Mojave slowed down my macbook pro

The report does not indicate any of the bad boys.

You do have an old slow 5400 hard drive.

All recent versions of macOS or OS X since Mavericks pretty much demand an SSD system drive.

It is also possible that, given its age, your already slow drive may be starting to fail.

I recommend you install an SSD. They are not as expensive as they used to be, and the difference in responsiveness is light night and day.

If you are not comfortable opening your mac, you can test first by putting an SSD on an external USB3 case and doing an install of Mojave on it, then booting from this SSD. It will not be as fast as if installed internally, but will still be much faster than your HD.

Of course the CPU, RAM and GPU of, say, a 2011 mac are slower than those in a 2018 mac, that is obvious.

Maybe that mac can’t do Photoshop or use the most recent Final Cut Pro’s newest features. That is perfectly normal and I was not implying otherwise.

What I am saying is that if that mac (from 2009, say) is beachballing all the time in normal things, then IO is the bottleneck. In my home there are two MBP, one from 2010 and one from 2011 and they work fine with High Sierra, using Safari, Mail, Word, Excel, TeXShop, Preview.

macOS uses the system drive a lot, and not just for booting and launching applications; virtual memory, swap space, sleepimage all use the system drive and a slow drive with anything since 10.9 Mavericks is a PITA. Just replacing the HD with an SSD changes the *responsiveness* of an old mac tremendously. Been there, done that many times with different macs over the years.

Those macs were slow and beachballing all the time with their original HD, because for those things - those very common things that use disk IO are what cause beachballing. An SSD take a mac you’d throw away and can give a few more years of usefulness. Responsiveness, not speed, is what I’m talking about.

A Troubleshooting Procedure that may Fix Problems with macOS El Capitan or Later

You should try each, one at a time, then test to see if the problem is fixed before going on to the next.

    Be sure to backup your files before proceeding if possible.

1. Shutdown the computer, wait 30 seconds, restart the computer.
2. Disconnect all third-party peripherals.
3. Resetting your Mac's PRAM and NVRAM
4. Reset the System Management Controller (SMC)
5. Reset your Startup Disk and Sound preferences.
6. Start the computer in Safe Mode. Test in safe mode to see if the problem persists, then restart normally.
7. Use Apple Hardware Test to see if there is any hardware malfunction.
8. Repair the disk by booting from the Recovery HD. Immediately after the chime hold down the Command and R keys until the Utility Menu appears. Choose Disk Utility and click on the Continue button. Select the indented (usually, Macintosh HD) volume entry from the side list.  Click on the First Aid button in the toolbar. Wait for the Done button to appear. Quit Disk Utility and return to the Utility Menu. Restart the computer from the Apple Menu.
9. Repair permissions on the Home folder: Resolve issues caused by changing the permissions of items in your home folder.
10. Create a New User Account Open Users & Groups preferences. Click on the lock icon and enter your Admin password when prompted. On the left under Current User click on the Add [+] button under Login Options. Setup a new Admin user account. Upon completion log out of your current account then log into the new account. If your problems cease, then consider switching to the new account and transferring your files to it - Transferring files from one User Account to another.
11. Download and install the OS X El Capitan 10.11.6 Combo Update or 10.12.6 Combo Update or Download macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 Combo Update or Download macOS Mojave 10.14.5 Combo Update as needed.
12. Reinstall OS X by booting from the Recovery HD using the Command and R keys. When the Utility Menu appears select Reinstall OS X then click on the Continue button.
13. Erase and Install OS X Restart the computer. Immediately after the chime hold down the Command and R keys until the Apple logo appears. When the Utility Menu appears:

     1. Select Disk Utility from the Utility Menu and click on the Continue button.

     2. When Disk Utility loads select the drive (out-dented entry) from the Device list.

     3. Click on the Erase icon in Disk Utility's toolbar. A panel will drop down.

     4. Set the Format type to APFS (for SSDs only) or Mac OS Extended (Journaled.)

     5. Click on the Apply button, then wait for the Done button to activate and click on it.

     6. Quit Disk Utility and return to the Utility Menu.

     7. Select Reinstall OS X and click on the Continue button.

Please run Etrecheck and post its report here. Use the additional text button below the message area and paste the report.

Are you running any antivirus or “cleaner”?

Hi, brian1960 !

Unfortunately, there is one constant to this equation - your processor. That die (pardon the pun) was literally cast the day your Mac was manufactured. I am not as big a fan of SSD installation in older Macs as others on these forums for that reason alone. Sure, you will notice a performance increase when you need to shove data on, or pull it off, the SSD. Aside from that, not so much. You don't magically gain the ability to run the latest version of Photoshop if you didn't already have that ability. The simple reality is replacing the SSD is not a magic bandage that will cover for a host of ills.

Look at it this way - imagine you have an empty wheelbarrow in front of you. I bet you could run around at a pretty good clip with it - after all, it's empty. That's your processor the day it left the factory running the OS that was designed to run on it. Now, imagine dumping 500 pounds (or kilograms, whatever!) in the wheelbarrow. I bet you could barely get it off the ground, let alone run around with it. That's your processor after 4-6 major OS updates. Nothing - no software 'downgrade', no hardware replacement - will change that fact.

One should plan upon replacing one's Mac at three year intervals should one desire accomplishing work with the maximum efficiency and speed. One should purchase slightly more power than one needs immediately to give one room to 'grow' into the requirements one will surely ask of the Mac in the future. In no event should one expect the efficiency and power of an up-to-date Mac from a 2012 model.

I hope this helps you, and good luck !

Hi again, brian1960 !

No apologies are necessary. I seek only that correct information is presented so others may arrive at the best decisions possible for them. Beyond that, as the popular saying goes, I have no dog in the fight. Call me the Agnostic Diagnostic, if one does not mind the play on words.

I bid you a good day and good luck !

Luis,

That is all fine and good, but you evaded the question on the table with all the might you could muster :

Why do you think having a fast SSD in a 'slow' computer is a benefit?

You cede right off the bat the inferiority of older Macs versus new(er), which would seem to completely undercut your theory. I maintain a positive cost/benefit analysis cannot be made in favor of older Macs. Security being among the greatest of the arguments I advance, that I shouldn't have to defend. You state a vague, amorphous "responsiveness" that has no measure, while I would advance a new(er) Mac has "responsiveness" which is magnitudes greater than older Macs, no matter what concrete metric one chooses to use. Again, this appears to completely undercut your theory.

Perhaps a straight-forward answer to the question still on the table would yield better results?

It may be due to the old computer?

millie138

Continued from above:

14. If none of the above helps then see How to Downgrade macOS High Sierra and macOS Reversion- 

      How to Downgrade from High Sierra.

15. If you get here without success then it's time to make an appointment at the Apple Genius Bar for 

      service. If you need to find an Apple Store - Find a Store - Apple.

Hi again, brian1960 !

That would seem to be the sensible and logical thing to do; however, there is one thing I haven't touched on yet. That missing piece to the puzzle is : security. Were this to be even 10 years ago, I would probably sing a different tune. In the age in which we live, there is no such thing as too cautious. In the ancient competition of better mousetraps/better mice it would appear mice of late are starting to gain the upper hand.

As a wizened and crusty computer science professor once bellowed at me : the only secure computer is one that unplugged, resting at the bottom of a ten-foot deep hole filled with concrete, and even then it's iffy. Therefore, I simply cannot go along with ceasing to update one's Mac. There is simply too much downside and not nearly enough upside to be had for me to feel comfortable with recommending that course of action. Angels fear to tread, and all that rot. I just do not see an alternative to replacing one's Mac on a regular schedule.

Again, I hope I have been of help and I bid you very good luck !

The Etrecheck report said it clearly:

Minor Issues:

These issues do not need immediate attention but they may indicate future problems or opportunities for improvement.

Upgradeable hard drive - This machine’s hard drive could be replaced with an SSD. This would dramatically improve your machine’s performance.

High battery cycle count - Your battery may be losing capacity.