Slow iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2019) with attached EtreCheckPro report. Help!

Hi there,

The reason your iMac is very slow is due to the 5400 rpm hard drive. Very slow. If you use an external SSD and run macOS from that, it will make your Mac 10 to 50 times faster for storage, depending on what external SSD you buy. For more info, instructions, and what SSD to buy, please read: https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-250003583.

Cheers,

Jack

Make sure your LaCie is a true SSD.

Most LaCie Thunderbolt drives are the slow spinning HDD.

Here's my 1TB SSD LaCie Thunderbolt from my 2012 iMac that is now connected to the Apple TB3-2 adapter to fit my 2019 iMac:

Glad it worked and it's much faster now!

Cheers,

Jack

If you go the external SSD route seriously consider one of these from OWC:

Envoy Pro EX with USB-C or USB 3- best from a speed vs price standpoint

OWC Envoy Pro EX with Thunderbolt 3 - fastest if you have a Thunderbolt 3 port but more expensive

To make sure you get the correct model for your Mac contact MacSales.com (OWC) support and see what they recommend. They have excellent support staff and will guide you thru the selection.

I have the same 2019 iMac but i5 and it has a slow 1TB spinning HDD.

Recently had the 2012 iMac and took the external Thunderbolt SSD from it and moved it to the 2019 using an Apple TB3-2 adapter and now runs like a champ.

I also wiped the internal hard drive so that it will never boot to it by accident.

By booting off the external SSD, the iMac now works almost as fast as my 2019 MBP.

Apple can't and won't install and SSD for you. You must use an external method for an SSD.

Everything should run from the new SSD. It causes less issues that way.

Cheers,

Jack

You can get that one or the cheaper SSD I posted in the User Tip.

Both are SSD models.

Cheers,

Jack