Set the Format type to APFS (for SSDs only) or Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Apply button, then wait for the Done button to activate and click on it. Quit Disk Utility and return to the Utility Menu. Select Reinstall OS X and click on the Continue button.
I have a confession to make before I begin this review of OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion: I never really used or liked OS X Lion. Sure, I installed it on my iMac at home and played around with gestures on a Magic Trackpad, but my workhorse 15-inch MacBook Pro remained stubbornly on Snow Leopard, Appleâs previous version of OS X. Snow Leopard was in many ways the pinnacle of a previous era of computing: a fast, stable, reliable desktop operating system that bore no trace of influence from Appleâs enormously successful iOS products. Lion, by contrast, represented Appleâs first steps down a different path â the company literally said it was bringing iOS interface concepts like gestures and fullscreen apps âback to the Mac.â Some of the changes were drastic, some were minor, but in the end Lion never felt as tightly polished and cohesive as Snow Leopard. Worse, it sometimes felt a little slower too.
So although my preview of Mountain Lion in February held significant promise, I still approached the final build we were given to review with some hesitancy. If Lion was Appleâs first tentative step down the road towards a unification of iOS and OS X concepts, Mountain Lion is the company hitting full stride. Features like Notification Center, share sheets, and AirPlay mirroring are lifted almost directly from iOS, and iCloud support is built into the foundations of the system.
But there are also some important changes to OS X itself: the new Gatekeeper app-verification system is an attempt to blend the tight security of App Store apps with the traditional freedom of web distribution, and there are tons of tweaks to developer-level APIs to enable new functionality. Most importantly, Apple says Mountain Lion is both faster than Lion and significantly faster than Snow Leopard. It might share a name with Lion, but Mountain Lion is a whole new beast. And all of it is just $19.99, which is basically impulse-purchase territory.
But even still â is it worth it? Should you upgrade? Is the future of OS X really just hand-me-down iOS features, or is there more going on here? Read on for the full review.
Video
VideoInstallation & featuresInstallation and major features
Installing Mountain Lion is a simple affair, since itâs being distributed from the Mac App Store. Just hit purchase, and the 4.3GB installation package will begin downloading. After that, youâll be prompted to restart, and the installation process will automatically begin. Upgrading from Snow Leopard took a little less than 30 minutes on my MacBook Pro, and upgrading from Lion took less than 20 on my iMac. Upon restart, youâll be prompted to log in to iCloud (or set up an account if you donât have one), and then youâre off to the races. The system is smart enough to deactivate any incompatible third-party software during installation, which is a nice touch â it shows you a list of things itâs turned off.
Once youâre booted up and ready to go, things will feel pretty familiar to Mac users â all the changes really show up at the edges.
Notification Center
Notification Center in Mountain Lion is really the first major attempt to bring smartphone-style notifications to a desktop operating system â itâs almost a direct clone of the iOS Notification Center, complete with linen background texture. Notifications from compatible apps appear as banners that slide away after five seconds or small dialog boxes that require a click to dismiss; you can set per-app preferences in a dialog box thatâs a near-copy of the settings screen in iOS.
Itâs a feature every OS should have
You invoke Notification Center itself by swiping left from the right edge of your trackpad with two fingers, or by clicking the new menu bar icon at the top right. (You can also set a key command, but thereâs nothing set by default.) The swipe is interesting: itâs Appleâs first edge gesture, and it introduces a new metaphor: Apple says one-finger iOS gestures map to two-finger OS X gestures. That makes some amount of sense, but I preferred Lionâs unofficial distinction between two-finger app-level gestures and three- and four-finger system-level gestures.
In any event, once Notification Center is open, there are handy buttons to quickly tweet or update Facebook right at the top, and scrolling down once more reveals a switch to shut notifications off until midnight the next day â a quiet mode, if you will. (Notifications also shut off when Keynote is running or youâre mirroring to an external display, so other people wonât see your haircut reminders pop up during a presentation.) Notifications are organized in the list either automatically by time or manually in the preferences; again, this should all be familiar to iOS users. One thing thatâs wholly new to OS X: Safari can send notifications from the web with your permission, which should make web apps a lot more interesting.
In practice, Notification Center works well enough: apps send notifications, and they all show up as intended. Itâs a feature that every OS should have, and itâs hard to imagine life without centralized notifications after a while. But if youâve been using the popular third-party Growl notification system, youâll get immediately frustrated: only Mac App Store apps can plug into Notification Center, you canât tweak the notifications to show up anywhere except the top right, you canât change what they look like, and there are no hooks to extend the system beyond simple notification banners. Iâve always thought that notifications are inherently a power-user feature since they tend to require and reward active management, and power users arenât going to immediately fall in love with Notification Center.
SHARING, TWITTER, AND FACEBOOK
iOS-style share buttons are all over Mountain Lion, letting you share things across a variety of services: email, AirDrop, Messages, Flickr, Vimeo, Twitter, and Facebook. Once you pick a service, an iOS-style share sheet appears and lets you post directly from whatever app youâre in â and you can share anything you can Quick Look from anywhere in the system as well. Thereâs an API that lets developers add share buttons to third party apps, but thereâs no way to add additional services â a pity, since YouTube is a notable omission. (You can share to YouTube from QuickTime Player, but itâs not system-wide.) The first time a third-party app tries to share to Twitter or Facebook, the system will ask for permission, and you can set per-app permissions in preferences.
Facebook integration is one of the biggest new additions to Mountain Lion
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Twitter is pretty straightforward: itâs integrated throughout the system, and youâll get notifications for mentions and direct messages. (Oddly, you can write a new tweet from Notification Center, but you canât reply to mentions or direct messages.) You can also sync contact pictures with your Twitter list, and tweets can pick up your rough location using OS Xâs Location Services. Overall, itâs well done and very convenient if youâre a Twitter user.
Facebook integration is actually the biggest new addition to Mountain Lion since we saw the preview build in February. When it launches in a few months, it'll show up in three main ways: you can update your Facebook status in the same way you update Twitter, you can have the system automatically search for and add contact photos, and you can go all-in and sync your contact information.
Adding contact photos works well, but unfortunately Facebook contact sync in Mountain Lion suffers from what appears to be a fundamental misconception of how people use Facebook: it simply does a one-way sync of all your Facebook contacts into your address book without regard for the fact that lots of people have thousands of Facebook friends who arenât actually friends at all. Itâs just not very useful unless youâre only Facebook friends with people you want in your contact list. The good part is you can turn off Facebook sync without permanently editing your local contact list, but the ideal solution would be to only sync selected Facebook lists like âfamilyâ and âwork.â Apple seemed to understand this problem when we asked about it; weâre hoping a tweak comes soon.
Airplay and AirPlay Mirroring
AirPlay is one of the best features of iOS, and Mountain Lion brings it to OS X â if you have a 2011 or later Mac, you can now use AirPlay Mirroring with an Apple TV to view your computerâs screen on a television, and you can also send system audio to any AirPlay device. Iâve wanted these features for years, and they work amazingly well.
AirPlay Mirroring is extremely simple: an AirPlay icon simply appears in the menu bar when youâre on the same network as an Apple TV, and itâs just one click to turn it on. You'll get stereo audio and up to 1080p video if you have a newer Apple TV, and Mountain Lion will automatically switch to the best local screen resolution it can find for your system and scale automatically, so you donât really need to worry about settings. Thereâs a tiny bit of lag between what you do on your screen and what shows up on the TV, but it works great for watching video and quickly showing off websites and photos.
Even better, itâs just another monitor to the system, so there are no restrictions on streaming web video on sites like Hulu or Netflix. Streaming iTunes movies and TV shows blacks out the local display due to licensing restrictions, however. (This is particularly stupid, but it's only fair to blame the studios for such foolishness, not Apple.)
Streaming system audio via AirPlay is a little more convoluted, since it requires a trip to system preferences, but it works well. Unfortunately, itâs an all-or-nothing affair, so youâll hear error beeps and chat sounds along with your music â the implementation would be a lot cleaner with a menu bar control and a Windows-style audio mixer.
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Even still, thereâs no denying that AirPlay alone makes Mountain Lion a must-have upgrade â just compare the popular AirFoil utility, which costs $25 and streams audio only.
AirPlay alone makes Mountain Lion a must-have upgrade
Messages
iChatâs been given a new name, a huge makeover, and some major new functionality in Mountain Lion: itâs now called Messages, features a very iPad-like single window interface, and supports Appleâs proprietary iMessage service with hooks to launch FaceTime video calls. (FaceTime is still a separate app, but Messages can launch it and initiate a call without any additional steps.)
Underneath the hood Messages is very much just an update to iChat â the about box says itâs version 7.0â but youâd never know it apart from the preferences window and buddy list for Google Talk, Jabber, AIM, and Yahoo. Eggsistential mac os. The new interface blends IM, text messaging, and message history search into something else entirely. It should be great, especially when you use iMessage, which is meant to seamlessly span devices using iCloud: the dream is to start a conversation on the desktop, carry it over to an iPad, walk out the door still chatting on an iPhone without any interruption â and then come home and quickly search through your entire message history. When all this just works, it definitely feels like the future.
Unfortunately, it rarely all just works. The biggest issue is simply structural: not everyone uses iMessage for everything, and itâs easy to find yourself looking at an unwieldy mix of iMessage, Google Talk, and AIM messages all from the same person at the same time. People use different message services for different things, but Messages wants to mix everything together â and only iMessage will sync across devices, so you might find yourself missing pieces on iOS devices. (And iOS devices donât update while theyâre asleep, so I often woke up my iPad to a flurry of iMessage notifications after chatting on the desktop for a while.) iMessages can also get out of order if you send them fast, and iMessages sent from iPhones that fall back to SMS also wonât show up, which can be confusing. Itâs also little backwards that the interface requires an extra click to start a new message but search is always open; I want to write new messages far more often than I want to search old ones, after all.
Another problem (right now) is that iMessage on the iPhone is tied to your phone number by default, while the iPad and Mountain Lion use email addresses to identify your iMessage account. That means you can send iMessages from your computer to your heartâs content, but messages sent to your phone number simply wonât show up on your computer or iPad. Switching your iPhone to use your email address for caller ID solves the problem in a roundabout way â anyone replying to you will send iMessages to your email address, but new iMessages sent to your phone number will still only arrive on your phone. Read that all again and try explaining it to someone else who doesn't care about technology. Have fun with that.
Happily, Appleâs announced a solution to this mess: iOS 6 will unify iMessage accounts across phone numbers and email addresses, so all your messages will show up everywhere. Itâs not rolled out yet, but it should be out by the end of the year when iOS 6 comes out. When they work, itâs clear that Messages and iMessage are definitely the future of something â theyâre just not sure what they want to be when they grow up.
iCloud
Mountain Lion is Appleâs first OS X release after the launch of iCloud, and the cloud service is woven tightly into the system. Youâre presented with an Apple ID login screen when you first install the OS, and the system pulls down and sets up iCloud, Mac App Store, FaceTime, and iTunes automatically. Youâre then prompted to setup iCloud itself, and the system will auto-populate your contacts, calendars, and bookmarks for you.
Appleâs also added Documents in the Cloud to 10.8, so apps can now store and access files directly from iCloud. It works: Pages documents created on the iPad instantly showed up in the new iCloud-enabled Document Library, and changes made on the Mac were instantly pushed to the iPad. You can also now make folders for iCloud documents using an interface thatâs much like the iOS app folders, and there are a host of changes to how documents are saved, reverted, and duplicated that should users who like to make a lot of edits. Even still, Apple says Documents in the Cloud is aimed at general consumers, not power users â the idea is to get normal people out of the messy local file system and into a new model of organizing files by application in the cloud. Power users can still access the regular file system, which isnât going anywhere.
iCloud also does a lot of silent background work in Mountain Lion: apps like Messages, Reminders, Calendar, and Notes all seamlessly sync across devices, and Safari syncs tabs across OS X and iOS, much like Chrome. Third party apps can of course tap into all these services as well, and a new API lets developers enable Documents in the Cloud and Document Library as well. (Note to developers: seeing the Document Library every time I open TextEdit is a little annoyingâ I just want a blank document, not a cloud experience.)
It all works well, but iCloud still feels incomplete, and Apple still faces a challenge explaining to normal people exactly what itâs doing on a day-to-day basis. The idea might be to weave iCloud into the fabric of the OS, but itâs a little too invisible for such a big feature listed on the tin â it feels more like a collection of per-app cloud features, not a unified system-level cloud resource that enhances the entire system. The potential is there, but Apple has to make it happen.
Power Nap
Itâs curious that Power Nap is somewhat buried on the Mountain Lion feature list, even though itâs one of the more audacious features Appleâs ever introduced in OS X. In the simplest terms, Power Nap lets the new MacBook Pro with Retina Display and the newest MacBook Airs send and receive data while theyâre asleep. That means they can back up to Time Machine, download software updates, sync your iCloud Photo Stream, contacts, mail, notes, and reminders, sync Documents in the Cloud, register their location with Find My Mac, and more â all while asleep. The fans donât even turn on. Thatâs a killer feature, especially since most people donât back up often enough. Power Nap comes out of the box set to work only while plugged in, since the assumption is that youâll be at home in bed, but you can also set it to work on battery power â itâll deplete the battery slightly, of course.
Assuming you have a new enough machine to use Power Nap, itâs a game changer â another feature worth upgrading for all by itself.
iCloud does a lot of silent background work in Mountain Lion
GATEKEEPERGatekeeper never once bothered me
When I played with the Mountain Lion preview release in February, I called Gatekeeper âa major change for OS X app distribution.â That may have been overstating the situation. Although Mountain Lion ships out of the box restricted to running only signed apps and apps from the Mac App Store, Gatekeeper never once bothered me. Apps already on your system appear to be grandfathered in, and most developers are signing the newest versions of their apps. And if Gatekeeper does get in the way, you can still run any app you want by right-clicking on an unsigned app or simply changing the global setting to allow apps from anywhere. (You can also lock things down even tighter and only allow App Store apps to run.)
The buy-in from devs is probably because signing up for Gatekeeper is quick, easy, and cheap: thereâs some basic identity verification when developers sign up for a certificate, but thatâs it. Apple is insistent that the goal of Gatekeeper is not to curate or control the broader world of Mac app development, but rather to make getting apps from the web safer for end users. To that end, thereâs no cost to developers beyond the standard Mac developer program fees, and the key is valid even if the developer quits the program. (Appleâs still pushing devs into the App Store, though â apps not from the store canât access some big Mountain Lion features, including Notification Center.)
Gatekeeper is essentially local: your machine will download a list of keys from Apple at least daily, and Apple doesn't track what apps youâre running or anything like that. (Your Gatekeeper setting gets sent if you opt-in to diagnostic reports, however.) Weâll have to see if Appleâs solution to the malware problem is ultimately successful, but for now it appears Gatekeeper is doing a fine job of balancing between open software distribution and the security of the App Store model.
DictationI wouldnât buy Mountain Lion for dictation, but I might not buy a third-party dictation app if I had Mountain Lion
Lastly, Appleâs added in a new dictation feature straight out of iOS. On a laptop, you hit the fn key twice to bring up the dictation box; once youâre done talking, you hit the key again, and Appleâs servers will transcribe what you say. Yep, Appleâs servers â just like iOS, dictation is online only. As youâd expect, it works just about as well as it does on an iPhone or iPad â which is to say that it works, but it can be slow when the servers are overloaded, and it can make some hilarious mistakes. (And it doesnât currently work in Google Docs in Chrome, which is annoying.) I wouldnât buy Mountain Lion for dictation, but I might not buy a third-party dictation app if I had Mountain Lion.
App updates
App Updates
Itâs not all big system-level updates in Mountain Lion, though â Appleâs updated and added a number of new apps that tie into all these services.
Safari
Safari has gotten the biggest makeover in Mountain Lion â the URL bar, search field, and the tab UI have all been overhauled. The unified search and address bar is the biggest immediate change, and itâs a welcome one: you can just click into the bar and type either a URL or a search term, just like Chrome. Search terms autocomplete, as do URLs â itâs really quite handy. Once youâve got a bunch of tabs open, you can do a pinch out gesture or click the new Tab View button to the right of the tab list to see a horizontal list of tab previews. Thatâs a little less useful, but itâs quite nice. Safari also adds iCloud Tabs, which syncs open tabs across devices â again, just like Chrome. (iCloud Tabs will come to Mobile Safari in iOS 6, but it works in Mountain Lion now.)
Safari feels like itâs screaming
Safariâs also been tweaked with a new scrolling engine, 2D GPU acceleration, and improved JavaScript performance that Apple claims is the fastest around. Our SunSpider tests revealed that Safari on Mountain Lion is objectively just a little bit faster than Chrome, but subjective feel is a whole different story â Safari feels like itâs screaming, while Chrome can dally a bit. Plus Safari supports the new Do No Track setting, which may or may not actually do anything, but it makes me personally feel better.
Reminders
Appleâs pulled Reminders out of iCal and built a dedicated app in Mountain Lion that â surprise! â looks just like the iOS Reminders app. Reminders can be added to iCloud and automatically synced across devices, but you can also keep local reminder lists and sync with CalDAV services like Google Calendar and Yahoo. Appleâs added location-based reminders to the mix since the preview build we looked at in Feburary, but other than that, nothing much has changed â and Reminders is still so stripped-down it doesnât even have a preferences menu.
Notes
Notes is now a standalone application that looks almost exactly like the iPad Notes app, although thankfully with fewer faux-stitched-leather accents. (Thereâs still a fake ripped-paper effect at the top of the notes field, and the window header still has a fake leather texture, though. Sigh.) You can double click on a note to pop it open in a standalone window thatâll remain open even after you quit the main Notes app, and you can set individual note windows to always stay on top.
Notes also support inline images and links, and you can format fonts, styles, and colors any way you like. (Which is critical, because the default Noteworthy font is terrible.) Thereâs also a surprisingly robust bulleted-list feature that kicks in as soon as you type a bullet, which is nice. Notes syncs with iCloud out of the box, but you can also sync with Gmail, Yahoo, and other services that support notes. Syncing with iOS wasnât perfect when I tried it, with a few duplicated notes every so often, but the dupes often disappeared if left alone for a while. Iâm hoping things clear up with iOS 6, but overall Notes is definitely passable.
Calendar
iCal has been simply renamed Calendar, although it still sports the hideous faux-leather texture treatment it got in Lion. Two of the more glaring interface annoyances have been remedied, however: clicking the Calendars button now slides open a listing of all your calendars instead of dropping down a popover sheet and you can turn off invitation alerts while leaving meeting reminders active.
Game Center
Itâs hard to say much about Game Center right now â itâs there, itâs just as ugly as it is on iOS, and it seems to work, but there arenât any games that support it just yet.
The Game Center app looks and feels just like the iOS Game Center app, with friends, finding multiplayer opponents, leaderboards, achievements, and now in-game voice chat on OS X. We added a friend or two and things worked fine, complete with notification and that super-annoying Game Center bugle audio alert. Thankfully, you can turn it off.
Appleâs also courting new developers with the new Game Kit API, which lets devs quickly make use of all those features, as well as support cross-device multiplayer for both live and asynchronous games. Iâm not sure if the Mac will ever match up against PC gaming when it comes to raw framerates and horsepower, but Appleâs certainly sweetening the OS X gaming experience in other ways â and tying the Mac into the huge popularity of iOS gaming certainly seems like a smart move, as Apple says developers whoâve used the Game Kit APIs for iOS will find it pretty easy to make them work on OS X. Chalk Game Center up as an incomplete for now.
Performance & compatibility
Performance and compatibilityMountain Lion feels utterly smooth and responsive
Itâs hard to quantify the subjective performance feel of an OS, but Mountain Lion definitely feels faster than Lion and Snow Leopard on the machines I upgraded. It basically flies through tasks, and never really slows down. Wake from sleep is instant, and it seems like battery life is even slightly improved on my MacBook Pro. I said Lion felt slow to me, but Mountain Lion feels utterly smooth and responsive.
In terms of compatibility, I havenât run into a single newer app thatâs failed out under Mountain Lion, and I expect that most Lion-compatible apps will run without issue or require just minor updates. A few older apps that hooked into older APIs in Snow Leopard were automatically set aside by the system, but they were pretty ancient.
Wrap-up
Wrap-up
Ultimately, this is pretty easy: you should spend the $20 and upgrade to Mountain Lion, especially if you have a newer Mac. Youâll gain a handful of must-have features, and everything will get faster and smoother. I havenât really missed Snow Leopard at all since upgrading, which is remarkable considering how much I disliked Lion.
This is pretty easy: you should spend the $20
But thereâs something else going on here beyond a simple purchasing decision: weâre witnessing a dramatic change in how desktop operating systems are fundamentally conceived. Mountain Lion is the first version of OS X to deeply integrate network services at every level, from storing documents to sharing photos to connecting external displays, and it seems that much lighter for it â as though Appleâs relentless charge into its post-PC era has allowed the OS X team to rethink exactly what a PC is and should be. Mountain Lion isnât perfect, but itâs a confident, thoughtful step towards the future of desktop computing.
Score: 8.7
Does this sound familiar to you? You were sitting in front of your Macbook Pro surfing the Internet or working on a project. All of a sudden, you saw the spinning beach ball.
One second, two secondsâ¦finally you started to cry out: âWhy is my Mac laptop so slow?â
Though Mac machines are generally considered to be faster than Windows PCs, itâs not uncommon for a Mac to start acting up with symptoms like taking forever to boot, freezing while opening an app, or mouse cursor becoming unresponsive, etc.
You are not alone!
As Apple advocates for more than a decade, weâve probably encountered more performance issues than you. Fortunately, we were able to fix most of them, and today we still use our old MacBooks from time to time.
Here we are going to share the fixes weâve discovered along the way, and you are going to learn:
The tips below should also apply to other types of Macs such as iMac, MacBook Air, Mac Pro/Mini, etc. Use the Table of Contents below for better navigation.
Contents
Why is My Macbook Pro so Slow?
Whether you own an old 2012 MacBook Pro, or a shiny new 16-inch 2020 Touch Bar MacBook Pro with Apple M1 Chip, over time it can run slowly. There could be so many causes, but in general, they all fall into the following four categories.
1. Personal Habits. If you keep your Mac running all the time, let too many apps join the fun on startup, or multitask with loads of heavy applications open â more often than not, your Mac will hang.
2. macOS System. A newer macOS usually performs better than an old one, but no system is perfect. You may experience firmware or permission issues that impede performance as well.
3. Software Issues. Apps, whether pre-installed or third-party ones downloaded elsewhere, can consume lots of system resources when used improperly, which eventually will slow down a Mac.
4. Outdated Hardware. Every piece of hardware has a lifespan; your Macbook is no exception. An outdated hard drive or lack of RAM can be the bottleneck of your machine.
How to instal software on mac. These are just the high-level reasons. Check out this infographic that outlines 26 specific reasons why a Mac might run slowly. You may find whatâs hanging up your machine.
Note: If your MacBook Pro is slow only after updating to the latest macOS version (i.e. macOS 11.0 Big Sur), the best fix would be restarting your machine several times since the new macOS needs time to re-index or update data saved in the disk drive. For example, Photos can take a while to update the entire picture library; Spotlight re-indexing tends to be time-consuming as well. Learn more from this post: Quick Fixes for a Slow Mac after macOS Big Sur Update
Moving on⦠The Solutions!
Now that youâve learned the reasons behind a slow mac, what should you do to fix it? We break down the solutions into two categories:
Note though, the solutions we suggest below only work when your Mac can boot up normally. If it cannot, or you hear strange sounds coming from the machine (particularly from the internal Mac hard drive), contact Apple support or schedule an appointment with a Genius Bar in your area.
How to Fix a Slow Macbook Pro: The Manual Methods (4-6 hours)
The methods introduced below are the best manual fixes we have explored. The order is based on a combination of estimated time required and expected effectiveness after implementation. They are, however, by no means the only solutions, and you donât have to complete all the methods as itâs very unlikely youâll be able to. Meanwhile, read this checklist on how to speed up Macbook Pro.
Method 1: Manage login items to tune startup times
When to use: your MacBook Pro runs extremely slow on startup.
Why it helps: disabling login items (auto-run applications or services) you rarely use helps your Mac better allocate system resources to load the processes you do use, youâll reach the login or desktop screen more quickly.
How to do: follow the steps in this YouTube video.
Method 2: Clear off cluttered Desktop items & Dashboard widgets
When to use: your Macbook Pro takes a bit longer to load the first screen after startup.
Why it helps: because macOS treats each desktop item (be it a file, a Dock application, or a Dashboard widget) as a small task, it uses resources to load it when starting up. Reducing the number of such items can make the first screen show up quicker.
How to do:
Method 3: Clean up hard drive to free up more disk space
When to use: your Macbook Pro is running out of space, and it slows down or freezes more frequently.
Why it helps: macOS utilizes free hard disk space as âvirtual memoryâ in addition to RAM (Random Access Memory). If your MacBook Pro is running out of storage, that means little virtual memory can be used by the system if needed. This may cause your Mac to freeze more frequently â even when you just launch a few apps. In general, having at least 10% of free disk space can often prevent the problem from happening.
How to do: try the tricks below.
Note: if you want to save time, CleanMyMac is a nice tool for this purpose. It automatically detects and cleans extra junks that can take up gigabytes of disk space.
Method 4: Verify and repair disk permissions with Disk Utility
Update: beginning with OS X El Capitan (including macOS Sierra), itâs no longer necessary to verify or repair permissions as Apple has made system file permissions to be automatically protected.
When to use: your Macbook has issues launching some applications, and doing so slows down your Mac.
Why it helps: corrupted or damaged file permissions can cause certain applications to run abnormally or unable to run at all, thus affecting the overall Mac performance. Matt from CNET brought his sluggish Mac back to health using this method. Note: itâs harmless to repair file permissions.
How to do: check out this YouTube video for a step by step guide.
Method 5: Lighten web browsers to improve Internet surfingBlame The Lag Mac Os X
When to use: your web browser (Safari, Chrome, or Firefox, etc.) just seems stubborn to load pages or becomes unresponsive.
Why it helps: web browsers are notorious for dragging down computer performance after extended use. By implementing the things below, you can expect a much smoother net surfing experience.
How to do:
Method 6: Identify and knock out heavy apps/processes with Activity Monitor
When to use: your Macbook starts to run slower after opening several applications, but you have no idea which application is the culprit.
Why it helps: Activity Monitor is a task manager on Mac that shows you both running applications and inactive processes. The list allows you to have a clear understanding of which one is devouring too many system resources (CPU, memory, disk, network, etc). Once you find the culprit, you can also use Activity Monitor to quit or force quit the app/process easily.
How to do: see this video from MacWorld.
Method 7: Reset SMC and NVRAM to fix odd hardware errors
When to use: your Macbook Pro acts oddly (it takes forever to figure out which disk to boot from, itâs slow to shut down, the fan is running non-stop, screenshots are not adjusting correctly, battery indicator lights are behaving incorrectly, etc.), and overall your Mac performs poorly.
Why it helps: NVRAM (or PRAM in older Macs) stores certain settings in a location that macOS can access quickly. SMC has roles in controlling thermal and power management on Mac. Resetting NVRAM and SMC helps resolve the issues mentioned above, and itâs a safe thing to do.
How to do: check out this video for how to properly reset NVRAM and this video for SMC.
Method 8: Update your Macbook Pro to latest macOS version
When to use: your Mac is still running an older macOS version (e.g. High Sierra or Mojave), and you meet the basic requirements of the new upgrade â latest macOS 11.0 Big Sur, you need at least 2 GB of RAM and 15 GB of free space on the drive.
Why it helps: a newer macOS version typically runs faster than an older one, though it depends on the model of your Mac machine.
How to do: there are a few things you need to check before getting ready to update your MacBook to macOS Big Sur. For example, check whether your model is compatible, whether you have enough storage space, and most importantly backup your data, etc.
Method 9: Disable fancy features in exchange for performance
When to use: best for those who are using an older Mac with limited hardware configuration, and donât particularly favor fancy interfaces and visual effects.
Why it helps: by disabling or turning off features like Notifications, Transparency, and Animations, Magnification, File Vault, etc., you can boost Mac performance since fewer system resources will be used.
How to do:
Method 10: Upgrade hardware (RAM, SSD) to have a real boost
How to install android studio in macbook. When to use: you are using an old Macbook Pro, and youâve tried every method you can to fix your slow Mac but itâs still slow.
Why it helps: adding more memory (RAM) or replacing your HDD (hard disk drive) with a new SSD (solid-state drive) will give your Mac a real boost in performance. The only con is the upgrades can be pricey.
How to do:
Note: whether you choose to upgrade RAM or SSD, youâll need to open the bottom case of your MacBook, a screwdriver may worth adding to your shopping cart as it will help you remove the screws much faster.
Add extra RAM: depending on your MacBook model, the RAM that best fits may be different. Learn more from our review here. Itâs best to also check out this page to see memory specifications for your Macbook Pro model. It comes with an illustrated guide on how to replace the memory. This video from is also worth checking out.
âUpgrade to an SSD: If you still want to use your old MacBook Pro for professional work (video/graphic editing, 3D modeling, etc.), the best option is to replace the hard drive with a speedy SSD, see our picks here. Once you purchase your desired SSD, watch this video for how to install it step by step.
How to Fix a Slow Macbook Pro: The Quick Technique (5-10 minutes)
The manual methods can be quite time-consuming to implement and may require you to have a certain level of technical skills. Fortunately, weâve got two awesome Mac optimization apps that can save you time fixing your slow Mac.
Option 1: Using CleanMyMac X to scan & clean up your MacBook Pro
CleanMyMac X â an app developed by MacPaw and rated as the winner in this Mac cleaner software review. As its name indicates, this app aims to help you clean your Mac and free up more storage space. It does this by locating junk and unnecessary files via analyzing your macOS system: Photos, Mail attachments, large and old files, etc. In addition, you can use the app to batch uninstall unwanted programs, and permanently erase files that are private to you. CleanMyMac is super sleek and intuitive, just hit Scan to get started and then Clean to fix issues.
Option 2: Using MacBooster to improve your Macâs overall performance
MacBooster â an app developed by the IObit team. This app stands out for its all-in-one concept. It includes a handful of useful utilities that can monitor the overall status of your Mac system. The Virus & Malware Scan module, for example, helps identify possible security threats and removes malware. To get started, simply run a quick System Status scan and it will find and suggest fixes. You can also move on to the Tools sections for further optimization.
Tips to Avoid Mac Running Slow
Blame The Lag Mac Os CatalinaAny Questions?
Do you find the information and techniques weâve shared above helpful? Did you manage to tune up your MacBook even a little bit? Weâd like to hear from you, contact us and let us know.
Fair disclosure: we are just normal loyal Mac fans like you. We donât claim ourselves to be Mac experts, nor have we ever worked for Apple. All the information shared here is merely a walk-through of the knowledge and experience weâve used to resolve our own Macbook Pro performance issues. Due to the complexities of the subject matter, your results may vary. Also, some of the recommendations contain third-party affiliate links. If you decide to purchase one of them, we will receive a commission for the sale, part (if not all) of the earnings will be used to maintain this site, for example, paying for the domain and hosting services. Nonetheless, we recommend them because we use the tools with our Mac machines and find them truly great. Make sure you only use what works for your issue, and donât over-spend on things you donât need.
This page was last updated on Mar. 24, 2021.
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