What would be the best macOS to run on my MacBook Pro 2017?

Steve_999 wrote:

hello,

i have a nonetouchbar macbook pro 2017 with stock i5 and 8 gigs of ram. I just want to ask, what os would you recommend because ventura isnt running snappy.

I have a similar MacBook Pro 2017, with I& and 16 GB RAM. After installation of Ventura it was noticeably slower.

Therefore, I would recommend Monterey.

The best OS to run on any Mac is the one that shipped with the Mac as it was designed specifically for the hardware you have. Each year, Apple writes an OS to exploit the hardware in the Macs they will be selling in that year.

The next year's OS may work fine on your Mac, or it may have performance issues because the OS wasn't optimized for your hardware.

All of that means you have to weigh the benefits of new features against whatever performance issues you observe when trying out the new OS. Things you have installed could cloud that performance factor, so it is best to test with an unmolested version.

Steve_999 wrote:

I just made a clean install of ventura and ssd is ~30% full (i have 128 gb model and used 30 gb for basic things (browser, apple office apps etc...)

That, in and of itself ( 128 GB SSD ) is going to require some very careful and ongoing "disk management " on the part of the user

The operating system itself occupies about 9 - 10 GB of space

Add in your User Account ( Home folder ) plus any Third Party Applications and Personal files

Sorry but unless one is very aware, at all times, of the Empty Space on the drive.

You will be spending more time trying to keep about 15 to 20% of the Drive Capacity as Empty Space in-order to have a well running computer

Even running macOS 12 Monterey, the same scenario will crop up

You could invest time and some money and get an External enclosure and a matching SSD for the enclosure.

Then install Ventura to the external Drive and run the opening system from that drive

Good staring point might be www.owc.com

They may have the exact enclosed and matching larger SSD drive to this specific machine

Otherwise, to future proof for your very changing needs

Explore the Apple Trade-In  Process where the Value of the exiting device could be used against the cost of a new Apple Computer

Notation - Some devices and depending on the computers age may have little to no value at Trade In time.

Or Shop Refurbished Apple computers at an Apple Reduced Cost

That would appear to be a MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, Two Thunderbolt 3 Ports) with a two-core CPU and Intel integrated graphics (no discrete GPU).

How much space is available on your internal drive? That machine has flash storage (a SSD), but if you filled the SSD to the brim, that could be causing things to slow down.

What sorts of applications are you running on it?

RAM is soldered in on that Mac, as it is on all Retina MacBook Pros. You could get that machine with 16 GB, but only by ordering it with that much.

The OP could use the Memory tab in Activity Monitor to check if the 8 GB he has is enough for what he is doing. (it should be for everyday word processing and Web browsing, but for heavy Photoshop use, running Windows in virtual machines, etc., the story might be different.)

Steve_999 wrote:

I just made a clean install of ventura and ssd is ~30% full (i have 128 gb model and used 30 gb for basic things (browser, apple office apps etc...)

You should be set as far as free space.

Because you've just done a clean install, Spotlight may take a while to re-index the contents of your drive, but I wouldn't expect that to take very long, given that you have only 30 GB of files, and that they are on a SSD.

Next question: Are you (or were you) using any applications like

• Security / anti-virus programs
• "Cleaners"
• and the like?

Security programs that are always running in the background can drag performance down, especially if there are two or more of them and they are fighting each other.

I always use the latest macOS the Mac supports. If some app needs an older macOS I use it by booting to an external disk or VMware Fusion VM.

Right now I am using MacBook Pro 2017 (Two Thunderbolt 3 Ports) 8 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD (90 GB available, 1,4 GB purgeable), Ventura 13.6.7 and it runs OK.

What ever system you end up with do not install and run any "cleaning", "optimizing", "speed-up", anti-virus or VPN (unless required by your employer, school or bank) apps on your Mac. They are not necessary under any conditions and often have an adverse effect on system and application performance.

MacOS shares a lot of the lock-down mechanisms developed for the iPhone. Applications are all sand-boxed with a list of the resources they require, and they cannot ask for anything outside their sandbox without crashing. Signed Applications are checked that they are from legitimate Developers, and Notarized Applications are delivered with the assurance that they have NOT been modified since their release by the Developer.

Recent versions of MacOS completely changed how you should think about malware.

From MacOS 10.15 Catalina onward, the system is on a Separate, crypto-locked System Volume, which is not writeable using ordinary means. Any unauthorized differences that appear to the crypto-locked volume are quickly detected and you are alerted.

So you could store just about every malware known to mankind on your Mac, and your Mac would not get infected spontaneously. Scanning for virus-like patterns might make you feel a little better now, but it is outdated nonsense.

Nothing can become Executable Unless/Until you supply your Admin password to "make it so".

Effective defenses against malware and ot… - Apple Community

I suggest that your machine would run much better on 16 GB of RAM if it can be upgradeable.