Why is this computer so slow?

I purchased a Mac Book to add files, docs, etc and that helped. We also have Netgear so we can streamline to smart TV, but here is the catch- you can only get so many gigs a month and it is not much (despite paying almost 150. per month) - so the more used the slower it gets: both the TV Netflix AND the PC. Maybe this will help.

You may be able to have the internal storage drive (perhaps your low-end Mini has a hard disk drive

and not a solid-state-drive) upgraded to a faster data-transfer-rate device. A slow 5400-RPM HDD is

not going to help when tasked with handling temporary files, that may include 'virtual memory' when

the hardware does not have adequate random access memory in-chip on the logic board.

What are the specs of the Mini model you have?

Does the Activity Monitor show evidence of how much system resources are being used?

So an upgrade to a SSD, instead of a HDD, may add performance. Not sure how user-friendly the

process of hardware upgrade is, inside your version Mini. While I have two different model year

and architecture Mac Mini versions, one is Late 2012 Mini (quad i7) and the other is Late 2005 G4

1.5GHz. Both of these represent the last model of each of their respective Mini sub-series.

A Late 2012 Mini is the last build to allow user upgrade of RAM and fair access to replace hard drives...

(The one I bought has two internal HDDs and shipped with 4GB RAM, upgrades to 16GB in two slots)

Had you done some research, the evidence and advice to not buy the entry-level models, especially

in the past two years where fixed-RAM or permanent and non-upgradable memory has become a

normal standard in certain new MacBook, Mini, and some iMac models. Same as ipad, etc.

The options in purchasing allude to the upgrade being the one you chose; so that is how you have

to buy the newer models as they've evolved. The Mid-range spec model should do OK if you aren't

needing to multi-task top-heavy applications, layers in photoshop, movie editing, & etc.

If you find issue with use of an official Apple store refurbished computer, you have 14 days to contact

Apple and arrange a return from the day you bought the unit... not the day it arrived. In the US, you

have this grace period, and it does work out quite well for those who actually know in advance what

they're going to try to do with the unit. And stress-test it, to see if it will work out OK.

You could look into the OWC macsales.com pages to see what if any storage upgrade options they

may have that could work in your Mini. Also the iFixit.com mac repair guides generally show many

models and how to look inside; however under warranty there are limits to the tinkering you can do.

In any event...

Good luck & happy computing! 🙂

It could be caused by many things. Here are some things to try:

1. Reset the SMC. Read the "System Performance" section of the following link:

Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac - Apple Support

2. If you're using iCloud or iCloud Drive, make sure your network or network connection aren't slow, bottlenecked, or erratic. If the system is sharing data with either of them and the network connection is bad or flakey it may cause delays like that.

3. Check out possible drive or user problems by going to the How-to section of the following site and click on the link for hard drive problems:

http://scsc-online.com

In item 3, in particular, check out the section on user problems. I've seen a lot of people with large backup drives think they have problems because their backups go to sleep and when they try to save something the drive has to spin up causing beach balls and delays.

4. Boot into safe mode to see if the problems continue.

Try safe mode if your Mac doesn't finish starting up - Apple Support

If the problems exist in safe mode or can't be traced to anything else I've mentioned then it might be a hardware problem, often the hard drive but not always.

FYI: I can run El Capitan on a 2009 MacBook with 4GB of RAM. The performance isn't great, more like acceptable, but I don't see the types of problems your having and your system should make the 2009 MacBook look like a turtle.

I hope some of this helps.