exceptional loading times in modern versions of macOS. You may be able to get the disk replaced by a technician for a better experience.
I’ve seen this improve after performing the Erase all content and settings procedure. Try this, perhaps, although not before making a copy of your data.
Because this computer (ostensibly) uses a classic hard disk drive instead of solid state storage, do not expect exceptional loading times in modern versions of macOS. You may be able to get the disk replaced by a technician for a better experience.
you need 16GB of memory. an SSD too.
Monterey is 12.5GB in size. So is Big Sur.
Catalina was like 8.5GB.
with your specs I would go back to Catalina
I bet if you look at how much memory your computer is using with safari open on your activity monitor it will be close to the 8GB of total ram your machine has.
Monterey is 12.5GB in size. So is Big Sur.
Catalina was like 8.5GB.
with your specs I would go back to Catalina
I bet if you look at how much memory your computer is using with safari open on your activity monitor it will be close to the 8GB of total ram your machine has.
As others have inferred…that model came with either a spinner hard drive or a "Fusion" drive (combination of small SSD and a spinner HD). These are unsuitable for macOS versions that use the APFS file system.
Additionally, the original drive could be slowly dying and that can muck up the works.
You can put an SSD in there…but if you're hesitant to open the iMac your model has USB3 ports so you might consider getting an external SSD, connected to and compatible with USB3, and installing your system on that.
Additionally, the original drive could be slowly dying and that can muck up the works.
You can put an SSD in there…but if you're hesitant to open the iMac your model has USB3 ports so you might consider getting an external SSD, connected to and compatible with USB3, and installing your system on that.
It’s either a software issue in which I would make a full time machine backup and do a fresh OS install and see if it helps, or it’s a hardware issue and you need your drive replaced. The average life of a spinner drive with heavy use is usually 4-5 years. The drive could be dying.
The OP still has not told us WHAT KIND OF DRIVE is inside the iMac he/she has.
The graphic posted in reply 3 above is of little use without this additional information.
The graphic posted in reply 3 above is of little use without this additional information.
I'm not computer savvy so I don't know about the SSD or HDD or where to look which one I have.
Additionally, you must go to the menu item View>Show All Devices
I have the same Mac as you but with 32gb of RAM. I also have replaced the HDD for an SSD. Running latest Monterey beta and everything runs smooth and fast.
I would suggest you to upgrade the RAM and replace the HDD to SSD.
OP:
Sounds like you have an iMac with a slow internal drive (either platter-based hard drive or a fusion drive with a small "SSD portion").
You can improve the Mac's performance by plugging in an EXTERNAL USB3 SSD and making it the new boot drive.
Forget about: "I'm not computer savvy so I don't know about the SSD or HDD".
I learned what these things were and how to make them work. And I'm "a dummy".
You can learn, too.
Sounds like you have an iMac with a slow internal drive (either platter-based hard drive or a fusion drive with a small "SSD portion").
You can improve the Mac's performance by plugging in an EXTERNAL USB3 SSD and making it the new boot drive.
Forget about: "I'm not computer savvy so I don't know about the SSD or HDD".
I learned what these things were and how to make them work. And I'm "a dummy".
You can learn, too.
an easy way to get this info and share it - take a screen shot of the Storage Info - like the example below
Go to the Apple menu - top left and choose "About this MAC" and then the storage Tab
As mentioned by others it is most likely a HDD "spinner" - not an SSD
But it may also be getting close to full - not enough capacity? - see my screen shot which is also getting full - I like to keep 25% of the storage free and mine is past that
Edit - my screen shot is from a Mojave install - but it is the same on Monterey
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I don't know why mine is showing TV at 474.49 GB
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Well, looks like you have plenty of available space, the "TV Stuff" might be downloaded movies from Apple TV, Netflix, Amazon Prime?
You can drill down and remove them if you click the manage button - and then Reduces Clutter / Review Files - probably won't help speed up your Mac tho
This appears to be the biggest factor behind the lackluster performance. It's quite a process that will require a bit of care and know-how, but an iMac teardown to upgrade to SSD will be the only solution to that problem.
Also, upgrading the RAM to at least 16GB will allow your iMac to better handle more of the basic stuff.
Good points - IMHO - that said - I would hold off on purchase of the memory - figure out the SSD / Fusion Drive thing first?
No sense buying memory if the Drive is the issue - I speak from experience - have purchased memory that did not help - better to resolve the SSD / Fusion Drive first
I have a 2019 24 Core Mac Pro with 96GB RAM, a 32GB Vega II GPU and I found scrolling, horizontal zooming in my music composer DAW software to be NOTICEABLY faster when booted into Catalina than when booted into Monterey 12.1. Not entirely sure if it's specifically my software or a greater issue with Monterey optimization though I could swear other apps definitely seem a bit snappier in Catalina as well.
For your 2017 iMac, if you only have 8GB of memory the OS uses the HDD in place of faster RAM to extend anything in memory that is swapped out of ~ 5GB remaining (the OS resides in ~ 3GB). This means as each MacOS version adds new features its been consuming more and more of your limited 8GB memory to run. Now it you happen to have a fusion drive that is a hybrid of a HDD using a small SSD to give you some of the benefits of a SSD its would work significantly faster as RAM swap space. But the Fusion 1 TB HDD are paired with a tiny 32GB SSD, and Fusion 2 TB HDD's are paired with 128 GB SSDs. Still a recent SSD like whats in recent AS Macs is lighting fast compared to Fusion. It sounds unfortunately that you are observing what everyone else has experienced with older Macs that use older storage technology and only 8GB of RAM. Todays SSD's in the latest Macs run about the same speed as RAM, and that means they boot up and shut down way faster, and the OS and applications that uses RAM will benefit significantly.
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