Mac Air Apps very slow to open

Question

Level 1

5 points

Mac Air Apps very slow to open

I'm running Catalina 10.15.7 on a 2014 mac air and have about 27GB free space. My mac turns on quickly but when I try to open apps like Excel, Keynote or some others it is very slow... the icon just bounces in the doc for over a minute. I don't use anti virus.

Once it does open it seems to respond normally given my device. Activity mon doesn't show anything unusual as far as my untrained eye can tell. First aid didn't show anything. The problem got bad before I updated to 10.15.7 and I hoped the update would take care of it. No such luck.

Suggestions?

MacBook Air

Posted on Sep 28, 2020 1:29 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

John Galt

Level 10

146,402 points

Sep 30, 2020 4:29 AM in response to jackbootthug

I can only suggest getting rid of "App Clean" and "Memory Clean". In general any third party app with "clean" in its name is certain to degrade performance, and using them often results in corruption that requires reinstalling macOS, at a minimum. They are scams that should never be installed on any Mac.

In light of that try reinstalling macOS again, and perhaps any other app that takes too long to open (such as Excel) but only after getting rid of the scams.

Reply

Answer 2

John Galt

Level 10

146,402 points

Sep 28, 2020 5:44 PM in response to jackbootthug

Yes, "and make sure that your Apple software and third-party apps are up to date."

Merely booting Safe Mode often fixes that particular problem. Since it has persisted though, the next step is to reset that Mac's SMC: How to reset the SMC of your Mac. Yours doesn't have the T2 chip so skip to the section titled "Reset the SMC on other computers."

Reply

Answer 3

John Galt

Level 10

146,402 points

Sep 29, 2020 8:26 AM in response to jackbootthug

It's still supported. Apple will not summarily dismiss your concern, and they are likely to have more helpful suggestions.

At your option consider using EtreCheck: Using EtreCheck - Apple Community. Post its report in a reply if you wish. It often reveals actionable information, and has literally no effect on a Mac after quitting the app.

Reply

Answer 4

jackbootthug Author

Level 1

5 points

Sep 29, 2020 8:14 PM in response to John Galt

Etrecheck Test..

Note: I selected slow computer but overall speed once the apps are open isn't too bad. Power on is fine.

Most surprising to me is the "low disk space comment". I don't get it. About this mac now indicates I have almost 40GB available. (Doing a reinstall of Catalina seemed to clean over 10GB of space.)

Also, perhaps unrelated but I'm experiencing a high number of "gateway timeouts" lately.

Thanks to any and all that can point me in the right direction.

Etrechek Results

Reply

Answer 5

jackbootthug Author

Level 1

5 points

Sep 30, 2020 8:28 PM in response to John Galt

Thanks for your help on all of this.

I will delete and reinstall as suggested.

Previously you said Apple will support it. But when I go to support they ask for the serial number and then say my mac is not supported (via chat, call etc). Is there another avenue for apple support that is less obvious? I can't seem to find it.

I have a bad feeling that the root is a failing SSD. Not based on any tech knowledge I have, mind you... just the way things seem to go. The latest odd thing that Airdrop to my mac doesn't seem to work.

Reply

Answer 6

John Galt

Level 10

146,402 points

Sep 30, 2020 8:49 PM in response to jackbootthug

I have a bad feeling that the root is a failing SSD.

That's possible. I would only begin to suspect that after ruling out all other possible contributing factors though. SSD failure is rare, even for Macs older than yours, but EtreCheck's "poor performance" conclusion is something I have not seen on a stock MBA before. Bear in mind I am no expert at interpreting its report and don't know the criteria by which it makes that determination, but I have no reason to question it.

The good news is that it can be replaced fairly easily. You can double its existing minisule capacity for $100 and quadruple it for not much more than that. I think that Mac is worth the investment. Start here: https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/ssd/owc/macbook-air/2013-2014-2015

Do that only after ruling out everything else: remove the junk, reinstall macOS, and be sure to create a backup.

Reply