My Mac Mini is running too slow

Is there any solution? The unit is a late 2014 build - see below: Online connection fine - 500 mps up/down - but when the unit has to download mail or open apps, beach balls show up for 3 - 5 minutes. Genius Bar staff told me, after looking, that they couldn't figure it out and would have to send the unit back to Apple. Etre Check couldn't find anything with their tests. When safe booting, the speeds are not that much faster, which, I think, tells me that there is something going on mechanically with the unit, not with software. (Of course, I could be totally wrong about this...) But the question is, should I just bite the bullet and buy a new or refurb Mini and stop all this aggravation. New units are inexpensive enough to not make this an issue, but I want to be sure I didn't miss something simple enough to fix on my own.

Then the issue of how much RAM to get with a new unit. I have GB now and don't use as much power as I did 8 years ago. Is 8GB enough for email/word processing/simple sound editing/internet performances/film/TV shows. Or are we looking at memory hog apps from now on and I should just go for more RAM anyway.

Anyone with any idea about my problems, please chime in. Thx Peter D

[Edited by Moderator]

Posted on May 3, 2023 9:25 PM

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HWTech

Community+ 2026

Level 9

70,304 points

Posted on May 4, 2023 1:47 PM

It would be beneficial to post the EtreCheck report here so we can review it.

To check the health of the drive, run DriveDx and post the complete text here using the "Additional Text" icon which looks like a piece of paper. If you have a Fusion Drive setup, then post the complete reports for both the Hard Drive and SSD.

Disconnect all external devices in case one of them is causing a problem (except for Display, keyboard & mouse of course, but make sure nothing is connected to any ports on the Display).

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17 replies

BDAqua

Level 10

250,259 points

May 22, 2023 10:08 PM in response to Jarzoirmur

Use Find any file to locate it then trash it from the Finder.

May 22, 2023 1:34 PM in response to Jarzoirmur

I still don't see the DriveDx report.

Plus the EtreCheck needs to be reposted since you must actually use the "Share" functionality within the EtreCheck app. Follow the instructions in the following article on how to properly share & copy the report so it can be posted here on the Apple forums:

How to use the Add Text Feature When Post… - Apple Community

Here is another set of instructions:

posting results of EntreCheck - Apple Community

It is nearly impossible to make sense of the EtreCheck report due to how it was posted since it not in a readable formatted form nor is it complete. I did happen to notice you are running multiple anti-virus apps. Anti-virus apps, cleaning/optimizer apps, and third party security software are not needed on a Mac. These types of apps usually cause more problems than they solve, plus they impact system performance. Even if a computer needed to use an anti-virus or third party security app, there should never be more than one installed since multiple anti-virus & security apps will interfere with one another making the aforementioned issues even worse. It appears you have both Norton/Symantec and MalwareBytes installed. While MalwareBytes is the "better" app, there is still no need to run MalwareBytes all the time...it would only be needed if you suspected you had accidentally installed malware or adware. Please uninstall these types of apps by following the developer's instructions. If you still have issues after uninstalling these apps, then run EtreCheck again so we have an updated report and post the new report here using the instructions I linked in this post.

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My Mac Mini is running too slow