MacBook Pro Running Slow

Question

Level 1

8 points

MacBook Pro Running Slow

I have a MacBook Pro 7.1. Since June (2016), suddenly, it started to slow down. I reinstalled (clean) the os two times; nothing changed. It takes too much to startup the os. Too long to open an application (especially the first time it is launched after the os startup). When I perform an action, a spinning ball appears. It is so frustrating. What could it be?

The following is an EtreCheck report:

EtreCheck version: 3.0.6 (315)

Report generated 2016-09-30 12:49:34

Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

Runtime 6:40

Performance: Below Average

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

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

Problem: Computer is too slow

Hardware Information:ⓘ

MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2010)

[Technical Specifications] - [User Guide] - [Warranty & Service]

MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro7,1

1 2,4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU: 2-core

4 GB RAM Upgradeable - [Instructions]

BANK 0/DIMM0

2 GB DDR3 1067 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM0

2 GB DDR3 1067 MHz ok

Bluetooth: Old - Handoff/Airdrop2 not supported

Wireless: en0: 802.11 a/b/g/n

Battery: Health = Normal - Cycle count = 1351

Video Information:ⓘ

NVIDIA GeForce 320M - VRAM: 256 MB

Color LCD 1280 x 800

System Software:ⓘ

macOS Sierra 10.12 (16A323) - Time since boot: less than an hour

Disk Information:ⓘ

TOSHIBA MK2555GSXF disk0 : (250,06 GB) (Rotational)

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / [Startup]: 249.20 GB (233.50 GB free)

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

MATSHITADVD-R UJ-898 ()

USB Information:ⓘ

Apple Card Reader

Apple Inc. Built-in iSight

Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad

Gatekeeper:ⓘ

Mac App Store and identified developers

System Launch Agents:ⓘ

[not loaded] 7 Apple tasks

[loaded] 182 Apple tasks

[running] 82 Apple tasks

System Launch Daemons:ⓘ

[not loaded] 41 Apple tasks

[loaded] 168 Apple tasks

[running] 94 Apple tasks

Launch Daemons:ⓘ

[loaded] com.apple.installer.osmessagetracing.plist (2016-09-14)

Internet Plug-ins:ⓘ

QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (2016-09-14)

Safari Extensions:ⓘ

uBlock - Chris Aljoudi - https://chrismatic.io/ (2016-08-05)

3rd Party Preference Panes:ⓘ

None

Time Machine:ⓘ

Time Machine not configured!

Top Processes by CPU:ⓘ

6% kernel_task

0% cloudpaird

Top Processes by Memory:ⓘ

524 MB kernel_task

520 MB mdworker(20)

381 MB Safari

254 MB mds_stores

217 MB spindump

Virtual Memory Information:ⓘ

310 MB Free RAM

3.95 GB Used RAM (1.13 GB Cached)

0 B Swap Used

Diagnostics Information:ⓘ

Sep 30, 2016, 11:45:31 AM Self test - passed

Sep 29, 2016, 09:05:45 PM ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Siri_2016-09-29-210545_[redacted].crash

com.apple.Siri - /System/Library/CoreServices/Siri.app/Contents/MacOS/Siri

Sep 29, 2016, 07:23:22 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/WindowServer_2016-09-29-192322_[redacted].crash

/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/SkyLight.framework/Versions/A/Resources/Windo wServer

MacBook Pro

Posted on Sep 30, 2016 5:14 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Sep 30, 2016 5:21 AM in response to Ghaen

Have you tried to Reset the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac - Apple Support

This can help.

This article can also be useful http://www.macworld.co.uk/how-to/mac/how-speed-up-slow-mac-3636548/

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Answer 2

Oct 1, 2016 4:51 AM in response to Ghaen

There are several things to consider with this system. At 6 to 7 years old it is at a point where performance will start to decrease, especially on the latest OS. It's right at the minimum model requirement for Sierra which is going to push the processor.

For the hard drive, is it the original? At 6 years, a rotational drive is going to be nearing the end of it's life. Also the stock drive on those were 5400 rpm. Something that will breath new life in the system is a solid state drive. I did a similar upgrade to my 2008 MacBook Pro 15-inch and the boot time reduced from about 2 minutes to 30 seconds (with Yosemite at least. I haven't tried Sierra on it yet). I'd also try doubling the RAM if possible to 8GB. While 4GB is higher than the 2GB minimum for Sierra, it will still be used up quickly when running other software.

Looking at your memory specs, your RAM is being used almost entirely which will lead to slower overall processing. Unfortunately newer software on older systems is never going to get faster unless you can upgrade some of the hardware to go with it. Bumping up the RAM and going with an SSD will noticeably increase the performance though and give you more time out of the system for much less cost than a new one.

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Answer 3

Allan Jones

Level 9

78,794 points

Oct 1, 2016 4:51 AM in response to Ghaen

If you are going to do the "upgrade this one"or "buy a new one" analysis, note that you will soon have to add a US$129 expense to have Apple install a new battery. Yours is at 1350 cycles, 350 over Apple's published expectation of battery survival. Remarkable performance but it can't go too much longer,

It is best to have Apple install the new battery. It was not designed to be changed by the end user and Apple does not sell replacement batteries as a part any more. The two main reasons to let Apple do it are:

1) The removal of the old battery requires some care

2) Many replacement batteries offered on auction sites are counterfeit items that at best won't work and, at worst, will render your computer unrepairable.

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Answer 4

John Galt

Level 10

156,308 points

Sep 30, 2016 8:50 AM in response to Ghaen

Back up your Mac if you have not done so already. To learn how to do that please read https://www.apple.com/support/backup/. To learn how to use Time Machine read Use Time Machine to back up or restore your Mac. The reason for creating a backup is that the symptoms you describe could be indicative of an impending hard disk drive failure, so securing your data is a primary concern.

Then, shut down your Mac and restart it in "Safe Mode". To learn how to do that please read: Try safe mode if your Mac doesn't finish starting up. Compare how your Mac works in Safe Mode to how it has been.

Then, restart normally. If the same problem returns, please read the section If an issue doesn't happen in safe mode for Apple's recommended actions.

Finally, you can temporarily create a new User Account, and log in to that account to determine if the problem also exists when logged in to that Account. To learn how to do that read How to test an issue in another user account on your Mac. When you are finished troubleshooting, you can remove the temporary User Account by following these instructions: macOS Sierra: Delete a user or group. Before removing it, confirm you don't need any of the files you might have created in that Account.

Let me know what you determine.

Reply

Answer 5

Ghaen Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 1, 2016 4:50 AM in response to midnighte13

As I suspected. Thanks. Anyway, for the os part, I have updated to 'Sierra' three days ago, so I do not guess the problem is linked to the os itself (the problems started in June, when I was using 'El Capitan').

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