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OS X Mavericks - Awful Performance

Well, here we go again...


Apple releases an updated OS and it turns my Mac which is less than a year old into an underperforming little box of frustration for no apparent reason. I installed Mavericks last night and the overall performance of my system has taken an absolute nosedive. Seemingly every operation (booting up, launching apps, playing video/audio, browsing the filesystem, etc) is noticably slower. I really don't feel like this should be the case considering the hardware I am running on which is listed below:


Mac mini (late 2012):

2.6GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7

8GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x4GB

1TB Fusion Drive


I literally got this thing (maxed out on specs and $$$) less than a year ago and already Apple's awesome OS update has already devalued it. Is this the strategy these days? Release OS updates that run like crap on hardware that isn't even a year old in order to force people to keep purchasing newer hardware? All of a sudden a system that left nothing to be desired in terms of performance is now exhibiting early-2000s behavior that includes stuttering video/audio, spinning beach balls galore, and apps that sit and bounce in the dock 15 times before it even launches and becomes useable.


Is anyone else seeing this stuff? The memory and CPU useage on my system looks fine to me so it's tough for me to just blame a bad install for all of this. I can't see any reason why it's performing so badly now given all of the features Apple bragged about that are supposed to speed up your system (App Nap, Compressed Memory, OpenCL, etc). This is worse than going from Snow Leopard to Lion, IMHO.


Apple - You can keep your Maps app, tabbed Finder, and the annoying notifications flashing in my face every two seconds if it means that my system will be able to perform well again. I want my system back.

Mac mini, OS X Mavericks (10.9)

Posted on Oct 23, 2013 9:49 AM

Reply
277 replies

Mar 6, 2014 12:15 PM in response to Drew Reece

Hi Drew,


I am going to erase and reinstall mavericks in a clean install.


You mentioned that I should use a carbon copy clone rather than a time machine back up? Why is this? Can I not copy the files and applications I need across from my time machine back up?


Also how does it work in terms of bringing across applications I need?


For example, Microsoft Office - can I just 'copy and paste' across the applications? Or would I need original installer disks or .dmg files for any programs I wish to install on the clean version of mavericks?


Thanks

Will

Mar 6, 2014 1:06 PM in response to wilston122

I prefer 'bootable' clones for several reasons.


  • It's really easy to open a cloned disk & dig around to find a file you need 3 weeks down the line, Time Machine is painful if you need to restore something from your hidden library or from several different locations.
  • Migration Assistant can copy data from that clone, it seems quicker than restoring from a Time Machine copy.
  • Time Machine had a habit of letting me down a few years ago, the clones were always sound. This is hardly surprising when TM runs for years on end, adding & removing thousands of files and then cleaning them out many months later. My clones are updated less often than Time Machine.
  • If the internal disk is failing you have a full copy of your data that can be used to boot another similar Mac. So you can go about your daily tasks after a quick reboot. The same is true if the clean install fails.
  • Cleanly restoring from Time Machine involves installing a new OS & waiting for data to migrate. A clone can be restored when booted from a recovery partition or a bootable USB install stick.
  • I'm unhappy trusting one backup disk or backup type, if the data is important, take the time to make 2 copies using different tools.


You need to be careful how you restore apps, avoid using Migration Assistant for Applications user data should be OK - MA will handle the permissions for Users. Just avoid reusing the same username when you setup the Mac so that MA can make a new account to copy your data into.


'Drag installed apps' should be OK for apps that were installed that way to start with, but frankly you should go and look for updates and download the latest versions otherwise you may have to update when the app runs & does it's next check.


Large apps like Microsoft Office install a lot of extra libraries & support files, so you really need to use the installer. Adobe Apps will generally use installers too.


System Profile will give you a full list of installed apps (inside the /Applications/Utilities folder). Save a PDF or print off a copy to make a checklist of the ones you need to install. It lists everything so don't worry about ones that you don't recognize 🙂.

Mar 8, 2014 10:03 AM in response to Swift1113

I am a media developer and am VERY disappointed that Apple has withdrawn third party media support.

I have a large library of media developed for multi-platform support that Mavericks left out in the cold.

I can only hope that Apple will see the error of their ways an fold back in OS level support of wmv, avi, flv and other media formats "not invented here" that apple has cast to the wayside with Mavericks, thus leaving us multi platform developers with no choice other than staying with Moutain Lion.


Steve Jobs would NEVER have take this tact.


PLEASE reverse this negative trend Apple!


Until then, I will be forced to stay with Mountain Lion.

Mar 8, 2014 10:20 AM in response to markr010001

markr010001 wrote:


I can only hope that Apple will see the error of their ways an fold back in OS level support of wmv, avi, flv and other media formats "not invented here" that apple has cast to the wayside with Mavericks, ...



OS X never included native support for WMV or FLV. AVI is a container that can use a number of different compression algorithms. Mavericks changed none of that. Stay with Mountain Lion if you choose. The world moves on.

Mar 8, 2014 10:55 AM in response to petermac87

I see that not only are people drinking the coolaid, but they are serving it as well. Never upgrade for the sake of upgrading. As for Mountain Lion being buggy, please name one bug. I have seen zero. As for Mavericks, my standing issues are serious and still exist in 10.9.2:


(1) SMB

(2) Screen Sharing

(3) MacMail


Apple has had two chances to fix the bugs (10.9 -> 10.9.1 -> 10.9.2) and they have not. I will test 10.9.3 in my lab when it comes out. If stable we will make the switch.


Bottom line: use what works for you. Don't let someone tell you what you need. ML will be supported for quite some time yet; no need to hurry however all OS vendors want you to migrate asap, for the obvious reason ($$$).


Mark

Mar 8, 2014 11:27 AM in response to petermac87

'Drinking the kool-aid' came from the Jim Jones' and the People's Temple Guyana tragedy.

Here's one account: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guyana_Tragedy:_The_Story_of_Jim_Jones


In short, hundreds of Jones' followers perished after they were given a tainted beverage, allegedly "Kool-aid", a trademark of a brand of popular powdered drink mixes (to be mixed with sugar and water for consumption) in the US, and, years ago, marketed primarily to children and their parents through television advertising featuring an animated large glass pitcher with a smiley-face drawn in the moisture that collected.


Now 'drinking the kool-aid' is often used, especially in American politics, as a euphemism for blindly accepting and doing what the leader is saying.

Mar 8, 2014 11:27 AM in response to petermac87

Ccol-Aid or Kool-Aid is a type of powdered fruit drink beverage in the States. Usually a children's drink/beverage.

Some cults used to use this and add some of their own powdered illegal substances to this powdered drink to help their followers be more passive/agreeable to the cult and cult's causes and these cults, also, used to mix deadly powdered substances into the Kool-Aid, too, to silently kill their members in mass suicide rituals.

Not "soft" at all, as you imply.

OS X Mavericks - Awful Performance

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