Why does my 2012 macbook pro 4gb ram run slow sometimes?

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Level 1

0 points

Why does my 2012 macbook pro 4gb ram run slow sometimes?

I've purchased my 2012 4gb ram Macbook ram w/ 500 gb hard drive around September. It started off extremely fast the first 4 months (when I had mavericks), but there we're problems with the Video playback towards the last 4 months (It would Freeze and unfreeze & the the audio-video sync would be way off after 30 mins of netflix, which would cause the whole computer to slow down). So, I installed the Yosemite update, which made it even worse to the point where my macbook was unusable. With yosemite, I'd have an average of 500mb ram free memory available, sometimes even lower. Now, I did a manual restore to OS X 10.8.5 Mountain Lion, and I see the major difference in speed. I could use safari now & get an average of 1.47 gb of free ram available (with just the safari application open). Now, the video playback issue still occurs sometimes & having about 4 programs open does make the computer slower than usual, but not as often. I'm hoping this is just a ram issue, becuase I'm expecting on upgrading my ram to a 16gb ram or higher while still on Mountain Lion just to be able to run Logic Pro & Adobe Premiere in the near future. If its not a ram issue which is causing this problem on my macbook, I'd be ****** because I'd be spending almost $200 on a ram upgrade and it not resolving this issue would kill me. Could someone help? Ill even take a Diagnose test like Etrecheck if you need me to. Thanks.

MacBook Pro, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.5)

Posted on Mar 10, 2015 7:41 AM

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Answer 1

Allan Jones

Level 9

78,266 points

Mar 10, 2015 8:07 AM in response to LesMulaa

Your symptoms sound like you have some unnecessary third-party utilities that are conflicting with how Apple intends your Mac to work. It would be wise to deal with that possibility before buying RAM. Although some posters here think adding RAM is the complete cure-all, it is not when conficting software issues are present.

Do any of there questions apply?

1) Are you running any anti-virus/internet security applications?

2) Are you running any "cleaning/tune-up/optimizations" applications?

3) Any peer-to-peer or torrent downloading software?

4) Any third-party disk backup software that came bundled with an external hard drive?

5) Any online backup scheme other than iCloud (Carbonite; GoogleDrive; MS One Drive)?

6) Did your financial institution ask you to install Trusteer EndPoint Protection (also known as Trusteer Rapport)?

If you are not sure if any of the above are at play, an Etrecheck report can help us see what you may not know.

I have the same MBP Mode with the entry-level 2.5ghz i5 processor. If came with Mountain Lion and 4GB RAM. Ran fine. Then I upgraded to Mavericks. No change. I got a deal on RAM and increased to 8GB while Mav was still installed. Very little difference if any. In late 2014 I upgraded to Yosemite and, other than a slightly longer boot time, the computer runs the same as it has for nearly tow years. Unless you are running pro apps, its my opinion that you are in good shape simply going to 8GB. Even you existing 4GB may work if your slowdowns are caused by third-party cr@pware!

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Answer 2

LesMulaa Author

Level 1

0 points

Mar 10, 2015 9:39 AM in response to Allan Jones

Hello, you had me lost on what you explained. But, here's my Etrecheck report. Thanks.

EtreCheck version: 2.1.8 (121)

Report generated March 10, 2015 12:38:17 PM EDT

Download EtreCheck from http://etresoft.com/etrecheck

Click the [Click for support] links for help with non-Apple products.

Click the [Click for details] links for more information about that line.

Hardware Information: ℹ️

MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2012) (Technical Specifications)

MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro9,2

1 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5 CPU: 2-core

4 GB RAM

BANK 0/DIMM0

2 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM0

2 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

Bluetooth: Good - Handoff/Airdrop2 supported

Wireless: en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n

Battery Health: Normal - Cycle count 343

Video Information: ℹ️

Intel HD Graphics 4000 - VRAM: 512 MB

Color LCD 1280 x 800

System Software: ℹ️

OS X 10.8.5 (12F45) - Time since boot: 5 days 10:0:0

Disk Information: ℹ️

APPLE HDD HTS547550A9E384 disk0 : (500.11 GB)

disk0s1 (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

Untitled (disk0s2) / : 499.25 GB (479.98 GB free)

Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted> [Recovery]: 650 MB

MATSHITADVD-R UJ-8A8

USB Information: ℹ️

Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad

Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)

Thunderbolt Information: ℹ️

Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

Gatekeeper: ℹ️

Anywhere

Kernel Extensions: ℹ️

/System/Library/Extensions

[loaded] com.globaldelight.driver.BoomDevice (1.1) [Click for support]

Problem System Launch Agents: ℹ️

[failed] com.apple.accountsd.plist

[failed] com.apple.coreservices.appleid.authentication.plist

[failed] com.apple.gamed.plist

[failed] com.apple.printtool.agent.plist

[failed] com.apple.rcd.plist

Problem System Launch Daemons: ℹ️

[failed] com.apple.coreservices.appleid.passwordcheck.plist

[failed] com.apple.findmymac.plist

[failed] com.apple.wdhelper.plist

Launch Daemons: ℹ️

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist [Click for support]

User Login Items: ℹ️

iTunesHelper Application (/Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunesHelper.app)

Internet Plug-ins: ℹ️

FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 16.0.0.305 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

Flash Player: Version: 16.0.0.305 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.1

JavaAppletPlugin: Version: 14.6.0 - SDK 10.8 Check version

SharePointBrowserPlugin: Version: 14.4.8 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

Safari Extensions: ℹ️

AdBlock

3rd Party Preference Panes: ℹ️

Flash Player [Click for support]

Time Machine: ℹ️

Time Machine not configured!

Top Processes by CPU: ℹ️

19% WebProcess

7% Safari

5% WindowServer

4% Boom

4% mds

Top Processes by Memory: ℹ️

994 MB WebProcess

343 MB Safari

43 MB WindowServer

34 MB mds

26 MB Dock

Virtual Memory Information: ℹ️

905 MB Free RAM

1.37 GB Active RAM

796 MB Inactive RAM

1.22 GB Wired RAM

5.11 GB Page-ins

6.51 GB Page-outs

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