iMac issues - Programme load an boot times etc...

[SCEtoAUX]

Hi all.

Some pointers as per subject please. Having done the whole "iMac slow/slow to load programmes" Google thing, I've found nothing that makes much difference and certainly no way to try and point down where a problem might be.

I have a PC, wife has an iMac. Similar specs (i5 CPUs of similar age) though mine has an SSD and 32Gb RAM, she has a standard HDD and 8GB. RAM. However, that doesn't account for mine booting to the desktop in (an expected) 25 seconds whereas hers takes 3-4 minutes. I load Photoshop in 5-6 seconds, hers again takes minutes.

I can run multiple applications with ease, she can't. Even when I had less RAM (16Gb) the difference was huge, and of course she's running iOS which I'd have expected to be fairly snappy, even on a four year old machine. Thing is, it has always been slow.

Test using Apple's inbuilt diagnostics show nothing, safe mode is also slow as hell.

So... any troubleshooting pointers would be very welcome. Apart from the Adobe Suite she has very little installed, and tons upon tons of spare HDD space.

Saving stuff and re-installing the OS is the next step, but to be avoided if possible.

Thanks!

[andygo]

Try disconnecting all peripherals and reconnecting one by one.

I have had this with an external, powered usb hub and it turned out to be an iphone wifi type charger plugged into one of the usb slots rather than a power slot in the hub.

[mmm-five]

The simple answer is that the internal HD is slow - especially since Sierra/High Sierra/Mojave.

I changed my 2011 iMac to a 1TB SSD a couple of years ago and it breathed a whole new life into it.

Unfortunately my next upgrade will have to be a new machine, as MacOS Mojave won't run on it, as the graphics card is too old (and not replaceable).


On my other, newer machine (2016 iMac 5k) I've noticed on my that the move to Mojave and the forced reformatting of the internal SSD to APFS from HFS+ has made my normal 10 second boot, into a 60 second boot.

I want to try a format & reinstall, but I can't find the time to do so at the moment - and I don't want to risk messing up my bootcamp partition.

Edited by mmm-five on Sunday 18th November 17:50

[Brainpox]

Standard hard drives in iMacs are laptop drives i.e. 5400rpm, or in the other words, very slow. SSDs are miles faster and the gap will increase with each macOS release. Despite what you say the hard drive is a limiting factor and 8GB RAM could be a bottleneck as well if she's working with Photoshop etc.

[SCEtoAUX]

Thanks all.

Might bite the bullet and throw in an SSD. If this was a Windows desktop I'd do it in an instant, of course Apple don't make it easy...

[Troubleatmill]

SCEtoAUX said:

Thanks all.

Might bite the bullet and throw in an SSD. If this was a Windows desktop I'd do it in an instant, of course Apple don't make it easy...

Depends the year of the IMAC - but it should be a piece of piss - if you follow the instructions.
Do the memory while you are there.


Look at the crucial.com website to check you are ordering the right bits.