How do I improve the performance on my iMac?

processor is 3.6 quad core intel core I3

Radeon Pro 555X 2 GBRadeon Pro 555X 2 GB

8 GB 2400 MHz DDR4

954 GB left of memory.

Don't run any software other than that came with computer desktop. Haven't downloaded a stitch.

It's always been slow in the beginning but it's getting worse. Took it 42 minutes this morning to load a page. Once it has surfed (say 10 minutes more) then it starts to work fine.

I've never added or downloaded anything to it.

What do I do? Please, I need help. The computer is just a couple years old and never been used for anything other than emails and surfing. I'm cautious about where I go online and, as mentioned, I've never downloaded or added anything. It's just like it came out of the box.

Thank you

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Posted on Mar 8, 2024 7:32 AM

Top-ranking reply

Allan Jones

Level 9

77,864 points

Posted on Mar 8, 2024 10:36 AM

Don't run any software other than that came with computer desktop.

You have BitDefender:

Antivirus software: Bitdefender

It may be the cause of WebKit, an underlying technology in Safari, using 1/8th of your RAM:

Top Processes Snapshot by Memory:

Process (count) RAM usage (Source - Location)

com.apple.WebKit.WebContent (7) 1.07 GB (Apple) 👈🏻

The real cause so your slowness is your hard drive.

Performance:

System Load: 1.56 (1 min ago) 1.62 (5 min ago) 1.55 (15 min ago)

Nominal I/O usage: 0.01 MB/s

File system: 29.40 seconds

Write speed: 85 MB/s

Read speed: 78 MB/s

You have the entry-level storage option for 2012 through 2019 iMac 21.5-inch models. It was never fast.

Yours is running as fast and can be expected for that model, which was still painfully slow compared to Apple's Fusion (hybrid) drive or a solid-state drive (SSD).

The most cost-effective speed improvement is to use an external SSD as boot volume. The cheapest and slowest external option—an SATA 6G SSD in a USB 3.0 external enclosure—will do 400 MB/sec all day long.

Good user tip here:

Use an external SSD as your startup disk … - Apple Community

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How do I improve the performance on my iMac?

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