The OSX/Apple support thread

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mmm-five

11,227 posts

283 months

Wednesday 16th September 2020
quotequote all
PushedDover said:
Thanks.

It is a Mac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2017)with 1.03TB Fusion.
3.4 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5
8 GB 2400 MHz DDR4 (sadly not upgradeable as with a 27inch)

it says I have 599GB available,

I've mentioned before, but it is MS Office that has / does just bog it down - and I Outlook especially.

I have wondered on the 'external SSD options' but as the internal is supposedly set up for it in 'Fusion' surely that is a preferred option ?
It might simply be that the 32gb SSD part of the Fusion drive is not big enough.

The earlier Fusion set-up had 128gb, but Apple (in their infinite wisdom) decided to reduce this to 32gb on the 1TB Fusion option, and 128gb on the 2/3TB Fusion options.

The combination of the smaller SSD blade, and Catalina's use of APFS, means users of Fusion drive machines (especially the 32gb/1tb models) are feeling the squeeze.

Even Apple themselves have stopped offering Fusion drives as the default drive on their machines...you have to specifically configure one to add a 1TB Fusion - but they've removed the 2TB/3TB options with the bigger/faster SSDs rolleyes

If that 32gb is being saturated, then everything will have to use the slower HD (and the OS will start swapping things between the two parts to try and speed things up). This is where you can speed the system up, by adding an external (TB3 or USB3.1) SSD and using it for everything.

I think I paid about £140 for an IcyBox USB3.1 NVME enclosure and Sabrent Rocket 1TB m.2 NVME SSD for my Dad's 2012 MacMini (before we saw a very good price on refurbed 2019 6-core i5 model - but we boot the new MacMini using the 1TB external SSD).

As you've noted, more RAM might help, but you've found the same issue with non-upgradable (well, not easily) memory in the 21.5" iMacs. Didn't realise until I went to order some from Crucial for my 2019 model. I could have returned the machine and ordered one with more RAM, but couldn't face paying Apple another £600 for 32gb on top of the £2.5k I'd just given them. Couldn't upgrade to a 27" one either, as the 21.5" is my 'portable' machine for work, which goes around the world with me in a iLugger backpack.

Edited by mmm-five on Wednesday 16th September 13:43

PushedDover

5,623 posts

52 months

Wednesday 16th September 2020
quotequote all
Awesome advice and help ^^^^ thank you and it seems to make sense. I 'was under the impression when they pitched it to me' that the 1TB was 50:50 HD and SSD.

Clearly not !

I'll look in to the externalising- but then will "I" have to sort and prioritise the what goes where?

I would also guess it would be a good time to reformat / rebuild anyway ?


vaud

50,290 posts

154 months

Wednesday 16th September 2020
quotequote all
PushedDover said:
Awesome advice and help ^^^^ thank you and it seems to make sense. I 'was under the impression when they pitched it to me' that the 1TB was 50:50 HD and SSD.

Clearly not !

I'll look in to the externalising- but then will "I" have to sort and prioritise the what goes where?

I would also guess it would be a good time to reformat / rebuild anyway ?
A clean build external 1TB SSD connected via Thunderbolt with the OS, apps and most accessed files - e.g. Outlook would see a huge performance increase.

I ran a thunderbolt SSD from my imac for 5 years with no issues.

CAPP0

19,533 posts

202 months

Wednesday 16th September 2020
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Having splashed about 3 tiny drips of water onto the keyboard of my 2018 Macbook Air, I left it to dry for 3 days after which it worked again but was slow, until it finally refused to turn on at all about a week later. Apple Support told me to take it into my local Stormfront, who have had a look and advised me that as a minimum it requires £1167 worth of parts, plus £99 labour, plus they can't guarantee it won't need more parts in addition. Bit of a pisstake since, for example, amongst other parts they have quoted for a new screen which was working fine after Watergate, and other parts which were also working fine afterwards. Also a bit of a pisstake when a new 2020 MBA from John Lewis is £1185.

Anyway....

It seems from my serial number that the spec of my old one includes either a 1.8 GHz Core i5 or a 2.2 GHz Core i7. Clearly I can't check that on the machine now. I can't really see why I would have gone for an i7 processor since most of what I do is just for general web, email, MS Office, occasional picture edits, that sort of thing. The current crop of MBAs offer a 1.1GHz Core i3 or i5. Other than stating the bleedin' obvious that the 2.2 i7 *should* be more performant, am I really likely to find that, say, the 1.1 i5 runs like an absolute dog? Or is it likely to suffice?

Alternatively I can splash out more for a MBP but do I need to? Those only go up to 2.0GHz Core i5 anyway, although presumably you can get a special build if required.

Or, now I'm wondering whether an iPad Pro will do what I need?

TIA.

PushedDover

5,623 posts

52 months

Wednesday 16th September 2020
quotequote all
vaud said:
PushedDover said:
Awesome advice and help ^^^^ thank you and it seems to make sense. I 'was under the impression when they pitched it to me' that the 1TB was 50:50 HD and SSD.

Clearly not !

I'll look in to the externalising- but then will "I" have to sort and prioritise the what goes where?

I would also guess it would be a good time to reformat / rebuild anyway ?
A clean build external 1TB SSD connected via Thunderbolt with the OS, apps and most accessed files - e.g. Outlook would see a huge performance increase.

I ran a thunderbolt SSD from my imac for 5 years with no issues.
thanks so thats Thunderbolt cable needed to then.
Any better advances than the suggested components from mmm-five below ?:


mmm-five said:
I think I paid about £140 for an IcyBox USB3.1 NVME enclosure and Sabrent Rocket 1TB m.2 NVME SSD

mmm-five

11,227 posts

283 months

Wednesday 16th September 2020
quotequote all
PushedDover said:
thanks so thats Thunderbolt cable needed to then.
You'll only need a Thunderbolt 3 cable if you get a Thunderbolt 3 enclosure...which are currently significantly more expensive than USB 3.1 enclosures (£150+) - and you'll have to do your research so that you don't get one with a cheap interface inside that won't give you any faster speeds than a USB3.1 Gen 2 one.

Both USB-C/TB3 connect to the same port on the back, but depending what device you plug in, and what cable you use, you'll see different results.
  • USB-C /USB 3.1 Gen 2 can get you about 1100mbps (with the right m.2 NVME SSD, enclosure/interface, cable) - and there are loads of these available quite cheaply (and you could get away with a cheaper/slower SSD, e.g. the WD Blue for £100 or Crucial P1 for £90, rather than the faster Sabrent Rocket as the USB-C interface will be maxed out before the SSD is)
  • TB3 can get you about 4500mbps (with the right m.2 NVME SSD, enclosure/interface, cable) - there are plenty available, but you're looking at £150 just for a decent enclosure, but the Sabrent SSD I linked to will be fine in it (up to 3400mbps)
If you don't mind paying £250+ then you can get a faster TB3 enclosure and a faster SSD to take advantage of the TB3, but 1500mbps will probably be enough if you're coming from a 150mbps HD.

I'm waiting for this TB3 one from OWC (Envoy Express for £80), but it's been delayed from Aug to Sep to Oct.

Stay away from SATA enclosures and SATA SSDs, as while they are faster than HDDs they're nowhere near as fast as the newer NVME 2280 SSDs.

SATA SSDs usually look like a small laptop HD, like this:


NVME m.2 SSDs usually look like a RAM stick, like this:

PushedDover

5,623 posts

52 months

Wednesday 16th September 2020
quotequote all
As always on PH when asking for advise, it amazes the efforts and knowledge folks are willing to share. Thank you. smile

and also thank you for stopping me from buying a SATA SSDs (ahem exactly like the one you show) as it looked like an 'easy' solution.
So I do get the weak link in the chain idea - but how do I ensure I have the right USB-C /USB 3.1 or TB3 i the Mac itself ?
"If" there is a simple, 'one piece purchase' I can get that whilst may be £100 -£150 more than a home made solution I am not totally opposed to it as running through my Ltd Co anyway.

Clearly this is a way to keep the mac at high speed without sploshing £1k+ on a new one.

mmm-five

11,227 posts

283 months

Thursday 17th September 2020
quotequote all
If your iMac is indeed the 2017 i5 model, then it has TB3/USB-C ports as well as USB-A ports.

The reason for pointing out the difference in TB3/USB-C below was precisely because the socket/cable 'looks' the same - but it's not, and you can usually tell by the price (TB3 = expensive / USB-C = not expensive).

There are not a lot of ready-built TB3 drives out there, and what is out there is expensive.

USB3.1 Gen 2 via USB-C are much more readily available.

The reason for suggesting buying the SSD & enclosure separately is that you can easily upgrade one or the other as needs demand.

If you want the USB-C option, then the 1TB Samsung T7 @ £180 is quite recent and quick (for a USB enclosure)

If you want faster, then the 1TB Samsung X5 is almost 3 times faster at twice the price (£350)

Edited by mmm-five on Thursday 17th September 15:56

PushedDover

5,623 posts

52 months

Thursday 17th September 2020
quotequote all
Your patience is very much appreciated. the T7 link was wonky. I assume this tho' ?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-T7-Portable-SSD-M...


mmm-five

11,227 posts

283 months

Thursday 17th September 2020
quotequote all
PushedDover said:
Your patience is very much appreciated. the T7 link was wonky. I assume this tho' ?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-T7-Portable-SSD-M...
Yes, that's the one.

Was a bit over-enthusiastic in trimming Amazon's indexing/tracking crap at the end of the links.

CoolHands

18,496 posts

194 months

Thursday 17th September 2020
quotequote all
CAPP0 said:
Getting reamed story
TIA.
No real help but watch this guy in the states. They can be fixed. I don’t know if you can find anyone like this in the uk

https://youtu.be/wrgK9pQFddM

CAPP0

19,533 posts

202 months

Friday 18th September 2020
quotequote all
CoolHands said:
No real help but watch this guy in the states. They can be fixed. I don’t know if you can find anyone like this in the uk

https://youtu.be/wrgK9pQFddM
Thank you.

However, I'm 5 mins into the 23 min video, I bloody hope he's got something useful to say at some point because right he's gone straight to the top of the "people you'd never tire of punching" charts!

PushedDover

5,623 posts

52 months

Sunday 20th September 2020
quotequote all
mmm-five said:
PushedDover said:
Your patience is very much appreciated. the T7 link was wonky. I assume this tho' ?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-T7-Portable-SSD-M...
Yes, that's the one.

Was a bit over-enthusiastic in trimming Amazon's indexing/tracking crap at the end of the links.
Well, SSD delivered, I need to take the plunge and look to resetting everything and rebuilding the Mac, and stowing the programmes (or should I say Apps) on the SSD and hopefully the Outlook data too.

PushedDover

5,623 posts

52 months

Tuesday 22nd September 2020
quotequote all
Moving the OS and Apps to the new external SSD works a treat thanks.

Now - need some very quick help please on OneDrive.

I used to have OneDrive Sync with a Shared library with the office, but it allowed me to have is as a local copy, and more importantly allowed me to operate it all through 'Finder' as if local.


It simply wont allow me to now since moving or adding the SSD.
I have said to sync with the HD still as a local location, but all i get when accessing the webpage portal and clicking Sync is :

"We can't sync your "XXXXXXX" Folder
'Sorry, we can't add your "XXXXXX" folder right now.'
'Please try again later'




Its working just fine alongside on my MBA and only an issue since the transfer to the MacOS on the SSD.

This is V important to resolve so help beyond me Googling (fervently) would be appreciated.

PushedDover

5,623 posts

52 months

Wednesday 30th September 2020
quotequote all
mmm-five said:
PushedDover said:
Your patience is very much appreciated. the T7 link was wonky. I assume this tho' ?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-T7-Portable-SSD-M...
Yes, that's the one.

Was a bit over-enthusiastic in trimming Amazon's indexing/tracking crap at the end of the links.
Just a bit of feedback / (en)closure and thank you to mmm-five,
The transfer to SSD and load up of the Mac and software to the external drive itself was relatively painless. Two major niggles that took a lot of cleaning up and googling was to get the OneDrive to online Sharepoint Libraries storing / synchronising and local manipulations (as so much easier on the stress levels than using online) and then the rebuilding of the Spotlight and Outlook database search facility.

All said and done - a great updgrade to the Mac's speed since, thank you. And for a circa £180 upgrade that will buy some times, well worth while. MS Office is now lightening fast as it should be.

anonymous-user

53 months

Wednesday 30th September 2020
quotequote all
Hi
I have Iphone 11, Safari Browser, Carrier is Vodafone
‘Vodafone Start’ keeps appearing as a bookmark on safari. I delete it, next day it comes back
Any idea how to block this intrusion please ?!
I clear the cache etc, no difference

AW10

4,422 posts

248 months

Thursday 1st October 2020
quotequote all
CAPP0 said:
Thank you.

However, I'm 5 mins into the 23 min video, I bloody hope he's got something useful to say at some point because right he's gone straight to the top of the "people you'd never tire of punching" charts!
Try this lot - fixed by 2013 Macbook Pro and didn't charge 1 penny for a Macbook Air that didn't work when sent off but was resurrected by a battery disconnect - https://www.macupgrades.co.uk/store/cambridge_mac_...

Escapegoat

5,135 posts

134 months

Thursday 1st October 2020
quotequote all
Suggestions please: wireless mouse that isn't Apple Magic Mouse?

I have a magic mouse (2012 i7 on Mojave), and it's not bad, but the swipeable top surface is sometimes as annoying as it is brilliant. I like swiping for scrolling long docs and web pages, and for image scrolling in photo editing. But ... often when just touching the mouse to move it to make (e.g.) a menu selection, this causes the Mac to interpret the touch as a little movement, and the page/image moves and I mis-click.

Is it just bad technique on my part or is there a better mouse out there?

mmm-five

11,227 posts

283 months

Thursday 1st October 2020
quotequote all
Escapegoat said:
Suggestions please: wireless mouse that isn't Apple Magic Mouse?

I have a magic mouse (2012 i7 on Mojave), and it's not bad, but the swipeable top surface is sometimes as annoying as it is brilliant. I like swiping for scrolling long docs and web pages, and for image scrolling in photo editing. But ... often when just touching the mouse to move it to make (e.g.) a menu selection, this causes the Mac to interpret the touch as a little movement, and the page/image moves and I mis-click.

Is it just bad technique on my part or is there a better mouse out there?
I haven't used the supplied mouse with any Mac for over a decade.

I just use a Logitech MX Master for desktop use and Logitech MX Anywhere for mobile use.

They're not the cheapest mice, but no more expensive than buying a new Apple one.



(the MX Master 2S on the left is a year old, the MX Master 2S in the middle is 4 years old, the MX Anywhere 2S on the right is 2.5 years old)

maccas99

1,697 posts

187 months

Thursday 1st October 2020
quotequote all
mmm-five said:
I haven't used the supplied mouse with any Mac for over a decade.

I just use a Logitech MX Master for desktop use and Logitech MX Anywhere for mobile use.

They're not the cheapest mice, but no more expensive than buying a new Apple one.



(the MX Master 2S on the left is a year old, the MX Master 2S in the middle is 4 years old, the MX Anywhere 2S on the right is 2.5 years old)
Another MX Anwhere user here - highly recommended!