Running 11.7.10 on iMac 21.5 (2017) - very slow! I have bought Samsung T7 SSD and though I have read many articles and guides in addition to this thread, I am unable to download the OS to my computer. Have tried the suggested App Store route but it only searches for updates. Any suggestions?
iMac 21.5″, macOS 11.7
Good job getting that EtreCheck report posted.
Your Mac and the software load looks mostly pretty good.
The problem is the terribly slow 5400 RPM mechanical HDD. Apple did not build this model and others with anything more than the bare essential for email and a little bit of web surfing. As macOS got more complex and as the demands of other applications became greater this slow HDD has been unable to keep up.
Your write and read speeds are extremely low at 44 MB/s and 52 MB/s respectively. With a 7200 hdd, these would likely be in the near 200 MB/s each.
The easiest fix for this will be to buy an external SSD, install your OS onto that, transfer your user account and data from the old drive and then use the new external SSD as your startup drive. With your Mac in running order now, putting that plan into action should be very easy. This upgrade path provides the greatest bang for your buck, so to speak. A noticeable boost in performance and a vey easy implementation. An external SSD can get your write/read speeds into the neighborhood of 400 MB/s each.
NOTE – Please see my first post above for the browser link to the correct macOS Big Sur upgrade installer and guidance.
Your tech folks at Simply Computing don't know their Macs. This iMac can accommodate up to 32 GB RAM, and the internal HDD can, in fact, be replaced with an internal SSD.
Replacing the internal hdd with an ssd is an involved process that will require a near-total teardown of the computer so there is a risk of critical damage while doing so. It is recommended that this job be done by a qualified service tech.
Likewise, upgrading the RAM modules in this iMac requires a similar teardown. It's not for the faint of heart. Again, best left to a qualified tech. Your Mac is running with the minimum amount of RAM required for these newer macOS versions, so an upgrade would likely be helpful, but in and of itself will not provide the performance boost you are hoping for.
If you're interested in knowing more about process of HDD replacement and RAM upgrade on this iMac, you can find that info at OWC/macsales.com. They know their Macs and they have videos.
Good job getting that EtreCheck report posted.
Your Mac and the software load looks mostly pretty good.
The problem is the terribly slow 5400 RPM mechanical HDD. Apple did not build this model and others with anything more than the bare essential for email and a little bit of web surfing. As macOS got more complex and as the demands of other applications became greater this slow HDD has been unable to keep up.
Your write and read speeds are extremely low at 44 MB/s and 52 MB/s respectively. With a 7200 hdd, these would likely be in the near 200 MB/s each.
The easiest fix for this will be to buy an external SSD, install your OS onto that, transfer your user account and data from the old drive and then use the new external SSD as your startup drive. With your Mac in running order now, putting that plan into action should be very easy. This upgrade path provides the greatest bang for your buck, so to speak. A noticeable boost in performance and a vey easy implementation. An external SSD can get your write/read speeds into the neighborhood of 400 MB/s each.
NOTE – Please see my first post above for the browser link to the correct macOS Big Sur upgrade installer and guidance.
Your tech folks at Simply Computing don't know their Macs. This iMac can accommodate up to 32 GB RAM, and the internal HDD can, in fact, be replaced with an internal SSD.
Replacing the internal hdd with an ssd is an involved process that will require a near-total teardown of the computer so there is a risk of critical damage while doing so. It is recommended that this job be done by a qualified service tech.
Likewise, upgrading the RAM modules in this iMac requires a similar teardown. It's not for the faint of heart. Again, best left to a qualified tech. Your Mac is running with the minimum amount of RAM required for these newer macOS versions, so an upgrade would likely be helpful, but in and of itself will not provide the performance boost you are hoping for.
If you're interested in knowing more about process of HDD replacement and RAM upgrade on this iMac, you can find that info at OWC/macsales.com. They know their Macs and they have videos.
Hi there,
I understand your frustration with your Mac's slowdown, and I wanted to offer a different perspective on potentially upgrading it.
While adding an SSD can significantly improve performance, there might be other factors impacting your specific situation. Running macOS from an external drive, even an SSD, can introduce slowdowns compared to an internal drive due to data transfer limitations.
Considering your Mac is seven years old, it's commendable that it's still running well! Before a costly hardware upgrade, there are ways to optimize it for continued use for 3 or more years.
Instead of just an SSD, I suggest exploring these options first:
System Cleanup: Remove unused applications, optimize storage by clearing caches and large files, and consider using lightweight alternatives for resource-heavy software.
If you're still considering an SSD:
These steps could effectively rejuvenate your Mac without a major hardware investment. Consider trying them before going the SSD route, especially if its external placement might negate the expected speed boost.
Remember, every situation is unique. If you share more details about your Mac model, specific slowdowns you experience, and your budget, I can offer more tailored suggestions.
Good luck!
Your local Apple dealer has misinformed you regarding the RAM capacity of you iMac.
The maximum for that iMac is 64GB RAM. But increasing the RAM is not likely to make an appreciable difference in the performance. Please see: Memory Upgrades for iMac 21.5" 2017 - macsales.com
As for the slowdown, it is possible that hdd performance is a bottleneck. It may be that there are conflicts with installed software that are the source of the problem.
I suggest that you please run an EtreCheck evaluation of your Mac and post the generated report back here in a reply. EtreCheck is a safe and highly regarded utility from a trusted developer and respected ASC contributor. The diagnostic report will not include any personal info. It simply gathers specifics about hardware performance and installed software that might be in conflict with the OS.
Please navigate to EtreCheck.com and download the free version. Be sure to Allow Full Disk Access when you install the app. Once you’ve run the app and created your report please post it with your reply to this message.
Please note you must upload the full report. To see how, please click > How to use Add Text when posting… EtreCheck Report.
We’ll use your EtreCheck report to look for the things that may be causing your problem and advise how to correct them.
No telling how much efect this has, but it needs to go...
Delete this file & restart...
/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.installer.cleanupinstaller.plist
Thanks for your input. I previously discussed our situation with the local Apple dealer (Simply Computing) and ws told that it was likely that the installed HD was slowing things down and it is not possible to install an internal SSD. They also determined that there was no way to add more memory as the two available memory slots were already maxed out at 8 GB.
With regard to the other suggestions I have started on some of these and will plug away at it. We already have an external G drive (4TB for storage and back-ups.
I have found mixed messages as to compatibility between the 2017 21.5" iMac and Big Sur - which is what is running now.
Thanks for your suggestion. Before running the EtreCheck program (report attached) I was checking the system
settings and noted that the "checking for updates" with the App Store was spinning the ball and not completing. This I had noted in one of my previous posts in this thread in connection with trying to download Big Sur with a view to adding it to my new external SSD, but it now seems to be a permanent bug in my system.
Thanks in advance for your suggestions as to how to proceed.
Thanks for posting. I have tried this route and it leads to a dead end with
I am not sure if D.I.Johnson was able to see the EtreCheck report posted Feb 11 so I am re-posting, hoping I have got this right.
Thanks for your advice and help. I have managed to download and install MacOS Big Sur - it took a long time and was done while I was busy with other stuff which is a recommended strategy to anyone else doing this. Then software update suggested upgrading to Ventura! I was hesitant to do this, wondering if this 2017 iMac would be able to handle it, but decided to go for it. So far all is working well, and the iMac is working better than it has done for years! I ran Etrecheck and all seems well. I was interested to see that Performance write and read speeds are above 400 MB/s.
System Load: 2.69 (1 min ago) 2.77 (5 min ago) 3.28 (15 min ago)
Nominal I/O usage: 0.17 MB/s
File system: 24.79 seconds
Write speed: 421 MB/s
Read speed: 436 MB/s
Trying to Install MacOS Big Sur on a portable external drive (Samsung T7)
