2017 iMac SD Card Reader so slow it's almost useless.

I have a 2017 iMac and sometimes I use to transfer photos from an SD card. I have a Nikon Camera and a 128 mb Sandisk Micros SD card.

Previously, the card would read quickly, display thumbnails and I could easily transfer to my desktop. In the past six months, and I'm not sure what updated did this, but it's become almost useless. It takes about a minute to go between photos. Meaning, I click on a photo, get the preview, then click to look at the next and it takes almost a full minute to see the next preview. This was NOT a problem before with the same camera, same card. Something happened in one of the updates to change this.

I'm not a pro photographer so these aren't crazy huge files, and all of this hardware used to work smoothly. No idea what's changed.

iMac (2017 – 2020)

Posted on Jan 13, 2024 1:53 PM

Top-ranking reply

Old Toad

Level 10

217,588 points

Posted on Jan 14, 2024 9:49 AM

Give this a try: boot into Safe Mode according to How to use safe mode on your Mac and test to see if the problem persists. Reboot normally and test again.

NOTE 1: Safe Mode boot can take up to 3 - 5 minutes as it's doing the following;

• Verifies your startup disk and attempts to repair directory issues, if needed

• Loads only required kernel extensions (prevents 3rd party kernel/extensions from loading)

• Prevents Startup Items and Login Items from opening automatically

• Disables user-installed fonts

• Deletes font caches, kernel cache, and other system cache files

NOTE 2: 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 insure a successful boot into Safe Mode.

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2017 iMac SD Card Reader so slow it's almost useless.

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