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M1 Mac Air performance degrades until restart

My MacBook Air M1 (11.4, 16 GB) slowly loses performance over the course of 3-4 days on a regular cycle. By the end of the 3rd or 4th day, saving and opening files takes considerably longer, websites refuse to load, applications will crash on opening or just refuse to open, and emails (mail.app) won't load properly.


A quick restart fixes everything immediately.


I've run system checks and virus scans and found nothing so far.

MacBook Air (2020 or later)

Posted on Jun 15, 2021 5:59 AM

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Posted on Jun 15, 2021 6:35 AM

One of the only Adware / Malware trusted for macOS is from a Trusted Developer and Respected ASC Contributor the application Malwarebytes for Mac. It is free or paid for added features. Run the Application and it should remove the malware / adware. Once done, restart computer and test.


There are no known Viruses in the wild that self replicate and affect macOS. There are Malware and Adware that does affect macOS and are often times downloaded as part of an Application from Third Party UnTrusted Site and get installed along with the Application.


Are there any AntiVirus, Disk Cleaner, Optimizers, Defrag, VPNs etc installed which should be removed as per Developers Instructions. They are useless, unneeded, cause havoc and interfere with the normal operation of the OS and may even Corrupt the OS requiring a Reinstallation. The Built-in Security of Big Sur is all that is required.


Any Third Party Applications that will interfere with the normal operation of the OS, alter, modify, remove or delete or attempt to do so is an invitation for disaster and may require a Reinstallation of the OS.

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Jun 15, 2021 6:35 AM in response to Jay Nungesser

One of the only Adware / Malware trusted for macOS is from a Trusted Developer and Respected ASC Contributor the application Malwarebytes for Mac. It is free or paid for added features. Run the Application and it should remove the malware / adware. Once done, restart computer and test.


There are no known Viruses in the wild that self replicate and affect macOS. There are Malware and Adware that does affect macOS and are often times downloaded as part of an Application from Third Party UnTrusted Site and get installed along with the Application.


Are there any AntiVirus, Disk Cleaner, Optimizers, Defrag, VPNs etc installed which should be removed as per Developers Instructions. They are useless, unneeded, cause havoc and interfere with the normal operation of the OS and may even Corrupt the OS requiring a Reinstallation. The Built-in Security of Big Sur is all that is required.


Any Third Party Applications that will interfere with the normal operation of the OS, alter, modify, remove or delete or attempt to do so is an invitation for disaster and may require a Reinstallation of the OS.

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Jun 15, 2021 8:16 AM in response to Jay Nungesser

Suggest downloading the Application Etrecheck directly from a Trusted Developer and well Respected ASC Contributor. The application is free or paid from added features. Run the application with Full Disc Access ( Security & Privacy - Full Disc Access ). It will take a Snap Shot -  both the hardware and software. The Report will Not Reveal Any Personal Information. Post back the Full Report - copy and paste - using the Additional Text Icon ( 3rd Icon to last )


We can have a look at the report for possible issues and may have possible suggestions to resolve the issues.

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Jun 18, 2021 10:56 AM in response to Jay Nungesser

This is one Very Heavily Configured MBA M1 with Several attached External Drives and many Modifications to the System. It, computer, might not perform as well as a more Robust MBP M1.Only suggestion is restart the computer more often to fee up Memory and Processes running all the time of for extended periods of time. That and Close unneeded Application when not in usage.


As per EtreCheck Report see below


Clean up - There are orphan files that could be removed.

Unsigned files - There are unsigned software files installed. Apple has said that unsigned software will not run by default in a future version of the operating system.

Kernel extensions present - This computer has kernel extensions that may not work in the future.

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Jun 18, 2021 11:00 AM in response to PRP_53

Thank you, I do have several attached external drives (a Time Machine drive, a drive for daily backups, and two drives of archived backup data) and my MBA does have the maximum performance configuration Apple will build.


Having two backup drives and Apple-installed RAM should improve my performance, not slow it.


I can remove my orphan files but I don't understand why having the maximum RAM available would make my computer slower and require frequent restarts.

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Jun 18, 2021 10:29 AM in response to PRP_53

Thank you! Here's the report:

EtreCheckPro version: 6.4.4 (6E015) Report generated: 2021-06-18 13:27:51 Download EtreCheckPro from https://etrecheck.com Runtime: 2:30 Performance: Excellent Problem: Computer is too slow Description: Computer slows down over 5-7 days, speed returns after restart. Major Issues: None Minor Issues: These issues do not need immediate attention but they may indicate future problems or opportunities for improvement. Apps with heavy CPU usage - There have been numerous cases of apps with heavy CPU usage. Clean up - There are orphan files that could be removed. Unsigned files - There are unsigned software files installed. Apple has said that unsigned software will not run by default in a future version of the operating system. Kernel extensions present - This computer has kernel extensions that may not work in the future. Hardware Information: MacBook Air (M1, 2020) MacBook Air Model: MacBookAir10,1 2.40 GHz Apple M1 (m1) CPU: 8-core 16 GB RAM - Not upgradeable Battery: Health = Normal - Cycle count = 3 Video Information: Apple M1 DELL U2720Q 5120 x 2880 Drives: disk0 - APPLE SSD AP2048Q 2.00 TB (Solid State - TRIM: Yes) Internal Apple Fabric NVM Express disk0s1 [APFS Container] 524 MB disk1 [APFS Virtual drive] 524 MB (Shared by 4 volumes) disk1s1 - iSCPreboot (APFS) [APFS Preboot] (Shared - 8 MB used) disk1s2 - xART (APFS) (Shared - 6 MB used) disk1s3 - Hardware (APFS) (Shared - 655 KB used) disk1s4 - Recovery (APFS) [Recovery] (Shared - 20 KB used) disk0s2 [APFS Container] 2.00 TB disk3 [APFS Virtual drive] 2.00 TB (Shared by 6 volumes) disk3s1 (APFS) [APFS Container] (Shared - 15.31 GB used) disk3s1s1 - Macintosh HD (APFS) [APFS Snapshot] (Shared - 15.31 GB used) disk3s2 - Preboot (APFS) [APFS Preboot] (Shared - 305 MB used) disk3s3 - Recovery (APFS) [Recovery] (Shared - 1.01 GB used) disk3s4 - Update (APFS) (Shared - 4 MB used) disk3s5 - Data (APFS) [APFS Virtual drive] (Shared - 1.55 TB used) disk3s6 - VM (APFS) [APFS VM] (Shared - 15.03 GB used) disk0s3 [APFS Container] 5.37 GB disk2 [APFS Virtual drive] 5.37 GB (Shared by 2 volumes) disk2s1 - Recovery (APFS) [Recovery] (Shared - 3.02 GB used) disk2s2 - Update (APFS) (Shared - 29 KB used) disk4 - Mercury Elite Pro Quad D 2.00 TB External USB 5 Gbit/s USB disk4s1 - EFI (MS-DOS FAT32) [EFI] 210 MB disk4s2 [APFS Container] 2.00 TB disk10 [APFS Virtual drive] 2.00 TB (Shared by 1 volumes) disk10s2 - T**********e (APFS) (Shared - 1.80 TB used) disk5 - Mercury Elite Pro Quad A 2.00 TB External USB 5 Gbit/s USB disk5s1 - EFI (MS-DOS FAT32) [EFI] 210 MB disk5s2 [APFS Container] 2.00 TB disk9 [APFS Virtual drive] 2.00 TB (Shared by 5 volumes) disk9s1 - N********** - Data (APFS) (Shared - 1.86 TB used) disk9s2 - Preboot (APFS) [APFS Preboot] (Shared - 20 KB used) disk9s3 - Recovery (APFS) [Recovery] (Shared - 20 KB used) disk9s4 - VM (APFS) [APFS VM] (Shared - 20 KB used) disk9s5 - N********p (APFS) (Shared - 14.96 GB used) disk5s3 - Recovery HD (Journaled HFS+) [Recovery] 650 MB disk6 - Mercury Elite Pro Quad C 1.00 TB External USB 5 Gbit/s USB disk6s1 - EFI (MS-DOS FAT32) [EFI] 210 MB disk6s2 [APFS Container] 1000.00 GB disk7 [APFS Virtual drive] 1000.00 GB (Shared by 1 volumes) disk7s1 - M***a (APFS) (Shared - 614.10 GB used) disk8 - Mercury Elite Pro Quad B 2.00 TB External USB 5 Gbit/s USB disk8s1 - EFI (MS-DOS FAT32) [EFI] 210 MB disk8s2 - O*********D (Journaled HFS+) 1.94 TB (1.39 TB used) disk8s3 - Recovery HD (Journaled HFS+) [Recovery] 650 MB disk8s4 (MS-DOS FAT12) 60.05 GB (58.12 GB used) Mounted Volumes: disk1s1 - iSCPreboot [APFS Preboot] 524 MB (Shared - 8 MB used, 505 MB free) APFS Mount point: /System/Volumes/iSCPreboot disk1s2 - xART 524 MB (Shared - 6 MB used, 505 MB free) APFS Mount point: /System/Volumes/xarts disk1s3 - Hardware 524 MB (Shared - 655 KB used, 505 MB free) APFS Mount point: /System/Volumes/Hardware disk3s1s1 - Macintosh HD [APFS Snapshot] 2.00 TB (Shared - 15.31 GB used, 455.14 GB available, 417.14 GB free) APFS Mount point: / Read-only: Yes disk3s2 - Preboot [APFS Preboot] 2.00 TB (Shared - 305 MB used, 417.14 GB free) APFS Mount point: /System/Volumes/Preboot disk3s4 - Update 2.00 TB (Shared - 4 MB used, 417.14 GB free) APFS Mount point: /System/Volumes/Update disk3s5 - Data [APFS Virtual drive] 2.00 TB (Shared - 1.55 TB used, 455.14 GB available, 417.14 GB free) APFS Mount point: /System/Volumes/Data Encrypted disk3s6 - VM [APFS VM] 2.00 TB (Shared - 15.03 GB used, 417.14 GB free) APFS Mount point: /System/Volumes/VM disk7s1 - M***a 1000.00 GB (Shared - 614.10 GB used, 387.24 GB available, 385.69 GB free) APFS Mount point: /Volumes/M***a Owners enabled: No disk8s2 - O*********D 1.94 TB (1.39 TB used, 550.76 GB available, 549.11 GB free) Journaled HFS+ Mount point: /Volumes/O*********D Owners enabled: No disk8s4 60.05 GB (58.12 GB used, 1.93 GB free) MS-DOS FAT12 Mount point: /Volumes/Untitled disk9s1 - N********** - Data 2.00 TB (Shared - 1.86 TB used, 121.79 GB available, 120.10 GB free) APFS Mount point: /Volumes/N********** - Data Owners enabled: No disk9s5 - N********p 2.00 TB (Shared - 14.96 GB used, 120.10 GB free) APFS Mount point: /Volumes/N********p Read-only: Yes disk10s2 - T**********e 2.00 TB (Shared - 1.80 TB used, 202.72 GB free) APFS Mount point: /Volumes/T**********e Network: Interface en3: Ethernet Adaptor (en3) Interface en6: USB 10/100/1000 LAN Interface en5: Ethernet Adaptor (en5) Interface en0: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax Interface en4: Bluetooth PAN Interface bridge0: Thunderbolt Bridge iCloud Quota: 142.13 GB available System Software: macOS Big Sur 11.4 (20F71) Time since boot: About 3 days Notifications: Creative Cloud.app 4 notifications Security: Gatekeeper: App Store and identified developers System Integrity Protection: Enabled Antivirus software: Apple and Malwarebytes Unsigned Files: Running app: /Library/DropboxHelperTools/Dropbox_u501/dbkextd Details: Restrictive app permissions - possibly adware Apps: 19 Kernel Extensions: /Library/Extensions [Not Loaded] SiLabsUSBDriver64.kext - com.silabs.driver.CP210xVCPDriver64 (3.0.0d1) /Volumes/O*********D/A**********s/TuneClone.app [Not Loaded] TuneClone_Virtual_CDWriter_64Bits.kext - com.tuneclone.driver.TuneClone_Virtual_CDWriter (1.0.0d1) System Launch Agents: [Not Loaded] 17 Apple tasks [Loaded] 198 Apple tasks [Running] 118 Apple tasks [Other] One Apple task System Launch Daemons: [Not Loaded] 39 Apple tasks [Loaded] 209 Apple tasks [Running] 114 Apple tasks [Other] 2 Apple tasks Launch Agents: [Other] com.adobe.ARMDCHelper.cc24aef4a1b90ed56a725c38014c95072f92651fb65e1bf9c8e43c37a23d420d.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2021-03-23) [Running] com.adobe.AdobeCreativeCloud.plist (Adobe Inc. - installed 2021-05-10) [Loaded] com.adobe.ccxprocess.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2021-06-10) [Running] com.kensington.trackballworks.plist (Kensington Computer Products Group - installed 2021-02-22) [Running] com.malwarebytes.mbam.frontend.agent.plist (Malwarebytes Corporation - installed 2021-05-28) [Running] com.wacom.DataStoreMgr.plist (Wacom Technology Corp. - installed 2020-09-25) [Running] com.wacom.IOManager.plist (Wacom Technology Corp. - installed 2020-09-25) [Running] com.wacom.wacomtablet.plist (Wacom Technology Corp. - installed 2020-09-25) Launch Daemons: [Loaded] com.adobe.ARMDC.Communicator.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2021-01-09) [Loaded] com.adobe.ARMDC.SMJobBlessHelper.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2021-01-09) [Running] com.adobe.acc.installer.v2.plist (Adobe Inc. - installed 2021-05-10) [Running] com.malwarebytes.mbam.rtprotection.daemon.plist (Malwarebytes Corporation - installed 2021-06-15) [Running] com.malwarebytes.mbam.settings.daemon.plist (Malwarebytes Corporation - installed 2021-05-28) [Loaded] com.microsoft.teams.TeamsUpdaterDaemon.plist (Microsoft Corporation - installed 2021-03-23) [Running] com.wacom.UpdateHelper.plist (Wacom Technology Corp. - installed 2020-09-25) [Loaded] com.wacom.displayhelper.plist (Apple - installed 2020-09-25) User Launch Agents: [Loaded] com.dropbox.DropboxMacUpdate.agent.plist (Dropbox, Inc. - installed 2021-03-26) [Other] com.shirtpocket.backupbytime.plist (? 0 - installed 2021-04-22) User Login Items: [Running] AdobeResourceSynchronizer (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2021-06-10) Application /Applications/Adobe Acrobat DC/Adobe Acrobat.app/Contents/Helpers/AdobeResourceSynchronizer.app [Running] Billings Pro Sync Helper (Marketcircle Inc - installed 2021-03-29) Modern Login Item /Applications/Billings Pro.app/Contents/Library/LoginItems/Billings Pro Sync Helper.app [Running] Dropbox (Dropbox, Inc. - installed 2021-06-12) Application /Applications/Dropbox.app [Running] RightFont 5 (LIYI CHENG - installed 2021-05-02) Application /Applications/RightFont 5.app [Not Loaded] RightFontHelper (LIYI CHENG - installed 2021-05-02) Modern Login Item /Applications/RightFont 5.app/Contents/Library/LoginItems/RightFontHelper.app Internet Plug-ins: AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: 17.012.20098 (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2021-06-10) AdobeAAMDetect: 3.0.0.0 (Adobe Inc. - installed 2021-05-10) AdobePDFViewer: 21.005.20048 (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2021-06-10) Safari Extensions: Honey (App Store - installed 2021-06-09) 3rd Party Preference Panes: KensingtonWorks (Kensington Computer Products Group - installed 2021-02-22) WacomTablet (Wacom Technology Corp. - installed 2020-09-25) Backup: Auto backup: Yes Destinations: T**********e [Local] (Last used) Total size: 2.00 TB Total number of backups: 56 Oldest backup: 2021-03-29 12:17:58 Last backup: 2021-06-18 12:58:53 24 local snapshots Oldest local snapshot: 2021-06-17 13:52:38 Last local snapshot: 2021-06-18 12:56:08 3rd party backup: Super Duper! Performance: System Load: 3.74 (1 min ago) 3.51 (5 min ago) 3.41 (15 min ago) Nominal I/O speed: 0.91 MB/s File system: 7.72 seconds Write speed: 2847 MB/s Read speed: 2286 MB/s CPU Usage Snapshot: Type Overall System: 9 % User: 16 % Idle: 74 % Top Processes Snapshot by CPU: Process (count) CPU (Source - Location) WindowServer 34.96 % (Apple) Finder 32.36 % (Apple) CEPHtmlEngine Helper (6) 23.26 % (Adobe Systems, Inc.) kernel_task 12.80 % (Apple) EtreCheckPro 10.98 % (Etresoft, Inc.) Top Processes Snapshot by Memory: Process (count) RAM usage (Source - Location) Telegram 957 MB (John Preston) com.apple.WebKit.WebContent (11) 777 MB (Apple) EtreCheckPro 536 MB (Etresoft, Inc.) kernel_task 495 MB (Apple) CEPHtmlEngine Helper (6) 406 MB (Adobe Systems, Inc.) Top Processes Snapshot by Network Use: Process (count) Input / Output (Source - Location) mDNSResponder 68 MB / 5 MB (Apple) Dropbox 7 MB / 4 MB (Dropbox, Inc.) Mail 9 MB / 56 KB (Apple) com.apple.WebKit.Networking 1 MB / 491 KB (Apple) netbiosd 1 MB / 87 KB (Apple) Top Processes Snapshot by Energy Use: Process (count) Energy (0-100) (Source - Location) Finder 14 (Apple) CEPHtmlEngine Helper (6) 11 (Adobe Systems, Inc.) WindowServer 9 (Apple) RTProtectionDaemon 5 (Malwarebytes Corporation) Adobe Illustrator 3 (Adobe Systems, Inc.) Virtual Memory Information: Physical RAM: 16 GB Free RAM: 16 MB Used RAM: 15.53 GB Cached files: 461 MB Available RAM: 477 MB Swap Used: 13.18 GB Software Installs (past 60 days): Install Date Name (Version) 2021-04-21 GarageBand (10.4.3) 2021-04-24 macOS 11.2.3 (11.2.3) 2021-04-26 product (0) 2021-04-26 Mobile Device (1.0.0.0) 2021-04-29 Zoom (5.6.4.765) 2021-05-12 Adobe Acrobat DC (21.001.20155) (21.001.20155) 2021-06-01 Numbers (11.1) 2021-06-01 Keynote (11.1) 2021-06-01 Pages (11.1) 2021-06-03 macOS 11.4 (11.4) 2021-06-03 RosettaUpdateAuto (1.0.0.0.1.1620826415) 2021-06-03 MRTConfigData (1.79) 2021-06-09 Sparkle (3.1) 2021-06-09 Honey (12.8.6) 2021-06-10 Adobe Acrobat DC (21.005.20048) (21.005.20048) 2021-06-12 XProtectPlistConfigData (2148) 2021-06-15 Malwarebytes for Mac (1.0) 2021-06-18 MSG Viewer for Outlook Trial 3 (3.99.2) Clean up: ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.shirtpocket.backupbytime.plist /Applications/SuperDuper!.app/Contents/Helpers/sdbackupbytime Executable not found Diagnostics Information (past 7-30 days): 2021-06-18 09:18:12 com.apple.WebKit.WebContent High CPU Use Executable: /System/Library/Frameworks/WebKit.framework/Versions/A/XPCServices/com.apple.WebKit.WebContent.xpc/Contents/MacOS/com.apple.WebKit.WebContent 2021-06-16 11:40:08 Telegram.app Hang Executable: /Applications/Telegram.app 2021-06-15 11:24:37 mdsync High CPU Use (3 times) Executable: /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/Metadata.framework/Versions/A/Support/mdsync 2021-06-12 08:37:23 Dropbox.app High CPU Use (2 times) Executable: /Applications/Dropbox.app 2021-06-11 16:25:18 backupd High CPU Use Executable: /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd.bundle/Contents/Resources/backupd 2021-06-11 16:14:21 Safari.app Crash Executable: /Applications/Safari.app Details: Enabled App Extensions: com.joinhoney.extension (4NREU46PA6) (Version: 59 - Display Version: 1 2.8.6) Honey End of report


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M1 Mac Air performance degrades until restart

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