Why Is 2020 M1 13" So Slow?

[AW84]

For a couple of years I had a 2016'ish 13" with a dual-core Intel for a work laptop, and typically had Lightroom or Photoshop open (never more than one small 5-10MB project), often 10-20 Safari tabs, and Slack. The computer was atrociously slow, often all but locked up and actions 15-30 seconds behind the mouse click. I pressed my employer and got a new 2020 M1 with 8GB RAM, thinking it would make a world of difference, only to find that it too is just painfully slow. Even from a fresh reboot with nothing at all open it isn't fast, and most of the time, with nothing more than some tabs and basic apps open, everything is very, very slow and way behind the mouse actions. It can get so bad that I can't even get the computer to the point of a reboot and just have to hard reset it. Both MPB's were set up from a fresh OS X install, no OS transfers. Using it for any purpose whatsoever is an exercise in patience.

I have a 2013 MBP that has never been reformatted that is infinitely snappier in normal use than both of these 13". The only place the new M1 beats it is graphics performance.

Are we just at the point where 8GB RAM isn't enough for any kind of basic use, and the bottleneck is there?

 

[DMG35]

There is something wrong with your M1. Did you restore it from a backup of your intel model? That could have caused some problems. It should be very fast and sounds like there is an issue with it for sure.

 

[AW84]

There is something wrong with your M1. Did you restore it from a backup of your intel model? That could have caused some problems. It should be very fast and sounds like there is an issue with it for sure.

I did not restore it from an older machine, it's a fresh install.

 

[Willo34]

Definately something wrong with the machine. If Filevault is turned on that could slow things down a bit, but not to the point your describe.

 

[DMG35]

I did not restore it from an older machine, it's a fresh install.

There is something wrong with it then for sure. I'd take it in to an Apple store and have them look at it. The 13" M1 Pro is as fast as the newer models for every day tasks and there should be zero lag behind what you are doing and the cursur.

 

[SirAnthonyHopkins]

Are we just at the point where 8GB RAM isn't enough for any kind of basic use, and the bottleneck is there?

No. Do you really think Apple would ship an unusable computer with 8gb of RAM just to force people to upgrade to 16?

 

[dizmonk]

I agree with the other posters. You may have a bad model. In a related issue I do think 16gb is a significant and worthwhile upgrade.

 

[Ramonsterrr1981]

Sounds like there unfortunately is something wrong with your Mac... That sucks! Sorry to hear. I'm afraid you'll have to get it serviced...

 

[fa8362]

Are we just at the point where 8GB RAM isn't enough for any kind of basic use, and the bottleneck is there?

Of course not.

 

[BreakYurAnkles]

Of course not.

I've been "daily driving" the 8-8-8 512ssd MB Air M1.

I'm a super basic user though.

This thing blows my Maxed out 2015 DG 15" pro out of the water.

No native *apple supported* dual monitor output though ?

Keyboard on the older model was much more *satisfying* to use on a daily basis IMO.

Like others have suggested, if you're still in the exchange/return period I would exchange it ASAP, as you probably got a faulty *lemon*.

 

[elvisimprsntr]

Did you restore it from a backup of your intel model? That could have caused some problems.

I restored my new '20 M1 MBP from my '14 Intel MBP TM backup without any issues, although both were running Big Sur at the time. Then upgraded to Monterey developer beta(s)

I also use TrueNAS CORE for my NAS, which supports TM.

 

[aevan]

Definately something wrong with the machine. If Filevault is turned on that could slow things down a bit, but not to the point your describe.

Filevault shouldn't slow anything down on M1 Macs, because they have hardware encryption.

 

[Miltz]

For a couple of years I had a 2016'ish 13" with a dual-core Intel for a work laptop, and typically had Lightroom or Photoshop open (never more than one small 5-10MB project), often 10-20 Safari tabs, and Slack. The computer was atrociously slow, often all but locked up and actions 15-30 seconds behind the mouse click. I pressed my employer and got a new 2020 M1 with 8GB RAM, thinking it would make a world of difference, only to find that it too is just painfully slow. Even from a fresh reboot with nothing at all open it isn't fast, and most of the time, with nothing more than some tabs and basic apps open, everything is very, very slow and way behind the mouse actions. It can get so bad that I can't even get the computer to the point of a reboot and just have to hard reset it. Both MPB's were set up from a fresh OS X install, no OS transfers. Using it for any purpose whatsoever is an exercise in patience.

I have a 2013 MBP that has never been reformatted that is infinitely snappier in normal use than both of these 13". The only place the new M1 beats it is graphics performance.

Are we just at the point where 8GB RAM isn't enough for any kind of basic use, and the bottleneck is there?

I would trying doing a restore. Also since the 8GB of ram is shared with video the real ram can vary based on what you're doing. If the restore doesn't fix the issue, return it.

 

[UBS28]

Bring it in the Apple Store and let them do a full hardware check. If the tests shows nothing is wrong, then I suggest to upgrade to the 14" M1 Pro MBP if this M1 is too slow.

That is what the 14-day return period is for.

 

[azentropy]

Either something is wrong with your system or you have a 3rd party software issue that is causing the slowness and maybe even caused the slowness on your previous Mac. You can use activity monitor to check what processes might be hogging CPU/Memory etc. If something isn't obvious either take it in as others have suggested or go ahead and reinstall the OS fresh from scratch. You do need to wait a little bit for it to update indexing/iCloud settings etc. If possible don't even set up your iCloud yet. Then without installing any additional software or even changing configurations are the built in apps slow?? If so then that is maybe a hardware issue, if not then install/configure one or two things at a time and retest to see when it may get slow.

 

[Lihp8270]

Same issue on multiple machines with one being brand new.

Faulty electronics tend to not run slowly or poorly. They tend to work or not work.

What software do you have installed? Any VPNs running for work etc? What devices do you have connected?

With the same issue across multiple devices I’d be investigating what’s common between them. Which is your software and your devices.