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SLOWDOWN after Big Sur installation Macbook Air 2014

Hey Everyone,


I have a Macbook Air 11" 128GB currently with 45GB free space, and 15GB space taken by "system" category.


Since updating to Big Sur, I've experienced reduced performance out of the Mac. I used to have El Capitan or Yosemite (have not completed OS update for awhile, or ever since unboxing)


Prior to update it used to be able to handle having x2 chrome windows open, one running up to 5+ youtube tabs (not all playing simeltaneously) with another window with 10-15+ tabs for general browsing, while playing music or potentially with photoshop / quickmovie etc in the background. It slowed at times, but always managed great.


Now, I don't even try having x2 chrome windows opened simultaneously, and if i go past 2-3 youtube tabs, or have multiple open, I get significant lag when trying to do things such as open a new page, open a new tab, minimising the window even the 'right click' option menu lags or freezes sometimes. Just overall general slowdown. I can't see how this update would cause such a drastic difference. I read the warnings to have free space when updating, and think 45GB is more than adequate for the OS to not be at the end of its tether.


I've downloaded / paid for CleanMyMacX and utilitsed essentially all of its tools to free up as much as possible but no luck.


Anyway, any advice / guidance on this much appreciated.

I'm thinking of moving back to previous OS, but as it hadn't been updated since unboxing I dont think this is possible? I'd actually have to do essentially a factory reset and start from Yosemite?


thank you.

MacBook Air 11″, macOS 11.1

Posted on Jan 26, 2021 10:58 PM

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Posted on Jan 26, 2021 11:11 PM

Hi Highroad001!


Can you confirm that is mostly with Chrome? Or all apps?


I can think of a number of causes, mostly outdated/incompatible software that won’t work with Big Sur. But likewise permissions issues, a connected external drive or monitor, a formatting issue with the internal drive.


Can you remove everything in System Preferences > Users and Groups > Login Items, by pressing the “-“ after highlighting them. Restart and test?


These files, when enabled try to launch every time you login to your Mac, so this won’t delete them, just prevent from opening automatically.


Likewise Safe Mode is a good way to rule out unruly third party, non-Apple software and/or file system corruption and is sometimes an effective solution on its own:


https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/start-up-your-mac-in-safe-mode-mh21245/mac


You can test in safe mode, but sometimes just booting to safe mode/restarting may resolve an issue like this.


Resetting the SMC is sometimes also a good step to take, which only takes a minute to do:


https://kb.indwes.edu/Computers_and_Devices/HardwareDevices/Apple_SMC_Reset


Likewise, old kernel Extensions/Kexts may need to be removed, working in safe mode maybe a good indicator of this.


Also, in case it’s just a conflict with your user profile, sometimes testing in a new admin user is a good idea. This will reveal if this is an issue that affects the whole system, or just your user profile, and in the end, save you some troubleshooting time.


https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/set-up-other-users-on-your-mac-mtusr001/mac


Let me know how it goes!

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6 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jan 26, 2021 11:11 PM in response to highroad001

Hi Highroad001!


Can you confirm that is mostly with Chrome? Or all apps?


I can think of a number of causes, mostly outdated/incompatible software that won’t work with Big Sur. But likewise permissions issues, a connected external drive or monitor, a formatting issue with the internal drive.


Can you remove everything in System Preferences > Users and Groups > Login Items, by pressing the “-“ after highlighting them. Restart and test?


These files, when enabled try to launch every time you login to your Mac, so this won’t delete them, just prevent from opening automatically.


Likewise Safe Mode is a good way to rule out unruly third party, non-Apple software and/or file system corruption and is sometimes an effective solution on its own:


https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/start-up-your-mac-in-safe-mode-mh21245/mac


You can test in safe mode, but sometimes just booting to safe mode/restarting may resolve an issue like this.


Resetting the SMC is sometimes also a good step to take, which only takes a minute to do:


https://kb.indwes.edu/Computers_and_Devices/HardwareDevices/Apple_SMC_Reset


Likewise, old kernel Extensions/Kexts may need to be removed, working in safe mode maybe a good indicator of this.


Also, in case it’s just a conflict with your user profile, sometimes testing in a new admin user is a good idea. This will reveal if this is an issue that affects the whole system, or just your user profile, and in the end, save you some troubleshooting time.


https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/set-up-other-users-on-your-mac-mtusr001/mac


Let me know how it goes!

Jan 27, 2021 12:17 AM in response to DiZoE

Thank you for your reply appreciate it. I should have mentioned more of what I'd tried prior to posting


  • no external hardware
  • start up items removed
  • SMC / PRAM reset (dont think this version has NVRAM?)
  • Booted in safe more - but quickly reboot as not sure what 'm' doing in that system.


The other things you mentioned:

  • removing kernel - not sure how to do this as I thought these were OS dependent files?
  • User profiles - I'm the only one, can try making a new one and seeing how it works but curious - why would the issue effect my user and not the macbook as a whole?


Since I moved from Windows in 2012, this is the first time I'm having an issue with the previous 2 macs I owned. I've never even seen activity monitor until a week or so ago when I started investigating this slowdown.

Jan 27, 2021 12:27 AM in response to highroad001

Hey again!


Yes I see several possible conflicts:

Cleanup Installer

Proton VPN

Old Adobe files

32 bit-incompatible software

And login/startup items possibly a cause.


I’d probably try the steps I mentioned earlier:

First, keep a backup.

Remove login items.

Remove those kernel Extensions, Launch Agents, Launch Daemons as in the report.

Although Internet Plug-ins didn’t have disk access, I’d save/remove them as well.

I’d also remove anything in /Startup Items, /Scripting Additions, and /Input Methods.


Most of these files can be found in:

Finder > Go > Computer > Macintosh HD (Usually) > Library.


And especially the files in Extensions, although I’d be more careful with these.


As for these “Unsigned Extensions” in the report, you can find them by:


Apple Logo > About This MAC > System Report.

Under the Software section, select Extensions.


They May take a while to load, once they do, click on “Obtained From” on the top right just once, then scroll to the bottom of the list.


Most of them will say “Apple” but on the bottom, you’ll see the third party installed Extensions.


In particular you’re looking for ones that say “Unsigned” or “Unknown”.If you click on each you’ll see the file path that leads to it, most likely in the /Extensions folder mentioned earlier.


I’d definitely save if needed / delete them.


Hope that helps, that usually does it for me, although I keep backups consistently, if not, I typically save a copy of these files by highlighting them and clicking File > New folder with selection, to de activate the file, while saving a copy, otherwise, I FB you have the data already backed up, shouldn’t be an issue deleting them.


Just be sure to delete the contents of the folders and not the folders themselves, restart when all is done then test, good luck!

Jan 27, 2021 8:45 PM in response to highroad001

Sounds good, good luck!

Oh and to answer your question about testing in a new user:


Yes, many times behavior like this, when tested in the new user, works just fine, this will just tell you which route to take as far as a resolution goes, and save you time, as to not do more steps than you have to do, and that wouldn’t work anyway.


For instance, you wouldn’t need to reinstall the whole OS, if something works fine in a new user, which tells you the OS is probably working normally.


But if the same were to happen in the test user, and safe boot, a reinstall of the whole OS might make more sense.


One if the locations that can affect an issue in just your user profile, are the login items I mentioned before, (Just one example).

As when you login to your user profile, this app or process opens automatically, running in the background, maybe causing an issue.


Where as in a clean/new user profile, there wouldn’t be any login items to launch at all.


But something specific to your user profile that’s causing an issue could be many things that ONLY affect your user profile, such as:


A locked file in your documents that is trying to backup, but jamming up the system.


A permissions conflict, such as when your home folder name doesn’t match the name in the home directory.


A specific account added such as Gmail or Outlook, etc. that’s running a muck.


A custom network configuration, or even a single corrupt file installed that came packaged with an app that was downloaded that’s stored in your own user library.


Those really are great steps to at least start to narrow down a possible cause. Thanks!

SLOWDOWN after Big Sur installation Macbook Air 2014

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