Is there a way to speed up my iMac?

I have an iMac 21.5 2017 and it was terribly slow. It would takeminutes to boot and sometimes a couple of minutes just to activate a program.

I solved this by purchasing a SanDisk 2T SSD and running Carbon Copy Cloner (Bombich software) The 30 day trial version is all you will need.

Go to youtube videos and search for How to Clone your macOS Hard Drive | Carbon Copy Cloner. ( watch?v=SPUxOHJqa_8 ). Good video, shows you exactly how to it.

After doing this (and it was really simple) my computer now boots in less than a minute and it activates programs in seconds (one or two bouncing symbols).

The key is the external SSD. They are a bit expensive (I paid 240 Euros, about $260 US). I know people that did this with an external HDD and the computer was just as slow as before.

Have fun.

John

Almost all 21.5" iMacs between 2012 and 2020 were glacially slow due to the 5400 RPM HD that was installed. Macs made after 2021 all use SSD's which are orders of magnitude faster. Some of those 2012-2020 machines used a Fusion Drive (a very small SSD and a 5400 RPM HD) which improved performance and some even had SSDs however users that purchased base model 21.5" models between those years bought machines that were ONLY intended for doing very basic tasks such as e-mail and minor web surfing.

Go to your local Apple Store or Apple reseller and try a new iMac or any other Mac out and you will see they are dramatically improved. Going forward, speak to the retailer and determine what your needs are so you buy the machine that is suited for what you need and not the lowest price for a Mac.

Are you running any VPN, Anti-Virus, or Cleaning apps?

We need to see what all is running, a report from this will not display any personal info...

Using EtreCheck - Apple Community

EtreCheck is a FREE simple little diagnostic tool to display the important details of your system configuration and allow you to copy that information to the Clipboard. It is meant to be used with Apple Support Communities to help people help you with your Mac. It will not display any personal info.

https://www.etrecheck.com/

Thanks for Old Toad’s etrecheck instructions…

Slow iMac 2017 - Apple Community

My hunch is you may not have read the Terms of Use that you agreed to when you began posting on these forums. They clearly state what is okay to post on these forums and what is not. If you need help finding them please let us know.

We get that you are unhappy with your our purchase (5 years ago now) however we would like to help you if you post an EtreCheck report so we can get a good idea what may be causing the lack of performance. BDAqua posted links to instructions for you above. There are very likely things you can do to improve performance without buying a new machine.

If you can post an etrecheck report we might have some better answers.

The OP stated (in an inappropriate post that was removed) she was going to get an HP to replace her iMac.

Ah, thanks.

👍