Slow response during startup login

[Trebuin]

So I have a 2011 MacBook Pro & a 2017 iMac & the 2011 is simple to start up. It starts & I can select the FileVault input password with ease...the MacBook has a grey background on startup & no fancy graphics. The iMac has the background of my wallpaper during this startup & is horribly slow at response. Once I enter past the login, everything speeds up...but the power on login is horrible. Is there any fix for this?

 

[Fishrrman]

Do you still have the factory-original platter-based hard drive in the MBPro?
If so, replace it with an SSD.
It will run much MUCH faster.

For the iMac, check the startup disk preference pane.
Is the internal drive selected to be the boot drive?
It should be the only choice there but... check it anyway.

 

[AeroZ]

Do you still have the factory-original platter-based hard drive in the MBPro?
If so, replace it with an SSD.
It will run much MUCH faster.

I think the problem is with the 2017 iMac.

 

[alexclst]

The gray background on the MacBook Pro is just because it is older, it was a little later on that new Macs started to have firmware that supported the actual desktop backgrounds on the FileVault login page. I think in 2012 or 2013 this changed.

As for speed of the iMac, are you using Bluetooth trackpad/mouse/keyboard, like the Magic accessories Apple ships with the iMacs? Especially with FileVault (but really with any Mac boot) it can take some time for a stable connection to the peripherals to be established wirelessly. For this reason if you have the second-generation Apple Magic accessories (that charge via Lightning cable) you can plug them in to the Mac during a start up and that should make them more responsive on the pre-boot login screen for FileVault. As you have a 2017 iMac I presume you do have the second-generation of the accessories.

 

[Mac Hammer Fan]

Trebuin, has your iMac a 1 TB fusion drive? This is slower than SSD, and definitely with High Sierra.
Also in the shutdown window, uncheck reopen windows at login.
Have you tried the standard desktop on your iMac?