iMac is running slow and freezing

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iMac is running slow and freezing

Hello everyone,

My iMac runs so slow that opening a single application takes it from 2 to 5 minutes.

I've already tried to reset PRAM and SMC and even made a clean install of Maс OS. The problems persist.

At first, after a clean installation, it seemed that the problems were gone, but over time, the lags and freezes appeared again.

Here are some symptoms:

Start up (boot screen) takes longer than usual
Logging in takes much longer than usual
After logging in iMac runs incredibly slow and sometimes even freezes
Keyboard slow response from time to time
Black screen after waking up from long sleep
A couple of times after restart iMac refused to boot, but showed "Prohibitory symbol" instead.

EtreCheck report

iMac with Retina 5K display, macOS 10.14

Posted on Jul 18, 2019 3:50 PM

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Answer 1

Jul 19, 2019 12:32 PM in response to nekeet

I suspect that your drive may be failing.

You are experiencing an enormous number of crashes and there doesn’t seem to be anything out of the ordinary in terms of the software installed.

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Answer 2

Teddy_B

Community Specialist

Jul 19, 2019 10:50 AM in response to nekeet

Hi nekeet,

Thanks for reaching out in Apple Support Communities. I understand that you've been having some trouble with latency on your Mac and although you reinstalled macOS and the issues seemed to be resolved, they've now returned. I know how important it is to be sure your Mac is running optimally; I'd like to help. I'd recommend starting with the steps in this resource, most importantly using Disk Utility: If your Mac runs slowly

Because you also mention seeing the prohibitory symbol on start up a few times, it may be necessary to reinstall macOS again:

"Prohibitory symbol

A circle with a line or slash through it means that the selected startup disk contains a Mac operating system, but it's not a macOS that your Mac can use. You should reinstall macOS on that disk."

About the screens your Mac displays as it starts up

Let me know what you find.

Best Regards.

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iMac is running slow and freezing

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