iTunes 12 extremely slow?

Also same issue with iTunes 12.3.1 too slow. When I launch it, this results in 100% busy.

If I plugin an iPhone, spinning beach ball for 5 minutes with only 10 small videos synced. Unchecking all video sync results in hanging of iTunes for about 30 seconds. As it is now, I don't load any videos my iPhone nor iPad so that I don't have to deal with this slow issue with iTunes every time I plug them in. I reloaded my iPhone and iPad from scratch including rebuilding a complex menu and continued to have the same issue with slow sync as soon as I include some videos. I even used the option within iTunes to convert the videos for iPhone format and that didn't help either.

Worst is I have the option enabled to 'NOT' automatically sync the iOS devices. What is iTunes doing hanging for 5 minutes when I explicitly selected to not have the iOS devices sync automatically? Dealt with second level tech support at Apple including engineering and no solution was provided. Totally frustrating.

In this just, "It Just Doesn't Work". This is unacceptable performance with this technology.

Running a MacPro late 2013 with El Capitan 10.11.1, 32GB of RAM

iTunes Librarty is 1.2TB with 164,000 tracks, 1200 iOS apps.

So...bottom line...there is not yet a clear reason or solution for this?

Using El Capitan on Late 2012 27-inch iMac

32G Memory

Music stored on HD

Every single click in itunes results in the spinning wheel. Driving me nuts.

***, Apple

Me too and it seems to be getting slower 😟

Swinsian is fantastic. Weird name but it can be configured to look identical to iTunes. I imported my entire iTunes library (304GB) and not a single beachball spin yet. I can do everything I do on iTunes except sync my iDevices (pity). Swinsian actually has a couple of features extra that iTunes doesn't have such as, identifying dead file shortcuts and eliminating them. Highly customisable and user friendly. It actually says on their website that library size is not an issue - and it's not. It does support AirPlay although I haven't tried that yet.

You can try a free 30 day trial but, I know after only an hour that the $19.95 price will be well worth it. iTunes is just not viable any more. I will only use it for syncing and the occasional purchase.

This is utter crap. This is exactly how I have been importing since the beginning. iTunes is now unusable for me. The lag has become so long now that I can't use it anymore. I am now seriously considering paying the huge bucks to purchase TunesGo. I don't see any alternative.

Thanks for the product endorsement. I hope you get a nice royalty out of it. I use a similar program with the same functions called, Onyx. It is free and is very thorough at cleaning your Mac. I run it at least weekly.

I have not added anything new or changed anything before this lag problem began. My library is stored locally and, apart from importing music in the usual ways, I haven't changed anything. This problem seems to have begun with the introduction of the new iTunes functions, Music Match, Apple Music and Connect. I believe, as someone else pointed out, to be the source of the problem. iTunes is simply trying to do too much. It has become bloated.

As I mentioned before, I tried using Swinsian and haven't got the spinning ball once. It has no problems with my huge number of playlists (no indexing problems).

Next suggestion?

PS I have left feedback for iTunes. I suggest everybody who is having a problem with it should do also. It is in the iTunes drop down menu.

I run Onyx that does the same thing and it doesn't help. I leave the processes run and don't abort so the jobs get a chance to complete.

My issue has been around for some time and I have dealt with second level support at Apple including providing all kinds of log files and no resolution came out of it.

Over and above what I was reporting in my own thread submission, I discovered a bug in iTunes with videos so at this point, I don't sync any iPhone/iPad using iTunes to these devices as when I do, as soon as I plug any iDevice, iTunes presents me with a spinning beach ball for 5-10 minutes. This issue occurs even after using the function with iTunes to create a new version that is iPhone or iPad friendly. I'm talking about short videos of 2 minutes, somehow, syncing some videos results in iTunes hanging for 5-10 minutes every time I plug in an iOS device even though I specifically have the switch to prevent auto-sync.

My diagnostics included replacing my MacPro (I had the same issue with an older version MacPro and I replaced to a new MacPro this past January, rebuilt it all from scratch so no migration of anything), also tried creating a brand new user on my MacPro, loading my entire library into iTunes (took 4 solid days/nights), getting a completely separate iPhone with nothing on it then syncing some music, apps,... Another test was buying a totally different Thunderbolt hard-drive, moving my music library to it then rebuilding iTunes from scratch,... None of which resulted in any resolution to my issue.

My computer runs fast, very fast, with everything else including video editing and large photo edits, and this using the same drives as my iTunes library.

Although it may be true that some of the comments here are to vent, do not assume that nobody has done any kind of serious troubleshooting. Although the tool that you mentioned may be useful, it does not resolve the issue with iTunes that I think a lot of people are experiencing. I for one have over 30 years of technology background, have done everything I possibly could to isolate my issue. Even Apple's second level support didn't find the issue after spending many many many hours connected to my computer to monitor it. Engineering was engaged although they've probably got bigger issues to address than my computer iTunes issue, none of us know where a large library iTunes issue is in their priority list.

The only common element with that I cannot eliminate is: iTunes. There is something not quite right with something although I don't think any of us can resolve this on on our. It resides with Apple's engineering. Every time there's a new iTunes, I keep hoping that it will resolve the issue I have, sadly, this has been going on for years and despite progressing to every operating system, the issue remains.

I don't think, that I have a database problem, as described by you and of course any CleanMyMac will cause more problems than solve ...

My problems occur on a MacMini running constantly for 4 consecutive years (some reboots during system updates of course), running headless without keyboard and screen in a cabinet, an external hard drive connected running ONE software (itunes) and nothing else is installed, except the stuff, that comes with the OSx.

So I assume the system had enough time to clean any mess in the database and to rearrange whatever it thinks it should rearrange.

I assume a serious problem in iTunes handling bigger collections and Apple ignoring this issue, since they want to sell music through their channels.

1. Switching from "Artist"-view to "Track"-view solves every beachball problem immediately. I tried this now for a few days and all edits worked in an instant, Adding files, renaming files, adding tags, renumbering, adding a cover, etc. So I am pretty sure my database is generally sorted in a properly manner.

2. Switching back to "Artist"-view immediately led to a beachball for more than three minutes, only for renaming a single file. And this repeats for every edit.

My databasse is 10k albums, 120k tracks, 3 GB size and the problems exist for a longer period, at least one year, so it is the same with several iTunes releases.

I'll follow the hint with installing Swinsian, an whenever this turns out to work and there is a solution for remote operation through an iPad I might switch systems.

It really *****, that Apple seems to fall into the same ignorance as Microsoft did.

I'm having the same problem. I'm a PC user running Windows 10. Ever since iTunes 12 got released it started running slower and slower (and with the latest update it's virtually unusable). It now takes over a minute to display which track is playing. I usually play my tracks on random and skip a few but skipping a track takes forever now. This new iTunes is a joke.

Absolutely agree.. FFS fix this apple..

i have about 40 albums in my library totaling... maybe 400 tracks..

...that were all already there, seeing as i simply upgraded from 11 to 12.

Worst.

Itunes

Ever.

quad core 3ghz

16gb 1600mhz ram

mirrored+striped raid that easily reads and writes both over 100 megabytes/second

this new itunes takes about 30-60 seconds just to click on a song title for it to be selected.

i have to wait a minute or two for it to become active just to drag the window to move it to the other side of the screen

if i accidentally play a song i didn't want, i'm stuck hearing it for a minute before i can select another song.

this itunes reminds me of dating back in junior high..

don't even try to figure out what it's doing, it's not going to tell you..

and you're going to regret what happens if you try to touch it inappropriately.

I had this problem as well, here is what I did to fix...

Basically, throw the iTunes application in the trash, but to do this you need to change the permissions because iTunes is a required app for mac OS.

First, download a copy of iTunes version 12.3.0, it seems to be 12.3.1 and later that are giving problems.

Right click on the iTunes app in your applications folder, and click 'get info'.

When the window opens, click the lock in bottom right of the window. You will have to enter your computer password.

Then change the permission on "everyone" to "Read & Write". Close the "info" window.

Drag iTunes app into the trash and empty the trash (this should only delete the app, not your music or video libraries).

Then install the iTunes version 12.3.0. When you open it should come up normal, music libraries and all.

It worked great for me, only one version behind and no beach balls when using it now!

Echo this - i've been testing this issue on different macs (recent macbook pro, mac pro 2013 and mac pro 2008 - all specced good)

When the library gets over a certain size - iTunes 12 chokes itself to death - gets stuck on 100 % CPU (no matter how many cores you have)

This is consistent on both Mavericks, Yosemite and El Capitan. This is purely related to the iTunes version and not the OS version.

I've tried every trick mentioned in these forums and none of them have any noticeable effect on performance. I've also rebuild the library from the XML file and moved the library around to and from diff harddrives.

All to no avail - Im a bit of a music collector so this is important to me.

Solution:

Reverting to iTunes 12.3.0.44 makes iTunes usable again with no apparent ill effects. Usable, but not snappy.

http://dw4.fr.uptodown.com/dw/1447339911/364020aa63381069d88c2458c041c4938644012 9/itunes-12-3-0-multi-mac.dmg

Reverting to iTunes 11.4 makes iTunes lightning fast again. Everything is instant.

(can't find the link right now - but it's out there...)

Use something like Pacifist to re-install a previous version of iTunes

Unfortunately, installing iTunes 11.4 on Yosemite or El Capitan breaks App Store - who needs parity with iTunes version to work - *** Apple ???

This "Apple Core Rot" at it's finest - making software worse with each iteration ! SOMEBODY NEEDS TO LOOK INTO THIS AND FIX IT ALLREADY !

I had high hopes for this but, alas, it did not work. Version 12.3 was no different for me. I got the exact same issues. Version 11.4 would not load my music library because, it said, my library was created by a later version.

I have been seeking help for this issue from Apple for about a month or so now. First through online chat and screen sharing, then it was escalated to senior assistants through voice help and now, finally, a systems report was sent to Apple's software engineers. I am now waiting for this analysis.

I told them about this forum and that there are many people having very similar issues with iTunes. The senior consultant said, "Oh really? We don't get many issues reported to us at all. iTunes has been very successful. This is the first time I've heard of this particular issue with iTunes".

I have had a molasses slow Itunes since the upgrade. I have found that editing Mp3 tags while in the My Music Songs display mode (eg. without all the album artwork and such) greatly improves editing speed with no spinning beach ball.

I'm glad to find I'm not the only one! Where I especially see a problem is when I start playing a track. It starts playing, but if I want to stop the track from playing, I have to wait 30 seconds till the beachball finally stops spinning!

I've also noticed that, in Activity Monitor, iTunes will sometimes take 97%, or even 102%, of CPU. How can it be using more than 100%??

Something else, which may or may not be related to how much CPU iTunes is using (which does cause my MacBook Pro to get pretty hot):

About 2 or 3 times now, while watching YouTube on Firefox, my Mac has suddenly gone to a black screen, and then logged me out! Not crash, gray screen of death, something like that. It logged me out. I'm baffled. Oh, and once or twice in that situation, it restarted completely. I think iTunes was open on every occasion that this happened. What do you think? What would cause this?