El Capitan running slowly?

Is anyone else having the issue of your Mac running wicked slow after the new El Capitan update? Word, Safari, Preview, and iTunes wouldn't open- they froze and I had to force quit them. Even typing this there is a major lag and the pinwheel appears. What's up with that? So far I hate how slow it's making my mac.

Posted on Sep 30, 2015 2:22 PM

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454 replies

Feb 24, 2016 2:38 PM in response to Kurt Triffet

Just because I have seen none of what you describe does not mean I am condescending, quite the contrary. I am telling you the truth, your Mac would go faster if you installed OS X correctly (i.e.: without useless utilities in the mix) Choose not to believe me if you will, but there is no call for insults as well.


Do as you wish with your problems, I have offered help and been turned down.

Feb 24, 2016 4:29 PM in response to Kurt Triffet

Kurt Triffet wrote:


Please reread the posts.

There is no need to reread the posts. It has been suggested several times that if you and others here want help stop complaining and start a new thread detailing your specific issues. Someone here will then be happy to help those who follow that advice. There is no sense piling onto a thread that is going nowhere other than providing a place to vent.

Writing an effective Apple Support Communities question

Feb 25, 2016 6:13 PM in response to mkgr

I just jumped up to a late 2013 MacBook Pro and WOW! I didn't realize how slow my mid 2009 MacBook Pro was.

I was concerned about the memory use of an item named "kernel_task" on my old MBP. It hovers in the 375 to 400 MB range. And on my new MBP that item isn't even listed.

Can anyone explain to me what the "kernel_task" is and why it would be using so much memory?

Feb 26, 2016 11:13 AM in response to JonSilverA380

Well, a day after performing that PRAM task, not really noticing much difference. Large folders still often lag when opening, and performing a file "Open As" takes the usual very long time to "fetch" the list of apps I can open the file in.
Mail appears to have calmed down with just the usual quirks it has always exhibited.
I thought some of this might be because I have one external backup drive attached, that always caused a bit of a lag on some functions as the finder (I assume) tries to search it). Was never a real problem with 10.6.8, but much more so now with El Capitan. I have 4 internal hard drives that never cause any issues. I disconnected the drive all day yesterday, and saw no performance improvement anywhere else.

Feb 29, 2016 11:05 AM in response to John Kranz

Okay. I've decided to bite the bullet and put an end to this debate that 'something must be wrong with your computer" or "your Mac is too old."


So I'm buying the latest/fastest Mac Mini and it arrives this week.


So a serious/honest question for those here to provide tech guidance -- do you recommend I get a firewire cable and transfer everything over from my Mac that is being brought to a halt since my update to CAPITAN? I would certainly much rather just bring over everything from my other computer than have to reinstall all from scratch and have to transfer over my Mail account mail boxes.


But is that the right thing to do? The computer arrives Wednesday, so I'm eager to hear what others recommend I do.


Thank you.


John

Feb 29, 2016 11:58 AM in response to John Kranz

John Kranz wrote:


Okay. I've decided to bite the bullet and put an end to this debate that 'something must be wrong with your computer" or "your Mac is too old."


... -- do you recommend I get a firewire cable and transfer everything over from my Mac that is being brought to a halt since my update to CAPITAN?


But is that the right thing to do?


No one can possibly answer that question for you John because you, like 99.99% of everyone complaining El Cap ruined their Macs, steadfastly refuses to post their own Discussion containing specific information about their unique installation that might help reveal what's wrong with it. All you have said is that you are "in the same boat as some others" which conveys no actionable information.


Post your own Discussion, and some guidance might be possible. Without that information, it's not.


The new Mini has no FireWire port, but you could use a FireWire to Thunderbolt adapter, or connect the two Macs over your local network.


I don't recommend using Setup Assistant because it's extremely likely that your existing Mac is running software incompatible with El Cap, or is simply ill-conceived garbage that should not be installed on any Mac of any age new or old, but that is complete and total speculation — because you haven't provided any details in a Discussion that you created.


Please read Writing an effective Apple Support Communities question.

Mar 1, 2016 12:31 PM in response to John Galt

Uhm...John...actually I have provided weeks ago a dropbox link in which ONE person responded with recommendation that I took. That did not solve the problem. I then posted a question about how to get rid of a Mail log item, and that never got responded to with clear directions on how to deal with that.


Geez...these forums are incredibly user-unfriendly.At this point, I'll do my own research on the matter rather than give folks here the opportunity to take personal swipes. This is clearly not the place to go for support.

John

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El Capitan running slowly?

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