Best benchmark to compare performance of different versions of MacOS?

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Zorba_le_grec Author

Level 3

581 points

Best benchmark to compare performance of different versions of MacOS?

Hello,

I just upgraded a MacBookPro from MacOS 10.13.5 (High Sierra) to MacOS 10.15.7 (Catalina).

Here are its characteristics:

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015)

Processor 2,2 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7

Memory 16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3

My practical experience return after a few hours of use of Catalina is that the performance is severely

impacted by this OS upgrade. And I haven't yet finished recovering all the applications. I estimate I still have a full day of work to recover an usable Mac.

To decide if I must make the effort to go on with Catalina or switch back to High Sierra,

I would like to get a good benchmark tool which let me make a scientific performance comparaison between High Sierra and Catalina.

Which benchark tool have you experimented on different MacOS versions

and you would recommand for this performance comparison?

Thank you for your practical retex.

MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Jan 31, 2021 7:42 AM

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Answer 1

myaka

Level 4

2,808 points

Jan 31, 2021 7:49 AM in response to Zorba_le_grec

You can obtain a decent benchmark app at: https://www.geekbench.com

However, I'd first get EtreCheck and see what it finds is problematic on your system: https://etrecheck.com

Benchmarks don't tell much if you've got issues preventing proper operation.

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Answer 2

HWTech

Level 9

68,708 points

Jan 31, 2021 6:15 PM in response to Zorba_le_grec

Also use Disk Utility First Aid to check the integrity of the file system. I highly recommend running First Aid on the hidden Container which can be revealed within Disk Utility by clicking on "View" within Disk Utility and selecting "Show All Devices". Even if First Aid shows everything is "Ok" click "Show Details" and look for any unfixed errors or warnings. If you see any unfixed errors listed, then you will need to erase the whole physical SSD as GUID partition and APFS (top option) before restoring from a backup or clone.

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Answer 3

myaka

Level 4

2,808 points

Feb 1, 2021 6:56 AM in response to Zorba_le_grec

As Eau Rouge notes, Spotlight indexing can be an issue following a new install -- you can see if it (or some other process) is consuming many CPU cycles in Activity Monitor, as well. EtreCheck would also reveal as much when it finishes.

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Answer 4

Eau Rouge

Level 8

42,656 points

Feb 1, 2021 12:59 AM in response to Zorba_le_grec

No etrecheck should only take about 5 minutes to run.

When you upgrade to a newer OS the Spotlight index rebuilds itself,

depending on how much storage you have on your mac and any other external drives your mac is connected to

this can take a couple of hours.

This can be the loss of speed encountered when a new OS is installed, once Spotlight has re indexed then the mac

should run as before.

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Answer 5

Zorba_le_grec Author

Level 3

581 points

Feb 1, 2021 12:48 AM in response to myaka

I have downloaded and installed EtreCheck.

It has been running now for more than 2 hours CPU Time, more than 12 hours real time:

I chosed the option "Default problem: Computer is too slow"

Is it usually that long?

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Answer 6

Zorba_le_grec Author

Level 3

581 points

Feb 3, 2021 3:13 PM in response to HWTech

@ HWTech, @Eau Rouge: thank you a lot.

My 2 problems were:

a corrupted container ( created during the upgrade process, because the initial volume HFS+ was verified before ),
a nightmare of Spotlight on a 1 TB disk.

I will restart my upgrade process from the beginning and verify every step ( I have backups 😊 ).

What a waste of time when one doesn't check every step.

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Answer 7

Zorba_le_grec Author

Level 3

581 points

Jan 31, 2021 10:19 AM in response to myaka

@myaka: 2 nice answers for one question.

Highly appreciated.

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