It's hard to say why your new iMac is acting slow. When you first set up a new Mac, it will do a bunch of things in the background which could impact responsiveness for awhile. But that should improve when those activities are completed. High Sierra is a mature operating system at this point and should be relatively responsive. I assume you're not using memory intensive programs, and that you're seeing issues just using the installed programs like Safari, Pages, etc. Upgrading to Mojave probably wouldn't improve it if High Sierra is slow on your system. Additional memory could help if you're running lots of programs at once, but the base memory that comes with the system should be fine for routine tasks. I don't think the 21.5-inch iMac has easily upgradeable memory, but the 27-inch iMac does. If you think you need more than the 8 GB of base memory, you need to order the 21.5-inch iMac with the amount of memory you'd like. Also, a solid state drive (SSD) will definitely make the iMac feel more responsive than a mechanical hard drive. Of course, an SSD and more memory will increase the price.
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Mojave Performance
- Thread starter Mad Mac Maniac
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It's hard to say why your new iMac is acting slow. When you first set up a new Mac, it will do a bunch of things in the background which could impact responsiveness for awhile. But that should improve when those activities are completed. High Sierra is a mature operating system at this point and should be relatively responsive. I assume you're not using memory intensive programs, and that you're seeing issues just using the installed programs like Safari, Pages, etc. Upgrading to Mojave probably wouldn't improve it if High Sierra is slow on your system. Additional memory could help if you're running lots of programs at once, but the base memory that comes with the system should be fine for routine tasks. I don't think the 21.5-inch iMac has easily upgradeable memory, but the 27-inch iMac does. If you think you need more than the 8 GB of base memory, you need to order the 21.5-inch iMac with the amount of memory you'd like. Also, a solid state drive (SSD) will definitely make the iMac feel more responsive than a mechanical hard drive. Of course, an SSD and more memory will increase the price.
Only installed on 2 of my Apple computers so far:
My late 2013 retina MBP, and my mid 2012 non-retina MBP
Honestly feels faster and smoother on both. Very quick and responsive opening things up on my late 2013, and noticeably smoother and faster on the mid 2012. I wonder if it's related to less anti aliasing overhead due to the removal of the non-retinal aliasing functions.
Haven't installed it yet on 2016 retina MacBook nor 5k iMac 27" so cannot comment on those
My late 2013 retina MBP, and my mid 2012 non-retina MBP
Honestly feels faster and smoother on both. Very quick and responsive opening things up on my late 2013, and noticeably smoother and faster on the mid 2012. I wonder if it's related to less anti aliasing overhead due to the removal of the non-retinal aliasing functions.
Haven't installed it yet on 2016 retina MacBook nor 5k iMac 27" so cannot comment on those
2015 13" 8/256: compared to .12, .14 with default settings is noticeably slower, a bit on the laggy side. With motion and transparency turned off the gap is lessened but isn't eliminated.
Word and iTunes startup more slowly. Boot takes slightly longer?
.14 also broke steam pinball. I don't use it very often but still, I would like it to work.
I don't like the esthetics very much either. I started a thread about it all, didn't find this thread originally.
Word and iTunes startup more slowly. Boot takes slightly longer?
.14 also broke steam pinball. I don't use it very often but still, I would like it to work.
I don't like the esthetics very much either. I started a thread about it all, didn't find this thread originally.
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Performance feels the same or a tiny bit quicker on my late 2015 iMac converted to APFS fusion drive. Safari feels more quick and responsive and apps seems to open and close a little more quickly. Start up boot time feels the same for the one or 2 time I did it since updating.
No one else seems to have it. Look, it’s not my business, but something on your Mac is causing issues, or there is something wrong with your Mac. Personally, I wouldn’t accept this “downgrade” as a permanent solution. Anyway, you do what you think is best.
Seems just as smooth coming from HS on my iMac late 2013, I have an SSD in mine so I guess that can help a fair bit.
I have been pretty happy with OSX since Sierra to be honest, more so High Sierra.
With Mojave logging in and switching users is quicker, I remember with the last version of HS that switching users and logging in was a bit slow, something that some on here were discussing at the time.
I have been pretty happy with OSX since Sierra to be honest, more so High Sierra.
With Mojave logging in and switching users is quicker, I remember with the last version of HS that switching users and logging in was a bit slow, something that some on here were discussing at the time.
No. It's the operating system. I made that pretty clear. And rolling back is a perfectly fine solution. You can still run versions of OSX for many years after they come out. High Sierra will be fine on this computer for its foreseeable hardware lifetime.
If that was the case, everyone would have this issue. I do not. So it’s not the operating system.
Even working with folders on my NAS is just as fast in finder as High Sierra was.
You can lead a horse to water... but you can’t make him drink.
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Overall, on my 2012 MBP, it seems about the same as HS (but, honestly, I wasn't having any issues with HS to begin with).
It feels like you came here just to make that point.
We are just trying to help. Yes it seems you have an issue with finder that Apple couldn't help with. But you know what, Apple's support doesn't have all the answers. They do give wrong or incorrect information from time to time. Just like any support line. The help is only as good as the person on the other end.
Something you're failing to see or too stubborn to accept is, if none of us are having your issue, there's an error on your machine with your software. And the only way to locate the problem is a HD wipe and clean install. Maybe your install file is bad, maybe you're importing old data that is causing the problem. With the information you've given us (assuming you've tried everything short of a clean install), this is the best course of action to fix the issue.
So far I have found mine to be quite good on my 2018 MB15". I still have some CPU heat issues though but I would say it is better now compared to before. I also seem to get better battery life. My MacBook Pro now works better with the LG external monitor. That monitor is a 38" monitor. With new Mojave I can switch between Mirror Displays and Extend Displays on my MacBook Pro more easily. Previously the LG Monitor came with an app which allowed you to open 3 windows side by side and arrange different configurations. When it worked it worked great but often it got the CPU to use up to 100% or more at times.
I got this tip from another post:
I found of going to preferences, unlocking, reassigning the hd as startup, and restarting solved the slow boot problem for me.
I found of going to preferences, unlocking, reassigning the hd as startup, and restarting solved the slow boot problem for me.
I think we have to respect the fact that this is an active member, and that it's a new OS, and there *could* *actually* be a problem. I am reminded of HS - several people, myself included, struggled with the $%#@!%% GPU driver issue, which had been working quite well, and then did not with this release. It was a few dot releases before that got back to normal. Yes, I rolled back - quite a time sink to diagnose and remediate.
Just opened the computer. Very warm. Even the backpack feels a little toasty. 40% battery loss overnight.
Stay away. You have been warned.
Stay away. You have been warned.
That's encouraging news, since Apple said OpenGL was deprecated. Maybe they gave it one last round of optimizations and cleanup so it could have a nice sendoff before leaving it to rot.
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You might want to turn off "Wake for network access" in energy settings. This completely solved my laptop waking up and burning battery while in the bag, for me.
Too late. I restored Sierra. Now trying to get iTunes working again, after the '.itl was created by a newer version of itunes' problem or whatever the error message is.
Pinball Arcade play is smooth now. The lag is gone. 4k 60fps performance is the same: laggy. There aren't a ton of videos out in 4k 60 fps, so I guess it's not a major concern one way or the other.
Basically, the update was a big waste of time. It taught me a valuable lesson however. If it ain't broke....
Sierra isn't appreciably faster, but Mojave was such an eyesore. The big, thin fonts. The large blocky icons. Horrible.
How did you restore it? Time machine and nothing else?
Trouble reinstalling/reconfiguring stuff that should be taken into account?