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Macbook Pro Running Slow

L

livelongdienvr

macrumors member
Original poster
May 13, 2013
50
5
Hey everyone, I need some advice. My Macbook has been running terribly slow, even with just one program running. Say for example I am only using Safari with nothing else running I still constantly get the rainbow pinwheel and everything is slow, from starting the program, to running it even closing it.

I was told by Apple that the cable to the logic board was bad, so I fixed that. Shortly after they told me my hard drive was bad, I replaced that as well. I still continued to have all these problems. I can't run more than one program at once without everything crashing. Apple also told me my battery is bad and need to be replaced, I'm guessing if I replace the battery and upgrade the ram a lot of these problems should iron out. In my research I found that having a bad battery can slow down your Macbook.

Anyways I need help with 1) what this problem could be. 2)what is a good battery to get. 3)best type of ram to get.
 
livelongdienvr said:
Hey everyone, I need some advice. My Macbook has been running terribly slow, even with just one program running. Say for example I am only using Safari with nothing else running I still constantly get the rainbow pinwheel and everything is slow, from starting the program, to running it even closing it.
Click to expand...
You can start by being specific about which MBP model and configuration you have. Year, display size, processor, RAM installed, etc.

If you're having performance issues, this may help:
 
I have a 13 inch mid 2009 Macbook pro.
4gb ram
500gb hard drive
2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M 256mb
OS x 10.9.2

I hope this helps.
 
livelongdienvr said:
I have a 13 inch mid 2009 Macbook pro.
4gb ram
500gb hard drive
2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M 256mb
OS x 10.9.2

I hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Follow the tips in the link I provided, especially items 3 and 4.
 
Thanks for the tips. I am running through all of those things now. Another thing I forgot to mention is that my computer over heats to very extreme temperatures near the upper left hand corner above the escape key.
 
livelongdienvr said:
Thanks for the tips. I am running through all of those things now. Another thing I forgot to mention is that my computer over heats to very extreme temperatures near the upper left hand corner above the escape key.
Click to expand...
It's normal for your MBP to get hot under heavy workloads. It will not overheat.
 
I've read that before, it still concerns me because my macbook will get extremely hot to the point were it hurts to touch.

I've followed all of those steps that have been outlined, thank you for the tip. Do you also recommend replacing the battery that isn't good anymore and upgrading the ram?
 
livelongdienvr said:
I've read that before, it still concerns me because my macbook will get extremely hot to the point were it hurts to touch.
Click to expand...
If you're not already doing so, use iStat Pro (free) or iStat Menus ($16) to get accurate readings of your temps, fan speeds, etc., rather than relying on touch or sound. A forum member has posted a copy of iStat Pro that has been "tweaked" to enhance compatibility with recent OS X versions. You can download it here.
livelongdienvr said:
I've followed all of those steps that have been outlined, thank you for the tip. Do you also recommend replacing the battery that isn't good anymore and upgrading the ram?
Click to expand...
If your battery health is below 80%, or if it exhibits signs of swelling, or if it no longer holds sufficient charge to meet your needs, I recommend having it replaced.

The link below should answer most, if not all, of your battery/charging questions, including tips for maximizing battery performance. If you haven’t already done so, I highly recommend you take the time to read it.
If you're not maxing out your existing RAM, adding more will have no impact on performance. Launch Activity Monitor and check your memory pressure graph.
The combination of Free, Wired, Active, Inactive & Used memory statistics in previous versions of Activity Monitor have been replaced in Mavericks with an easy to read "Memory Pressure" graph.
Memory pressure is indicated by color:
  • Green – RAM memory resources are available.
  • Amber – RAM memory resources are being tasked.
  • Red – RAM memory resources are depleted and OS X is using the drive for memory.
Click to expand...

If your pressure is green under your normal workload, you don't need more RAM. This should help: How much RAM do I need in my Mac?
 
Thank you again for the tips, I'll probably have the battery replaced soon. When running final cut pro X everything on the activity monitor stays in the amber color. But it's also amber when nothing but safari is running. Yet my computer still runs slow. When I launch final cut pro x I get a pop up saying I need at least 4gb of Ram to run this program and a continue button. I'm not sure if that's any indication of anything.
 
Is the heat of your cpu ok? (iStatpro shows this).
I had it in my previous macbook that the temp of one CPU was way to high because of a fan wasn't working. That made my macbook run very slow...
I changed the fan and everything was back ok, smooth as it should be.
 
I'm not too sure if the heat of the CPU is ok, I believe the fan works because I can hear it running.
 
livelongdienvr said:
Thank you again for the tips, I'll probably have the battery replaced soon. When running final cut pro X everything on the activity monitor stays in the amber color. But it's also amber when nothing but safari is running. Yet my computer still runs slow. When I launch final cut pro x I get a pop up saying I need at least 4gb of Ram to run this program and a continue button. I'm not sure if that's any indication of anything.
Click to expand...
If your Memory Pressure graph is amber, you're bumping up close to the limit of your RAM. It sounds like upgrading to 8GB would help.
livelongdienvr said:
I'm not too sure if the heat of the CPU is ok, I believe the fan works because I can hear it running.
Click to expand...
Use the iStat Pro or iStat Menus app to get accurate temperature readings. Your CPU is designed to automatically shut down if it reaches unsafe temps, to avoid damage. Your fans are always on when your Mac is on, spinning faster as needed to maintain safe temps.
 
livelongdienvr said:
I've read that before, it still concerns me because my macbook will get extremely hot to the point were it hurts to touch.

I've followed all of those steps that have been outlined, thank you for the tip. Do you also recommend replacing the battery that isn't good anymore and upgrading the ram?
Click to expand...

I'd recommend getting an SSD and upping the RAM.
 
livelongdienvr said:
Thanks for the tips. I am running through all of those things now. Another thing I forgot to mention is that my computer over heats to very extreme temperatures near the upper left hand corner above the escape key.
Click to expand...

That may be the problem. Your computer runs too hot. No, it won't overheat, but the CPU and GPU with throttle (slow down) to produce less heat and avoid overheating. This could be why your system is so slow.
It is probably very dusty. Clean out all dust, especially around the heatsinks and fans. If it is not dusty, then something is odd.
 
livelongdienvr said:
I'm not too sure if the heat of the CPU is ok, I believe the fan works because I can hear it running.
Click to expand...

You have 2 fans in your notebook. In my case I could hear them run also, but only one. My CPU Heatsink A (I think) was +80°C all the time.
Check iStat for the temp and let us know.
 
Thanks guys, I got a new battery. I paid about 100 for it from other world computing. I got an external hard drive and started storing things there and I'm installing i stat pro to check on things. I'll keep you guys posted.
 
Hi Everyone,

So here's an updated I installed the new battery and have notice improvements with the computer not heating up like it used too and in return the fan not blowing as hard. I've in stalled iStat pro and typical I am using around 30%-40% CPU usage.

Now what I don't get on iStat pro is that under ram it says Wired, Active, Inactive and Free and typical the numbers here jump up and down but it only ever adds up to about two gigs. Last I checked I had four gigs of ram, does anybody know what I'm missing?
 
livelongdienvr said:
Now what I don't get on iStat pro is that under ram it says Wired, Active, Inactive and Free and typical the numbers here jump up and down but it only ever adds up to about two gigs. Last I checked I had four gigs of ram, does anybody know what I'm missing?
Click to expand...
Don't use iStat, use the activity monitor and look at the graph:
green = good
yellow = getting low
red = too little memory
 
Meister said:
Don't use iStat, use the activity monitor and look at the graph:
green = good
yellow = getting low
red = too little memory
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip, my activity monitor floats around yellow and green. Everythings ok on my computer, slow downs here and there(ex. when typing on Word, the words will pop up a few seconds as well) and when I open a program the icon will jump about thirty times before opening.
 
livelongdienvr said:
Thanks for the tip, my activity monitor floats around yellow and green. Everythings ok on my computer, slow downs here and there(ex. when typing on Word, the words will pop up a few seconds as well) and when I open a program the icon will jump about thirty times before opening.
Click to expand...

If it ever gets yellow with normal use then you will benefit very much from more RAM. Yellow is actually very slow and near unusable... Red is completely unusable.
 
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