Is this why my Macbook Air is slow?

[Phooey]

My Mac has been slow for a while but gradually getting slower. I'm thinking it might be time for a new Macbook Air or Macbook Pro 13". I don't think I can stomach £2k+ for the 16" Pro so wondered if the entry level Air would be a good improvement..?

[anonymous-user]

What apps do you run that seem slow? Is it the same with all browsers closed etc?


I recently upgraded to the 13 pro from the same but regret it. The difference is form is subtle but significant for me. And the pro runs hot and noisy too often. Touchbar has negative value. I would test out the new air for a while first. The keyboard is marmite

Edited by anonymous-user on Saturday 25th January 08:07

[rowley birkin]

I've had my new 13 Air for several months. Fast and silent, but agree that the keyboard takes some getting used to.

[Phooey]

It’s slow to start up, load web pages etc. In comparison I have a MacBook Pro (2015) at work and it’s rapid. I just wonder if like IPhones you need to replace them after a while

[blueST]

I just put a new solid state drive in my 2012 Mac Mini for not much money and did a clean install of the OS. It has transformed it from nearly unusable to really nice. Maybe you have that option? Could probably use a bit more RAM too.

ETA: Forget that, I just read they already have an SSD

Edited by blueST on Saturday 25th January 08:49

[guyvert1]

Mainly down to the OS bloating out , the old girl will struggle, I have the same machine.

Also I think we get used to all our new tech and take for granted just how powerful it is!

[blueST]

If you can get all your personal files off onto an external drive, a clean install of the OS would probably help quite a bit, it did for me on its own. Then only reinstall the apps you actually use. There’s probably loads of redundant stuff leftover from updates and obsolete apps over the years.

[akirk]

You are low on available disk space and also RAM - so if the computer has to switch out to virtual RAM there is not much disk space to do that - upping the memory and spare disk space would help - whether that is possible or desire able on that machine is another question

[Speed 3]

I was having a similar issue with my 2015 Air coupled with a worsening battery life. Given we needed to generate another laptop for the daughters (they were sharing our newest Air) I elected to add a new one. I would have gone for the same model as the other 3 we have but they did the big revamp last year so I ended up with a 2019 model. Gotta say I'm not that enthused with it and still like the old gen. The revamp is smaller but the same screen size so that's a plus for travelling. It is also responsive and doesn't hang up (for now). However it does run hot (like the Pro owner above) with the noisy fan on regularly and considering its new, the battery life is terrible. I don't particularly like the two stage press on the touchpad, it makes working in Excel and moving files quite tricky. If I had a choice I'd use the newest old spec Air we have in the house.

If I were you I would try cleaning yours up and moving stuff to an SD card (another port they've deleted on the new model) then do a fresh OS install to see if you can get an improvement before going for new.

[mmm-five]

It's probably a combination of lots of little things...

• little installed RAM
• almost full, small SSD
• new websites using more complicated layouts as they expect everyone to have a fast machine
• slow/crippled, dual-core, older-generation processor

You can check your benchmark scores on something like Everymac/Geekbench* to see how your's compares to the newer model.

If you want a new one, and want to save a few quid, then make sure you check out the Apple refurbished store.

• The cheapest new-spec 1.6ghz Macbook Air is £929 (RRP £1099) - with a dual-core i5, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD. The 256GB SSD option would take it to £1099 (RRP £1299). The 512GB SSD option would take it to £1269 (RRP £1499).
• The cheapest new-spec 1.4ghz 13.3" Macbook Pro is £1269 (RRP £1499) - with a quad-core i5, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD. For £1439 you can get the 512GB version (RRP £1699).

Geekbench 4

MODEL	Single Core	Multi-Core
2011 Macbook Air (1.7ghz dual-core i5)	2390	4359
2019 Macbook Air (1.6ghz dual-core i5)	3971	7379
2019 Macbook Pro (1.4ghz quad-core i5)	4697	16955

Edited by mmm-five on Saturday 25th January 10:24

[alorotom]

I have a 64gb 2010 MBA and noticed the last time it was used (November 19) that it felt really sluggish.

I found the usb restore drive and wiped it and started afresh again and it’s like new. Worth a try!

[hajaba123]

I've got the same model and had a similar situation

Get all of those photos on a usb drive and it'll work fine

I spent £30 on one and saved about £1k!

[megaphone]

As others have said, back up your files and do a fresh install of the OS. Is there any reason you have not upgraded to High Sierra? IRRC it runs the new file format APFS which is 'optimised for SSD'. Save yourself a grand.

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT208969

I'm running a 2009 iMac, after a new hybrid drive it runs better than ever, won't be changing it until I really have to, hoping for a few more years yet.

[Phooey]

Thanks for the replies. I appreciate you guys trying to save me money by cleaning up the Mac, but if I was going to plump for a new machine - which would be the best value for approx £1500 max? I'm struggling to understand all the different specs and want something to last me another 7-10 yrs

For reference - below is my MacBook Pro that I keep at work. This is a great machine (IMO) and I think I only paid approx £1300 off Amazon in 2016

[mmm-five]

Phooey said:

Thanks for the replies. I appreciate you guys trying to save me money by cleaning up the Mac, but if I was going to plump for a new machine - which would be the best value for approx £1500 max? I'm struggling to understand all the different specs and want something to last me another 7-10 yrs

Something like this for £1529 (MacBack Pro 13.3", quad-core 2.4ghz i5 (boost uto 4.1ghz) with 8GB RAM. 256GB SSD)?

Or this for £1499 (MacBack Pro 13.3", quad-core 1.7ghz i7 (boost uto 4.4ghz) with 8GB RAM. 256GB SSD)?

[AJB88]

Phooey said:

Thanks for the replies. I appreciate you guys trying to save me money by cleaning up the Mac, but if I was going to plump for a new machine - which would be the best value for approx £1500 max? I'm struggling to understand all the different specs and want something to last me another 7-10 yrs

For reference - below is my MacBook Pro that I keep at work. This is a great machine (IMO) and I think I only paid approx £1300 off Amazon in 2016

2 main differences between your 2 machines are the fact one has 4gb ram and one has 16gb ram, one also has a much larger SSD with a lot more space on it.

Backup all yours stuff, do a clean OS install and throw some more ram in it (8gb) and it will be like new again.

[Griffgrog]

I've got a 2019 Macbook Air and recently tried one of the new Microsoft Surface Laptop 3's at work. Its under a grand and I think when it's time for an upgrade that's which way I'm going. It boots instantly , the screen seemed better and most apps seemed to run faster too.