I record a lot of music and have had a lot of trouble doing that because of the slowness of this iMac desktop.

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Level 1

8 points

I record a lot of music and have had a lot of trouble doing that because of the slowness of this iMac desktop.

Hi guys,

I have a 2017 iMac that I bought about this time last year. It's currently running on MacOS Mojave Version 10.14.6.

Honestly for a while, maybe the past nine months, it's been running VERY slowing. This is my first iMac. Before this, I had a 2012 MacBook Pro and it (almost always) ran pretty well, but it seems like this Mac has trouble handling simple tasks such as booting up, opening Safari, opening new web pages, editing images (I use Gimp), etc. Just downloaded EtreCheck in the App Store and it had serious trouble doing even that. I really don't know what to do. I've done all the basics:

Checked for programs/apps taking too much memory or energy
Checked to make sure I have hard drive space (I have 90% left)
Made sure I have no programs attempting to open on startup
Updated to the latest iOS (about to do another one actually)

What am I missing here? Any help would be greatly appreciated! I normally don't spend $1k on computers (especially desktops), but I really loved my MacBook Pro and thought this would be a safe bet. I record a lot of music and have had a lot of trouble doing that because of the slowness of this desktop.

I did run a diagnostic report with EtreCheck and here's what it gave me:

EtreCheck Report

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

iMac Line (2012 and Later)

Posted on Sep 10, 2019 5:54 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

macjack

Level 10

111,204 points

Sep 14, 2019 6:56 AM in response to writelove

Backup your files now and make a Genius Bar appointment for a free diagnostic:

Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple

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Answer 2

claus237

Level 2

156 points

Sep 14, 2019 6:45 AM in response to writelove

You have a new 2017 iMac running very slow?

The Etrecheck report say,that the Harddrive is failing?

It is to early,with a 2017 iMac i think!

Try to get Malwarebytes for mac,and run a test with the program!

Maybe it is more a Adware,or Malware issue,with your 2017 iMac?

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Answer 3

Wink3

Level 1

48 points

Sep 15, 2019 7:55 AM in response to writelove

Etrecheck's failing HDD report is not always accurate, although your symptoms are consistent with a failing drive.

Download and run DriveDx which is free for 15 days to check your HDD.

I had a failing drive on my late 2012 iMac and had it replaced with an SDD. The performance improvement was amazing.

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Answer 4

writelove Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 21, 2019 6:11 PM in response to macjack

Hi,

Thanks for the response. I am thinking this is likely what I'll have to do, but I honestly have no idea how I'll get my iMac to the Apple Store. I have a 21" monitor, but my Apple Store is within a mall and it seems like it would be difficult to get it in there easily. Any suggestions?

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Answer 5

babowa

Level 9

78,429 points

Sep 21, 2019 7:54 PM in response to writelove

I would definitely suggest an SSD because part of the slowness is/was from the very slow 5400 rpm hard drive you have (aside from the drive possibly failing). It is exceedingly slow doing anything. At the same time, I'd also recommend to increase the RAM.

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Answer 6

babowa

Level 9

78,429 points

Sep 21, 2019 8:15 PM in response to babowa

Tried to add this to my post:

FWIW, Apple will not change the drive type - they will only install the same thing you have now. So, try to find an authorized service place somewhere convenient for you. Some will allow you to get the drive and bring it in. A good place to buy both an SSD and RAM would be macsales.com, one of the recommended vendors here.

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Answer 7

writelove Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 21, 2019 8:47 PM in response to babowa

Thanks for the reply. I’m thinking an SSD would definitely be a good move. Any idea how much it would cost to replace? And how I would transport it somewhere? I don’t have the original box anymore.

Right now, I don’t think I feel like I need to get more RAM. I’ve got 8GB and I feel pretty good about that.

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Answer 8

babowa

Level 9

78,429 points

Sep 21, 2019 10:23 PM in response to writelove

Since these Macs are not meant to be upgraded unless you get Apple or an Apple authorized provider to do it, it will help to have the hard drive tested at a Genius Bar - they have excellent hardware testing equipment to determine if it is failing. And no, I have no idea how much it would cost - we are not Apple employees, just other end users.

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Answer 9

BORg529

Level 4

3,063 points

Sep 29, 2019 9:47 AM in response to writelove

Looks like you got base model iMac 21.5 with slow 5400 rpm hard drive. That is the problem. I recommend trading iMac in, and buy newer higher end iMac with faster SSD, and more RAM. It would feasable money wise, then paying Authorized Apple Service Provider to upgrade to SSD.

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