I have Mojave in my 2017 iMac. It seems abnormal to use 6.5 GB memory out of 8 GB, while it only runs safari (one tab). I believe this is causing my iMac desperately slow. Other than upgrade the memory and SSD, is there an easy solution? Thanks!
iMac 21.5″ 4K, macOS 10.14
PZ259 wrote:
…2017 iMac. It seems abnormal to use 6.5 GB memory out of 8 GB… my iMac desperately slow. Other than upgrade the memory and SSD, is there an easy solution?
Those SSD and memory upgrades would be the usual recommendation here, yes.
Some background: Why is my hard disk drive iMac so slow? - Apple Community
An external SSD on 21.5” and 27” models: Use an external SSD as your startup disk … - Apple Community
Memory can be user-upgraded on the 27” iMac: Install memory in an iMac - Apple Support
An SSD upgrade from a hard disk will be the bigger upgrade here, as compared with a memory upgrade.
Here, macOS is using all the memory you have for itself, apps, and here also some caching, and probably to make up for the performance of a hard disk.
Memory used as a cache for relevant data is more valuable than free memory, as it can avoid a trip to a slow storage device.
And for completeness, have complete and current backups, as symptoms of a failing hard disk can include slowdowns, beachballs, data corruptions, hangs, and crashes.
PZ259 wrote:
…2017 iMac. It seems abnormal to use 6.5 GB memory out of 8 GB… my iMac desperately slow. Other than upgrade the memory and SSD, is there an easy solution?
Those SSD and memory upgrades would be the usual recommendation here, yes.
Some background: Why is my hard disk drive iMac so slow? - Apple Community
An external SSD on 21.5” and 27” models: Use an external SSD as your startup disk … - Apple Community
Memory can be user-upgraded on the 27” iMac: Install memory in an iMac - Apple Support
An SSD upgrade from a hard disk will be the bigger upgrade here, as compared with a memory upgrade.
Here, macOS is using all the memory you have for itself, apps, and here also some caching, and probably to make up for the performance of a hard disk.
Memory used as a cache for relevant data is more valuable than free memory, as it can avoid a trip to a slow storage device.
And for completeness, have complete and current backups, as symptoms of a failing hard disk can include slowdowns, beachballs, data corruptions, hangs, and crashes.
8 GB of memory is adequate, but barely. More recent operating systems apparently use more memory as well. You can close unused windows and apps. Periodically clear the browser's History as it uses memory. Restart the computer at least once a week or so.
High memory usage resulting extremely slow 2017 iMac
