Why is my MacBook Pro performing so slowly?

Question

WardySpirit Author

Level 1

4 points

Why is my MacBook Pro performing so slowly?

I'm new to MacBook, I bought it a little

while ago because I wanted to learn to develop IOS applications, and for

that reason I bought a MacBook Pro to guarantee a better performance of

the machine with Xcode.

But the problem is that for some reason the performance of my machine

is extremely slow! It is new and so it came all formatted without any

additional application or extension downloaded, but from the first day I

turned it on, it crashes constantly in the browser, it takes a long

time to open even the folders, the updates take forever, and the Xcode

almost blows up my machine. My settings are as follows:

macOS Catalina (version 10.15.6)

Processor: 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5 Dual-Core

Memory: 4 GB 1600 MHz DDR3

Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 4000 1536 MB

Could anyone tell me what I can do? maybe i need to buy more

memory or a better processor? or is it something inside the machine that

consumes a lot of memory by default?

MacBook

Posted on Sep 23, 2020 2:30 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Grant Bennet-Alder

Level 10

128,089 points

Sep 23, 2020 4:21 PM in response to WardySpirit

IF (and only IF) this is a 2012 model, non-Retina display, you can upgrade the RAM memory. The major breakpoint is 6GB of RAM. less than that and it is stuck in a Rut, simulating needed RAM on the boot drive. More than 6GB helps more, but is a diminishing return. the 2012 model can accept up to an 8GB DIMM in each of its two slots, for a total of 16GB RAM.

Later models have the RAM soldered down, and are NOT field-upgradeable.

Readers who have replaced the Rotating drive with an SSD drive ≥500 GB, report "It's like getting a whole new Computer!" --Allan Jones.

The drive cable in these Macs is a weak spot, and it is common when upgrading to an SSD to have problems. You will need to mount the new drive in an external enclosure to build a new version of MacOS and bring it up to date, or simply replace the drive cable as preventative maintenance. If you do neither, and you encounter problems with the new drive, debugging is impossibly complex.

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Answer 2

Sep 23, 2020 3:38 PM in response to WardySpirit

Welcome.

4GB RAM meets the minimum system requirements for Catalina but only the very minimum; I'd at least bump it to 8GB or higher, if possible.

Depending on whether it has a HDD or SSD could also make a difference, as well.

When you say "slowly," are you referring to loading speeds or overall performance?

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Why is my MacBook Pro performing so slowly?

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