How to improve OS memory usage?

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Level 1

4 points

How to improve OS memory usage?

Hello Apple community.

I am a user of a MacBookPro Catalina 10.15.7 13-inch Mid 2012 2.9GHz i7, with two 4GB DDR3 1600MHz memory slots, in sum 8 GB 1600MHz

Currently, with the improvements in navigation services, apps, and other services, my OS has lagged behind.

I attach an image, where I think the problem is.

My question is, if anyone can help me, how can I improve the performance of my OS?

Many times, cached files have a large amount of unused memory.

I use the Mac to process video and audio, as well as text and web browsing. It looks very overdue.

I am about to install 2 8GB DDR3L 1600MHz slots, in total 16 GB DDR3L 1600MHz.

These are the main processes, in the end I have to restart the mac:

Adobe Photoshop 715.8MB

Live 338.7MB

Creative Cloud Helper (Renderer) 276.4MB

Microsoft Word 140.2MB

Google Chrome 131.6MB

Itunes 93.9 MB

Google Chrome Helper (GPU) 84.6MB

Creative Cloud Core Service 75.8 MB

Video player 57 MB

Thanks in advance

Posted on Aug 12, 2023 7:26 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

MrHoffman

Level 10

148,369 points

Aug 19, 2023 7:48 PM in response to Raul_Ignacio

If you’re still on HDD and not SSD, an upgrade to SSD will be a much bigger boost than will be more memory. More memory will help, but more I/O speed will help more.

The following targets iMac, but the performance also applies here:

… Why is my hard disk drive iMac so slow? - Apple Community

OWC / MacSales generally has SSDs and memory that work, and their service and support has been good.

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Answer 2

BDAqua

Level 10

250,259 points

Aug 12, 2023 9:21 PM in response to Raul_Ignacio

Hi there, your current Pic doesn't that more RAM would help, but it can be upgraded to 16GB of RAM, and for real speed, an SSD

https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/ssd/owc/macbook-pro/2012

https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/Apple_MacBook_MacBook_Pro/Upgrade/DDR3_1600MHz_SDRAM

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Answer 3

Ronasara

Level 6

15,531 points

Aug 13, 2023 10:21 AM in response to Raul_Ignacio

Yes, more RAM would definitely help. You are using Adobe apps which are RAM intensive. You should know that Chrome is known to be a RAM hog, so using another browser such as Thunderbird may help. When using your computer, close any currently unneeded apps and windows. Restart your computer once a week or so. Also, periodically clearing the browser's history will clear up RAM for use.

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Answer 4

Raul_Ignacio Author

Level 1

4 points

Oct 9, 2023 6:12 PM in response to MrHoffman

Friends, I take advantage of this thread to clarify a question, MacBook Pro 13" Catalina 10.15 (mid 2012), which thunderbolt to use? Is there any place or alternative to find the cheapest cable?

Thank you.

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Answer 5

Raul_Ignacio Author

Level 1

4 points

Aug 19, 2023 7:40 PM in response to Ronasara

Now I can run eight apps at the start which take 3 mins to load. What SSD shall you recommend to Catalina? Should I upgrade to High Sierra?

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How to improve OS memory usage?

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