Macbook Pro 2017 going noticeably slow with advanced OS feature

My intel i5 2017 Macbook pro 13 was always a charm to work with. I have developed Unity games and apps on this machine in 2018 - 2020 period. Ofcourse not comparable to how good the Apple silicon based machines are today but still it was very good.

I am seeing after the OS updates, basic functionalities are taking a hit on these machines. As if those features are not optimized for intel processors.

• Note that I have used tools like CleanMyMac and done the usual recommended steps like freeing up space and memory and all that.

Issues I see:

1. Some simple sites on safari hiccups consistently. For example, i use Okta verification to log in to some work related sites. That okta page is usually just a simple webpage with text fields. It loads smoothly on newer macs, iphone and iPad. But in this Mac, I see the transition from page 1 to page 2 stutters a lot.
2. When connected to external monitor, window management in general starts suffering significantly. This is even without any load on CPU. Just two safari tabs and may be one or two simple applications running alongside.
3. Stage manager animations take a huge hit when external monitor used. First I used to close the lid of macbook when connected to external display. That used to smoothen out the video output. Used to feel like laptop is giving up and is getting old. But now even if the lid is closed, its not helping. Note that regular window minimizing genie effect and all still work perfect.
4. Apps like Slack (perhaps web based) are significantly slow. iPhone x can be more fast on slack than on this macbook. It clearly tells that apps are not being efficient on this machine. I can upgrade to new mac but I really think this machine is capable of doing stuff more than what its lethargic to do now..
5. Should I be hopeful for optimizations in MacOS in general or just new feature making old machines cry... 😢