tz4bu
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Q: Macbook air mid 2009 very slow

Hello,

I recently bought a Macbook Aid mid 2009 with 2 GB ram, 120GB Sata and 1.86GHZ Core2Duo.

I'm running on OS X 10.9.3 since I bought it.

 

The laptop is loading very slow many times and I noticed 'kerner_task' taking alot of CPU and RAM.

I'm wondering if my laptop is not good enough for OS X 10.9.3 (this is my first Mac).

 

Ia there anything I can do?

 

 

 

 

Thank you

MacBook Air, OS X Mavericks (10.9.3)

Posted on May 19, 2014 11:43 AM

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tz4bu

Q: Macbook air mid 2009 very slow

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  • by sberman,

    sberman sberman May 19, 2014 12:07 PM in response to tz4bu
    Level 8 (41,090 points)
    May 19, 2014 12:07 PM in response to tz4bu

    Yours is the first computer I've heard about on these forums that is attempting to run Mavericks with only 2GB of RAM.

     

    Indeed that is acceptable per the Mavericks requirements:

    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5842

     

    ... but as you may know, Apple has not sold computers with as little as 2GB RAM for quite a while.

     

    I suggest therefore you make sure you remove any applications that may be overtaxing your machine.  Examples are browsers other than Safari, Mac cleaning products (such as Mac Keeper), or any other non-Apple app that has some startup process running (such as Outlook).

  • by tz4bu,

    tz4bu tz4bu May 19, 2014 12:09 PM in response to sberman
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 19, 2014 12:09 PM in response to sberman

    So I should downgrade my system to an earlier OS X version? If yes, what version is recommended to use? And how should I downgrade it? I have no instalation CD or anything.

     

     

     

    Thank you very much

  • by sberman,

    sberman sberman May 19, 2014 12:11 PM in response to tz4bu
    Level 8 (41,090 points)
    May 19, 2014 12:11 PM in response to tz4bu

    There is no right or wrong answer here.

     

    My recommendation is not to downgrade.

  • by tz4bu,

    tz4bu tz4bu May 19, 2014 12:17 PM in response to sberman
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 19, 2014 12:17 PM in response to sberman

    Correct me if I'm wrong but a older OS version should have lower requirements so it should low smoother on a older system. Isn't that right?

     

    Also, I'm not sure but I think I can't upgrade my RAM, is that right?

     

     

     

     

    Thank you for your time

  • by sberman,

    sberman sberman May 19, 2014 12:47 PM in response to tz4bu
    Level 8 (41,090 points)
    May 19, 2014 12:47 PM in response to tz4bu

    I would never go backward in an operating system, whether Apple's or not.  Newer is better, more robust, better able to handle later products, able to accept updates and upgrades, etc.

     

    Again, consider what other software you are running and get rid of the software as I mentioned in my initial response.

     

    Yes, you are right, you cannot update your RAM.

  • by tz4bu,

    tz4bu tz4bu May 19, 2014 3:29 PM in response to sberman
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 19, 2014 3:29 PM in response to sberman

    I'm using only Chrome, VLC Player and Skype besides the pre-installed apps.

    I know that is best to use latest OS, but is a bit hard when I see the laptop running slow, so my question is if with an older OS version it will run a bit smoother (I guess when this model was not running slow when was launched by Apple).

    Also, I noticed that it works better when I open it after a few hours of sleep (when is not hot).

     

     

     

    Thanks

  • by sberman,

    sberman sberman May 19, 2014 3:41 PM in response to tz4bu
    Level 8 (41,090 points)
    May 19, 2014 3:41 PM in response to tz4bu

    Chrome is certainly a resource hog!

     

    Skype shouldn't be bad when it's not turned on.

     

    I don't know about VLC player.

     

    Other items to consider include anti-virus software, in addition to the cleaning types of apps mentioned above.

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 May 19, 2014 4:03 PM in response to tz4bu
    Level 9 (51,432 points)
    Desktops
    May 19, 2014 4:03 PM in response to tz4bu

    tz4bu wrote:

     

    Correct me if I'm wrong but a older OS version should have lower requirements so it should low smoother on a older system. Isn't that right?

    No, Mavericks has similar requirements to Snow Leopard (10.6), and lloer requirements than Lion (10.7) or Mountain Lion (10.8)

     

    And you can not upgrade Ram in a Mac Air.

     

    Frankly 2GB is too little for use with OSX, unless you're patient. Can you take it back and get another?

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 May 19, 2014 4:04 PM in response to tz4bu
    Level 9 (51,432 points)
    Desktops
    May 19, 2014 4:04 PM in response to tz4bu

    tz4bu wrote:

     

    I'm using only Chrome, VLC Player and Skype besides the pre-installed apps.

    Get rid of Chrome and use Safari instead.