Q: Why is the new Photos app so slow on my Mac?

Download and run Etrecheck.  Copy and paste the results into your reply. Etrecheck is a diagnostic tool that was developed by one of the most respected users here (and recommended by Apple Support personnel) in the ASC to help identify the more obvious culprits that can adversely affect a Mac's performance.

I have the same issue with the Photos app running super slow, I really dislike the Photos app, it takes a good 15-20 minutes to fully load the app, and I can't sync photos back to my iPhone, it sticks on "waiting for items to copy". Old iPhoto loads in about 30-60 seconds. All other apps on my late 2012 MacBook Pro Retina run just fine. Frustrating the new Photos app performs way worse than iPhoto. Apple's software has really dropped in quality over the last 2 years, they've released some of the buggiest software lately. I wish they'd take a little longer before releases to fix some of issues. I'm running the latest of everything and I sync via USB not over the air or iCloud Photos. And another thing, the 'Photos' app and 'Photos Agent' use significant energy and large amounts of CPU even when idle.

Read my previous post.

I have this exact same problem. Even with all the complaints about iPhoto and the big switch, i was much happier with the performance prior to the Photos app. Just getting the photos from my phone - USB to MBPr - takes so long i just close the app and cross my fingers for an update... been almost 20 min right now and i'm waiting on no more than 20 pics and 1 vid to appear and nothing but loading grey squares.

I am very disappointed with this new Photo app.

WOW

can you read?

To get help  you actually have to supply requested information

If you refuse to then no one can help

LN

Now what is the requested information?

To download a program someone on a thread told me to download? No disrespect Old Toad.

Same issue here.  Photos is crap compared to iPhoto, at least it worked.  I've been waiting for over an hour for 430 photos to sync over from an iPhone, this would have taken <5 min in iPhoto. It takes at least 30 mins for the thumbnails to show up.  IF the machine is too old to handle Photos it should never have been added to the upgrade list.

I did follow the directions too, here is my EtreCheck file:

Problem description:

Photos is very slow to sync with my iPhone 5s, iPhoto was never this way.

EtreCheck version: 2.2 (132)

Report generated 5/21/15, 10:08 PM

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

    Mac mini (Mid 2010) (Technical Specifications)

    Mac mini - model: Macmini4,1

    1 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU: 2-core

    8 GB RAM Upgradeable

        BANK 0/DIMM0

            4 GB DDR3 1067 MHz ok

        BANK 1/DIMM0

            4 GB DDR3 1067 MHz ok

    Bluetooth: Old - Handoff/Airdrop2 not supported

    Wireless:  en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n

Video Information: ℹ️

    NVIDIA GeForce 320M - VRAM: 256 MB

        SyncMaster 1600 x 900 @ 60 Hz

System Software: ℹ️

    OS X 10.10.3 (14D136) - Time since boot: 1:28:49

Disk Information: ℹ️

    Hitachi HTS545032B9SA02 disk0 : (320.07 GB)

        EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

        Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / : 319.21 GB (112.93 GB free)

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

    HL-DT-STDVDRW  GA32N 

USB Information: ℹ️

    Apple Inc. iPhone

    Western Digital My Book 1234 3 TB

        EFI (disk1s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

        My Book for Mac (disk1s2) /Volumes/My Book for Mac : 3.00 TB (2.44 TB free)

    EPSON EPSON Epson Stylus NX430 Series

    APC Back-UPS ES 500 FW:824.B1.D USB FW:B1

    Apple Inc. BRCM2070 Hub

        Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

    Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

Gatekeeper: ℹ️

    Mac App Store and identified developers

Kernel Extensions: ℹ️

        /Library/Application Support/Avast/components/fileshield/unsigned

    [loaded]    com.avast.AvastFileShield (2.1.0 - SDK 10.10) [Click for support]

        /Library/Application Support/Avast/components/proxy/unsigned

    [loaded]    com.avast.PacketForwarder (2.0 - SDK 10.10) [Click for support]

        /System/Library/Extensions

    [not loaded]    com.logitech.iokit.quickcam (1.0.7) [Click for support]

Startup Items: ℹ️

    TiVoDesktop: Path: /Library/StartupItems/TiVoDesktop

    Startup items are obsolete in OS X Yosemite

Launch Agents: ℹ️

    [running]    com.avast.update-agent.plist [Click for support]

    [loaded]    com.avast.userinit.plist [Click for support]

Launch Daemons: ℹ️

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

    [loaded]    com.avast.init.plist [Click for support]

    [loaded]    com.avast.uninstall.plist [Click for support]

    [loaded]    com.avast.update.plist [Click for support]

User Launch Agents: ℹ️

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

    [running]    com.amazon.music.plist [Click for support]

    [loaded]    com.avast.home.userinit.plist [Click for support]

    [loaded]    com.google.keystone.agent.plist [Click for support]

User Login Items: ℹ️

    WDDriveUtilityHelper    UNKNOWN  (missing value)

    WDSecurityHelper    UNKNOWN  (missing value)

Internet Plug-ins: ℹ️

    FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 17.0.0.169 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

    Default Browser: Version: 600 - SDK 10.10

    AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: Version: 10.1.14 [Click for support]

    CouponPrinter-FireFox_v2: Version: Version 1.1.6 [Click for support]

    AdobePDFViewer: Version: 10.1.14 [Click for support]

    Flash Player: Version: 17.0.0.169 - SDK 10.6 Outdated! Update

    NP_2020Player_IKEA: Version: 5.0.94.1 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

    Google Earth Web Plug-in: Version: 5.2 [Click for support]

    NP2020Player: Version: 5.0.4.0 [Click for support]

    QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3

    iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0 - SDK 10.8

3rd Party Preference Panes: ℹ️

    Box Sync  [Click for support]

    Flash Player  [Click for support]

Time Machine: ℹ️

    Skip System Files: NO

    Mobile backups: OFF

    Auto backup: YES

    Volumes being backed up:

        Macintosh HD: Disk size: 319.21 GB Disk used: 206.29 GB

    Destinations:

        My Book for Mac [Local]

        Total size: 3.00 TB

        Total number of backups: 63

        Oldest backup: 2014-08-12 21:22:40 +0000

        Last backup: 2015-05-22 03:49:47 +0000

        Size of backup disk: Excellent

            Backup size 3.00 TB > (Disk size 319.21 GB X 3)

Top Processes by CPU: ℹ️

        41%    com.apple.photos.ImageConversionService

        27%    photolibraryd

         7%    WindowServer

         6%    cloudphotosd

         3%    nsurlsessiond(2)

Top Processes by Memory: ℹ️

    721 MB    kernel_task

    639 MB    Photos

    598 MB    Google Chrome Helper(7)

    164 MB    com.avast.daemon

    147 MB    Google Chrome

Virtual Memory Information: ℹ️

    695 MB    Free RAM

    7.32 GB    Used RAM

    0 B    Swap Used

Diagnostics Information: ℹ️

    May 21, 2015, 08:35:24 PM    Self test - passed

Paul:

Get rid of the Avast antivirus software. There are no viruses for Mac and it does more harm than good.  It just isn't needed. There is malware and adware but AV apps are not designed to look for them. Uninstall it according to the developer's instructions and rerun Etrecheck to see if it still detects any of the leftover files.

The ImageConversionService is using up most of the CPU cycles follows by the photolibraryd process.  Do you have the iCloud Photos Library enabled.  If so then that could be part of the problem.  Going thru all of the images for face recognition is another.  

We don't know enough about Photos at this early stage to be more specific.  As a general troubleshooting effort you can l

aunch Photos with the Command+Option keys held down and repair the library.

Another test is to create a new library, import about 50 photos and check to see how Photos is behaving.  You can use Activity Monitor to check the CPU and Memory usage.

No offense taken.  That app will tell us in one quick post nearly all of the information we need to help diagnose the problem with the exception of where the library is located without having to go back and fourth multiple times trying to get the info.  The developer, one of the top contributors here has one app on the App Store at this time, EtreNet. 

It was highlighted in the MacWorld article: How to create a Mac status report using EtreCheck - Macworld. 

I run it after every system and major applications upgrade just to compare the system status.  You call.

Came here to say the same thing.  I would call it a bug or bloatware.  Trying to export photos (drag and drop to desktop) and no feedback or indication that something is happening.  Finally force quit and a notice pops up that it is in the process of copying 8 files (the same attempt 8 times).  I'm thinking the software is calling home or somehow connecting to Apple to discuss the users actions and waiting for server time before taking action.  I miss the days when you could simply right click on an item and View in Finder.  I have over 28,000 photos now, having been using Mac for years.  If the software can't handle that volume then they're not developing a realistic modern product.  Frustrating as I'm not on a slow machine either.  No other apps running on a Mid 2012 Mac Pro with 40GB of RAM.  I keep my photo library on a 2TB mirrored (RAID1) drive for safety.  No way I'm keeping years of photos on a single internal drive.  And no I don't currently use time machine.

Guess you can not read

The very first post contains very simple and clear instructions on what to do - and then after some else who can not read posted the same question the direction were referenced once more

Download and run Etrecheck.  Copy and paste the results into your reply. Etrecheck is a diagnostic tool that was developed by one of the most respected users here (and recommended by Apple Support personnel) in the ASC to help identify the more obvious culprits that can adversely affect a Mac's performance.

Unless you provide requested information it is not possible to help you

LN

Same thing - same answer - get rid of the Avast anti virus - it is not needed and is the most likely cause of slowness - and other problems

LN

If you would give us some info on your setup, what you have activated in Photos, etc, and forget the theatrics we might be able to help get to the bottom of your problem.

I did provide some info on my setup.  FYI, this is also a forum to vent and express frustration with Apple's products.  I was not asking for help, I was providing feedback.  Your condescending tone and broad speculation regarding other's issues serves no purpose.  I am learning that this is what people do for fun here, ridicule others and puff themselves up for points under the guise of being helpful.  End of thread.