2019 iMac is extremely slow

Correction: the 21.5" with Fusion Drive was the 2nd slowest iMac (the pure 1TB HDD option is much much slower).

For 90% of users the fusion drive is good enough... its usually only a problem for gamers, photographers, multimedia editors, and others who regularly access different files from a very large library.

Further Testing:

1) Just checking... is '5 minutes' literal or figurative? 10 seconds might be normal if it is a program you haven't opened lately.

1b) If you close and promptly reopen a program is the second opening much faster?

2) Something is eating CPU cycles. Can you open Activity Monitor and check if anything is using >10%?

3) Have you tried rebooting in safe mode? (Hold shift while starting up from a shutdown). Normally this is slower, but if faster could indicate TrashStorageExtension or one of your other startup processes/extensions is causing problems. https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/start-up-your-mac-in-safe-mode-mh21245/mac

Re: Chrome vs Safari: Will FireFox work? If Firefox works you could using that and deleting Chrome and and all other google products to prevent the Google Keystone auto-updater from continuing to update their software in the background.

@Mapper3 The pure 1TB 5400rpm HDD problems appear to be caused by an IOPS [Input/output operations per second] bottleneck. A 5400rpm in good condition can only manage ~50, which is exactly fast enough to keep up with the data logging, ram state saving, and whatever else the newer versions of MacOS do. As soon as the drives falters even slightly due to fragmentation or the demand picks up from a 3rd party I/O intensive application then everything bottlenecks and beachballs.

In contrast 7200rpm drives [~70 iops] have a bit of spare margin and take moderate HDD issues or heavy software overloading to chock out while even a slow SSD is measured in thousands of IOPS and will run happy run under all but the most extreme demands.

Susan, I took our iMac into an Apple store for repair, after getting help from online support to make the appointment. The appointment system (program) never allowed me in, nor one of the earlier online support people but eventually we got an appointment. I backed up my machine and dropped it off. That is all one can do now at an Apple retail store (COVID, what can one do?). They tested everything which came back normal, wiped and then replaced the HD and then pronounced it working. However when I went to pick it up I asked a lot of questions: So as others have actually said, this configuration works the way it does, the Fusion drive is too slow to keep up with the system demands. It is unacceptable, but that is the design. I note that you have not been able to buy this configuration since shortly after we did. It was changed to have a 250 Gig SSD drive which works, at the expense of 750 Gigs of memory. I tried to get them to put an 250 Gig SSD in as part of the repair but it was not something they were allowed to do. The problematic iMac is a lemon- that Apple will not admit. We, after a lot of complaining and demanding- ended up trading it in on a 27" iMac. The manager gave us the best deal she could, 20% off plus trade in, cutting the price of the new machine in half. So, there are limited options for you, all cost money and time. The easiest is the external SSD as the boot drive- I am not sure what speed impact using the USB-C port as the main path to your hard drive will have. Maybe Paul can tell you. The cheapest ($249 for 1TB SSD) and probably speediest solution is to replace the internal fusion drive with a kit from Other World Computing MacSales (same place as the external HD mentioned by Paul Conway). My kit came with an external HD enclosure, which means you could but the 1TB fusion from the iMac drive in it as an external data storage device. I did this with my old iMac after getting the 2018 model. It was quite doable and they provide very good video instructions , written instruction and I believe even online real time support. (link https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/S3DAPT4MA10K/) It works great. This would violate your warranty, you know the warranty that has done nothing for you. I suspect you would not be comfortable with this but it was definitely my fall back if negotiations at the Apple store did not resolve the issue. The last option is to do what we did and trade it in. This cost us $1,000. I will still be buying Macs, for many reasons, but this is not their best moment. They really should have done a special repair program for these Fusion drives IMHO. I will be writing to Apple on this, haven't found who just yet. BTW the 27" works great- fast, even without upgrading the RAM (from OWC). Lastly, after backing up before proceeding with any of the above, check to see you can find (using the restore process) the important individual files and folders you can not lose. don't assume a global restore suffice. We had an issue with this, lost some photos.Still don't know why. I would suggest finding a second device to copy (not backup-copy) those critical files. An SSD thumb drive would work if you have the needed adapters, USB A (usual thumb drive connector) to USB C. Typically and you might already do this, use both local and cloud based backup storage and keep critical files/apps in in a second device locally. I wish I had better news. Let me know if I have confused you with all this and best of luck.

Hi Susan,

I believe we need to proceed with an EtreCheck report. EtreCheck is a useful app to diagnose issues, both hardware and software. It is trusted by many users. Please follow the steps outlined below:

1. Go to the Mac App Store and search for "EtreCheck."
2. Download it. It is a free and trusted app; as it is on the Mac App Store, and only trusted apps can be submitted.
3. Run the report, and put it in a post, as seen here - https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-250000211

Cheers,

Jack

Susan, I spent a few hours on the phone with Apple support- running through all he stuff we both knew were not the issue but had to be checked off. In the end there were two steps left.

1) Reinstall the OS. This is done over the internet these days and takes quite a while. I did this already for this machine months ago when I first took a run at fixing the issue. It didn't fix the issue but cause all sorts of trouble. The steps didn't play out as the instructions said they would and we ended up reinstalling several times---THEN went through the arduous process of reinstalling all the software and files from the Time Machine backup on an external HD. Sooo. IF you get a helpful person like I did they must take you through all that before you get to what everyone involved knows id the correct next step.

2) make an appointment to bring in your computer to an Apple store for trouble shooting. The best outcome is likely to involve them sending it out for repair, where they will likely replace the Fusion drive. And hopefully test it before returning it.

2a) Neither my online support person nor I could get through to make an appointment. I have been trying for days and when you submit for an appointment it just spins and never resolves. This leaves me being effectively stonewalled ehile the clock ticks on the warranty. I suggest you try Apple Support again, maybe not through Apple Care to start. ( I don't have that for this computer). The open support case file number will be important to actually move the ball if you do get an appointment.

If I find a way through I will post it.

First, you have the slowest iMac the Apple offered at the time of purchase: 8 GB of RAM and a 5400 rpm hard drive as part of the Fusion Drive. You should keep the number of apps in the System/Users & Groups/Login Items preference pane to an absolute minimum, zero if possible. Open them manually only when needed and close when finished.

I don't see any of the usual suspects in the report. The read and write speed is about what it should be.

HOWEVER, the minimal RAM is the bottleneck for having multiple windows/tabs open in a browser and you're using about the worst browser for hogging CPU resources, Chrome. If you don't like Safari give Firefox a try. It's also more secure than Chrome.

padams35 wrote:

Correction: the 21.5" with Fusion Drive was the 2nd slowest iMac (the pure 1TB HDD option is much much slower).

For 90% of users the fusion drive is good enough... its usually only a problem for gamers, photographers, multimedia editors, and others who regularly access different files from a very large library.

For the OP the primary bottleneck is the 8 GB of RAM combined with the 5400 rpm portion of the Fusion drive. Any files on that portion of the Fusion Drive will open and close more slowly and once opened, the RAM may not be enough for speed processing - depending on what else is opened.

I have the same problem, looked in the community and found many many of the exact same issue. I have seen recommendations to get a system checker or getting new hard drive like SSDs whatever. What I have not seen is a single case of it getting explained or fixed. Clearly there is a systemic problem with the 2019 iMacs. And evidently Apple is avoiding the issue. Waiting 30 to 40 seconds for system preferences to open is not acceptable on a new machine straight of the box. Period. No excuses. I was just reading that HD issues can result in slow or aborted application loads. Sound familiar? Also the Apple Fusion drive has many reported issues. Hmmm. I replaced the dead Fusion drive on my late 2013 iMac with a SSD drive. It is much faster than the new iMac. It was much faster with a dying Fusion drive from 2013. I have been on the phone with Apple, but couldn't stay long to really get to fixing it. I am about to try again. I have been very disappointed with Apple on this. The community doesn't seem to have any real answers (telling someone to get a new SSD drive for a new machine is kinda missing the point). Apple needs to address the issue.

For Old Toad, I see you're trying help, but I'm throwing a flag here. If what you say is true it should affect all the same models. It doesn't- just hundreds. I suspect it is defective Fusion drives in some of these iMacs. The Fusion is a cranky drive with a checkered history. My original 2014 fusion ran well for years. But there are many, many complaints and issue around it in general. Anyway, regardless of the level of iMac you buy it should not perform as Susan's, or mine, does. I get beach balls and lags while opening system preference, with nothing else open- just one of many examples of the problem. Not a configuration issue that people should just learn to accept- its a fault. Period. If 8 Gig of RAM causes this, Apple should know that, not offer that configuration, and have a solution in pocket for the defective machine configuration they sold but promised would work.

I have been using Macs for work and home since there have been Macs. I think I can recognize something deserving of another Apple Service Program.

Try the report again, but enable Full Disk Access. EtreCheck should provide instructions for this.

Well Susan it really depends if you're willing too live with this computer. Think about that and how awkward it is using it and putting up with all the remidies it takes to use it. If you decide it's not worth it, bite the bullet and trade it in for a replacement. If you do, get one with at least 16g of ram and a 1TB SSD. According to what you've said you do, maybe even 32g of ram would be better. However, the above recommenced replacement will be blindingly fast compared to what you have.

Best of luck...

Susan, I understand. I should have provided more details. I was suggesting purchasing another external SSD that has the same disk space as your internal drive and then turn that into the boot drive. Hopefully you are able to follow Old Toads advice and purchase a new 27" iMac. I did something similar this year when I purchased my 27" iMac I purchased 1TD of SSD and 8GB of RAM and purchased more RAM from OWC (macsales.com) to save the cost of upgrading the RAM by Apple. Keep in mind that only the 27" iMacs have user installable RAM.

I hope this helps.

Paul

The only issue I see is Configuration Profiles present. Did you put these on your Mac? If not, you should download and run the free version of Malwarebytes to check out your Mac.

In System Preferences, there might be a section called "Configurations." If you see this, take a look at it. If you do not recognize it, delete it.

Susan, if the external drive is an SSD it will be faster than the fusion drive.

Paul