Aperture has become extremely slow - how can it be speeded up ?

Question

Aperture has become extremely slow - how can it be speeded up ?

With the loss of 32bit version and following updates Aperture has ground to a halt. I have set up a new library, cleared settings, and have a max of 2000 images in the library at any one time. Problem occurs with 10mb RAW files in folders of 200 images, never mind larger 22mb RAW files

I have also gone through Disc Utility to clean up my Mac

I cannot run Photoshop CS6 and Aperture at the same time (with all other apps closed). Aperture crashes at least once a day !

Any help to speed up Aperture would be appreciated

Aperture 3, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2), MacBook Pro 2.8GHz core 2 Duo, 4GB

Posted on Feb 23, 2013 4:47 AM

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Answer 1

Feb 23, 2013 9:38 AM in response to Nick-Thirteen

If 4 MB of RAM is correct, the solution is to install more RAM. Imho, 8 MB is the functional minimum (at 4 MB you should close all other programs when using Aperture), 16 MB is going to be excellent for almost all users.

Also make sure you have plenty of free space on your system drive. My sense of how much -- for me, a heavy user of Aperture with 1 TB Libraries containing 70 MP files -- is about 100 GB free space. As a rule of thumb I'd recommend at least 10% free space for anyone using Aperture regularly.

You should run the database repair function after every Aperture crash. Details are on this Apple support page.

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Answer 2

Feb 23, 2013 12:05 PM in response to Kirby Krieger

I have 4GB of RAM installed - this is the maximun I can install on my Mac. I have 60% of my hard drive free - around 300GB, so plenty of space.

I store all of my exported images (200 000) on a separate hard drive and not part of my Aperture library - so they should have no effect on Aperture

I repair the database whenever Aperture crashes and suggests a repair - usually once a week

So a three year old top spec (at the time) MacBook Pro should not be struggling to operate with just a few images in the Aperture library. It used to be very nimble, but there seems to be no reason why Aperture has slowed, especially as I have cleaned up my Mac and released more HD space

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Answer 3

UKmacnut

Level 1

0 points

Feb 23, 2013 2:30 PM in response to Nick-Thirteen

I agree, your Mac is not old at all, and your library size is not too big. It shouldn't be slow at all. I use Onyx as my disc cleanup utility, and I run a five year old iMac on an Solid State Drive (SSD) drive. I believe the SSD really helped to speed up Aperture and iTunes.

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Answer 4

Feb 23, 2013 2:48 PM in response to Nick-Thirteen

If it is a 2009 MBP you can go to 8gb.

Post the model identifier ( About this Mac->More Info->System Information) so we can check.

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Answer 5

Feb 23, 2013 3:46 PM in response to UKmacnut

I have used Onyx to clean up my Mac. Aperture is by far the slowest app on my Mac. I guess a SSD would help, but that does not appear to be an option at this stage (until a computer upgrade)

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Answer 6

Feb 23, 2013 3:49 PM in response to Frank Caggiano

Frank - my Model Identifier is - MacBookPro5,2

I understand from Apple that 4GB of RAM is the highest I can go, would upgrade if I can (in preference to replacing my machine at this stage - I was hoping for a couple more years from the Mac, at least !)

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Answer 7

Feb 23, 2013 4:39 PM in response to Nick-Thirteen

Check with Crucial. I'm pretty sure you can replace your current memory chips with 2 x 4 GB.

http://www.crucial.com/store/drammemory.aspx

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Answer 8

Feb 23, 2013 6:28 PM in response to Nick-Thirteen

See Apple MacBook Pro "Core 2 Duo" 2.8 17" Mid-2009 Specs

You can go to 8gb in that model. You will need to remover the 2x2gb modules in there now and replace them with 2.x4gb.

See Other World Computing or Crucial for more information.

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Answer 9

Feb 24, 2013 8:10 AM in response to Frank Caggiano

Thanks Frank

I'll try a RAM upgrade via CrucialUK to see if that helps. I'll also investigate SSD if that would help as well - I assume these drives give faster performance than optical drives

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Answer 10

Feb 24, 2013 9:09 AM in response to Nick-Thirteen

An SSD wouldn't replace an optical drive. It would either replace your current HD ot else be added to the system.

I know OWC has conversion programs where they will either replace the HD with an SSD, leave the HD in and replace the superdrive with an SSD or relace the HD with an SSD and replace the superdrive with your HHD.

These all give increased performance in different ways. Having the SSD as the boot drive speeds up system booting and access to applications and some data files. Leaving the HD and adding the SSD would allow you to use the whole of the SSD for data storage.

Which one is right for anyone depends on how they use the system and what they are looking to enhance.

There may be outfits in the UK that will do similar things. I'm not sure how involved opening a 2009 MBP is, you might be able to do the upgrades yourself.

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Answer 11

Feb 24, 2013 12:14 PM in response to Frank Caggiano

Sorry Frank - I meant I was hoping to improve the performance of my HD by replacing with a SSD. I was aiming to replace rather than add to as having a laptop Mac I didn't want to carry an external SSD around. I plug in to external HD's for hooking up to my photo collection, so didn't want to add more external devices

If the RAM upgrade doesn't improve performance sufficiently I'll look at trying to replace the internal HD with a SSD via a UK supplier, if it is relatively straight forward !

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Answer 12

Feb 24, 2013 4:37 PM in response to Nick-Thirteen

Nothing I wrote suggests an external drive. All the options I listed are done inside the MBP.

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Answer 13

CorkyO2

Level 4

1,290 points

Feb 24, 2013 6:24 PM in response to Nick-Thirteen

Nick-Thirteen wrote:

If the RAM upgrade doesn't improve performance sufficiently I'll look at trying to replace the internal HD with a SSD via a UK supplier, if it is relatively straight forward !

If you are comfortable with removing the base plate of the MBP and carefully using the proper mini drivers, then it is very easy to replace the HDD with a SSD. I did it in my MacBook Pro 17" (late 2011) with an OWC SSD as well as installing 16 GB OWC RAM (even though Apple only specs 8 GB). Works like a charm and Apple Hardware Test passes both without issue.

For some video tutorials on the procedures for your specific model, see this page:

http://eshop.macsales.com/installvideos/macbookpro_17_unibody/

Procedure will apply with whatever RAM and SSD compatible with your machine. 😉

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