M1 base model iMac can barely handle multiple tabs being open

Question

Level 1

4 points

M1 base model iMac can barely handle multiple tabs being open

Hello everyone.

I recently purchased this barely used base model 2021 iMac, with 8GB of ram and 256GB of SSD.

I already have an M2 16/512 Macbook Air which can handle a lot of tabs and open apps with ease, but with this computer I am really struggling.

I brought it home and sync'd my laptop with it so it has all my files, and even deleted some bloat like movies and mp3 files so it has less strain, but this thing can't handle 15-20 tabs open at once - the whole computer turns into a slob, mouse will seldom be unresponsive etc.

For example, when the computer is straining it will actually have delay in its character input/deletion, so searching for stuff online becomes a drag.

I check the Activity Monitor every time and while some processes seem to take a lot of memory, the Memory Pressure never indicates any issue.

As suggested in other threads here, I downloaded EtreCheck and now have a diagnostic report and provided here the full report - any help would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance

EtreCheck report

iMac 24″, macOS 14.5

Posted on Aug 4, 2024 11:20 AM

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Answer 1

rkaufmann87

Level 10

146,400 points

Aug 5, 2024 4:02 PM in response to Roee163

Well it appears the Nord VPN is gone and that is good, the other VPN, F5 could be the issue. Can you uninstall and then verify it is gone, then restart in Safe Mode and then restart normally and test the original problem. If the problem has disappeared then you have then determined the F5 VPN is problem. At that point you have a decision to make, sacrifice performance or examine the University’s VPN stance to see what other solutions the university offers.

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Answer 2

Roee163 Author

Level 1

4 points

Aug 6, 2024 2:07 AM in response to Allan Jones

I should be thanking you, not the other way around :)

I just realized I downloaded it (Karabiner) for some keyboard shortcuts fiddling but I ended up not using it at all, so I deleted that and some other apps I wasn't using.

Here is a followup log done immediately upon restarting.

I will keep using the computer as I normally do and will post a followup. I will try and monitor the Swap used, most likely if I see the computer struggling.

Another note: This may be obvious but the difference between my M2 MBA (16GB, 512 SSD) and this M1 iMac (8GB, 256 SSD) is ridiculous. Being a student of Humanities I use 2 different Safari profiles, 1 is personal and 1 is for university. Being so, I almost always have 15 tabs open on my student profile and around 7-8 on my personal one. I will also always have my Mail app open, Preview with multiple PDF's, MS Word (sometimes around 2-4 docs open), WhatsApp app, BetterTouchTool, an app called Ethernet Status (simply adds a small ethernet icon to my control center), and sometimes I will have the ChatGPT app and Spotify open.

These are very, very basic apps and my MBA pretty much never slows down, even when I add apps like Discord, Spotify, YouTube running in the background, GarageBand... It doesn't break a sweat (as it should, these are basic tasks).

So far my experience with this M1 iMac is the opposite, and I'm beginning to wonder if I shouldn't expect a base model iMac to perform anywhere near the fluidity of the higher end MBA and whether I should just use the iMac as a monitor for my MBA.

I'm sorry for the rant, I am just pretty bummed out about this whole experience.

Fresh log, deleted Karabiner + random apps

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Answer 3

Roee163 Author

Level 1

4 points

Aug 6, 2024 10:48 AM in response to Keith Barkley

Hey, I just did it and tried to use the computer like it for a few mins. It seemed to be fine, so I restarted my computer again and removed all the apps that are allowed to run in the background, except for 3.

I gave it around 30-40 mins, and now upon checking my activity monitor again it my Swap is back to using 1.46GB.

I added another log to this reply... Could it be the solution is just to reset the computer to factory settings?

Another log.

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Answer 4

Allan Jones

Level 9

73,628 points

Aug 5, 2024 11:07 AM in response to Roee163

This is concerning:

Virtual Memory Information:

Physical RAM: 8 GB

Free RAM: 65 MB

Used RAM: 7.14 GB

Cached files: 817 MB

Available RAM: 882 MB

Swap Used: 4.31 GB ⚠️

Swap is over HALF of your current installed RAM. With base amounts of RAM you need to either offload some of the extra apps or at least restart the computer every couple of days. Even on a base iMac, Swap should not be over about 50-100MB after only five days. That usually indicates something you installed is now really taxing an entry-level computer.

This instance of high CPU use:

2024-08-04 05:34:10 spotlightknowledged - High CPU Use (12 times)

First occurrence: 2024-07-30 09:12:02

can be reduced by doing Settings > Spotlight and reducing the items Spotlight is indexing. By default it indexes everything on your computer. There is no reason to index for search apps, email, and other things, especially those like Mail that have their own search option.

I have my Spotlight indexing limited to Documents, images, folder, PDFs, and spreadsheets.

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Answer 5

Roee163 Author

Level 1

4 points

Aug 5, 2024 1:09 PM in response to rkaufmann87

Hey rkaufmann87, I uninstalled ExpressVPN a while ago, this is prolly just some leftovers. I do have something called F5 VPN, but I have to use it in order to have access to some university papers (although I'd remove it and contact them if it were to cause issues).