Very slow iMac

iMac Retina 5K, 2017, 3.8 GHz Quadcore i5, 16 GB RAM, macOS Ventura 13.3.1(a)


Some time ago it started running very, very slow. I figured out that it might be caused by failed HDD (part of Fusion Drive). I replaced it with 2TB SSD.

My happiness lasted for a week and then it started running slow on random occasion. I've decided to format all from the scratch and install clean copy without restoring all te stuff from TimeMachine backup.

It does not help. From time to time (very often) it runs very, very slowly. Yesterday it was starting a Weather app for more than 2 minutes.

Such slownes goes with internet running very slowly, apps are slow and so on.



I use Symantec's Norton AV and CleanMyMac so it is rather not a matter of any virus, malware or anything like that.

I do not see any errors in dmesg.

CPU usage is not exceeding 50% in highest peeks, RAM usually about 5 GBs free, SDD - 1 TB free.


Any ideas?

Posted on May 16, 2023 1:06 AM

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Question marked as Best reply

Posted on May 16, 2023 5:06 AM

Hi there!


If you think your Mac might have an issue, you can use this procedure to help gather information on your Mac which will help us troubleshoot your Mac’s problem.


To start, please upload a screenshot of your Mac’s storage information. In the Finder, choose Go > Utilities, then double-click the Disk Utility icon. (Disk Utility is located in the /Applications/Utilities folder.) Alternatively, click Launchpad in the Dock, type Disk Utility in the search field, then click the Disk Utility icon. Once Disk Utility is open, take a screenshot of the information it automatically opens to, which will be your startup disk. Next, select View Show All Devices in Disk Utility and select the top-level, non-indented, disk entry. In most cases, this name will be one of the following:


  • APPLE HDD…
  • APPLE SSD…
  • Fusion Drive


Then, take a screenshot of the newly selected entry. Upload all screenshots here. 


Next, use Apple Diagnostics to test your Mac to help determine which hardware component might be at fault. When testing is complete, Apple Diagnostics shows the results, including one or more reference codes.

Learn about Apple Diagnostics reference codes. 

Let us know which reference codes you receive.


Jack

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14 replies
Question marked as Best reply

May 16, 2023 5:06 AM in response to krzysztof_l

Hi there!


If you think your Mac might have an issue, you can use this procedure to help gather information on your Mac which will help us troubleshoot your Mac’s problem.


To start, please upload a screenshot of your Mac’s storage information. In the Finder, choose Go > Utilities, then double-click the Disk Utility icon. (Disk Utility is located in the /Applications/Utilities folder.) Alternatively, click Launchpad in the Dock, type Disk Utility in the search field, then click the Disk Utility icon. Once Disk Utility is open, take a screenshot of the information it automatically opens to, which will be your startup disk. Next, select View Show All Devices in Disk Utility and select the top-level, non-indented, disk entry. In most cases, this name will be one of the following:


  • APPLE HDD…
  • APPLE SSD…
  • Fusion Drive


Then, take a screenshot of the newly selected entry. Upload all screenshots here. 


Next, use Apple Diagnostics to test your Mac to help determine which hardware component might be at fault. When testing is complete, Apple Diagnostics shows the results, including one or more reference codes.

Learn about Apple Diagnostics reference codes. 

Let us know which reference codes you receive.


Jack

May 30, 2023 1:51 PM in response to krzysztof_l

First, there is no reason to ever install or run any 3rd party "cleaning", "optimizing", "speed-up", anti-virus, VPN or security apps on your Mac.  This documents describe what you need to know and do in order to protect your Mac: Effective defenses against malware and other threats - Apple Community and Recognize and avoid phishing messages, phony support calls, and other scams - Apple Support.  


There are no known viruses, i.e. self propagating, for Macs.  There are, however, adware and malware which require the user to install although unwittingly most of the time thru sneaky links, etc.   


Anti Virus developers try to group all types as viruses into their ad campaigns of fear.  They do a poor job of the detecting and isolating the adware and malware.  Since there are no viruses these apps use up a lot of system resources searching for what is non-existent and adversely affect system and app performance.


There is one app, Malwarebytes, which was developed by a long time contributor to these forums and a highly respected member of the computer security community, that is designed solely to seek out adware and known malware and remove it.  The free version is more than adequate for most users.  


Based on literally hundreds of topics in these forums CleanMyMac and Norton AV are considered by most of the experienced contributors here to be akin to malware. All they do is take up system resources and lighten bank accounts. As macOS has evolved they have become more intolerant of such software as it's totally not needed.

Do yourself a favor and uninstall them according to the developers' instructions. You can check to see if you've removed all of the supporting files by downloading and running the shareware app Find Any File to search for any files with the application's or the developer's name in the file name.  For the software mentioned you'd do the following search(es): 


1 - Name contains norton

2 - Name contains cleanmymac

3 - Name contains macpaw


Any files that are found can be dragged from the search results window to the Desktop or Trash bin in the Dock for deletion.


FAF can search areas that Spotlight can't like invisible folders, system folders and packages.  


If you get warnings that the file can't be deleted because it is in use or used by another app boot into Safe Mode according to How to use safe mode on your Mac and delete from there.


Note:  if you have a wireless keyboard with rechargeable batteries connect it with its charging cable before booting into Safe Mode.  This makes it act as a wired keyboard as will assure a successful boot into Safe Mode.



May 30, 2023 3:54 PM in response to krzysztof_l

It appears you've installed the Crucial BX500 SSD. This SSD, is, unfortunately, known to be weak and can be as slow as a hard disk.


Other than removing the antivirus and cleaning software, I'd recommend you use an external Thunderbolt SSD as your startup disk. A SATA SSD, can, on its best day, provide ~550MB/s, while a Thunderbolt SSD can provide speeds of up to ~2500MB/s. Over 4.5x faster. Plus, using an external SSD doesn't require opening the iMac, which is an unsupported modification.


A great external SSD is the LaCie 1TB Rugged SSD Pro External Drive with Thunderbolt 3 - Apple. You can use Use an external SSD as your startup disk … - Apple Community as an overview of the setup procedure.


Let us know if you have any questions!


Jack

May 16, 2023 4:24 AM in response to John Galt

Thx. You know. it's not that it works slow all the time. The weirdest is that after restart it works perfectly fine - sometimes even for couple of days ,and then it starts...

Rainbow wheel is showing and it is turning, turning.... whatever you do you have to wait. Sometimes restart does not solve the issue but starting machine in single user mode and then normally is helpful. I am confused as there is nothing I can base on to diagnose that stuff.

May 16, 2023 4:31 AM in response to krzysztof_l

Presumably, you came to this site seeking the solution to your problem. I provided it. No charge.


Or, you can schedule a service visit with your local Apple Store, but I'll save you the time with that also. Having altered it, Apple will refuse to service your Mac at any price.


It's too bad that you performed that alteration before coming here for solutions because non-Apple "cleaning" products are notorious for breaking perfectly good Macs. Now you have to live with that decision.

May 30, 2023 4:21 PM in response to krzysztof_l

RE: "Such slownes goes with internet running very slowly, apps are slow and so on."


Do you see the slowness only with applications that access the Internet (such as Web browers and e-mail clients)? If the machine is only slow when running them, and not when running local applications (like Pages, LibreOffice, or Microsoft Word) then it's probably something about your network connection that's at fault.


Have you filled your startup drive to the brim? Your Mac can be running along fine as long as you give it a reasonable amount of free disk space to work with … but push it to the edge, and its performance may suddenly fall off a cliff. If that's your problem, you may need to move some files to an external drive to give your iMac some breathing room.

May 30, 2023 4:26 PM in response to Old Toad

RE: "There are no known viruses, i.e. self propagating, for Macs."


There were a few for 68K-based Macs running classic macOS. I remember a free program called Disinfectant that would scan for, and remove them. If you brought up its "About" dialog, the names of several viruses would march out (to the tune of Monty Python music) and line up vertically. Then a large foot (like the one in the Monty Python TV show opening) would come down and squash them…

Very slow iMac

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