My MacBook Air is running out of Application Memory

In the last few weeks I have experienced frequent application crashes accompanied with the 'out of application memory' error message. Force Quit and restart is required. This happens many time a day. The onset did not accompany the installation of any new software as far as I am aware. I would like to know what is causing this and how to correct it.

I am using a 13" MacBook Air with 16GB RAM and running OSX 10.9.5 (the System Information says MacBook Pro, late 2013). The crashes occur with many applications (perhaps all). This can even occur when the only open application is Pages. I have two HD partitions, the Start Up disk is 404.94GB capacity and had ~75GB free at the onset of the problem. The second partition has 94.35GB capacity and was almost empty.

I've tried copying ~90GB of files to the previously-empty Hard-Disk 2 and deleting them from the start up disk. Curiously, available space on the Start Up disk has increased by only about 10GB, which is odd. This has not solved the problem, although it may have ameliorated it.

thanks for your help

MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2013), OS X Mavericks (10.9.5)

Posted on Feb 3, 2017 11:35 AM

65 replies

Apr 7, 2017 10:27 AM in response to Nick Baker 22

I have the same problem. I just got a new iMac and had to do a force reboot the first weekend I had it to get it to respond. I've since taken to keeping the Activity Monitor open, sorted by amount of memory used, and found that the problem processes are Mail Web Content and Safari. If I leave Mail or Safari open for any length of time the usage goes up to the point of making my Mac unresponsive. However, if I close them when I see the usage inching up and then reopening them, I prevent the "crash". Looks to me like something either highjacks the Mac or the application processes aren't properly closed as they are run, creating a lot of unfinished junk that hangs up the system. My Mac runs Sierra 10.12.4 and all apps are up-to-date. How about it? Can we fix this problem in the next software update?

Feb 16, 2017 7:00 AM in response to Lexiepex

OK, I'll try a Safemode entry.

Another crash today, Calendar was the only app open at the time. Activity Monitor as below:

Feb 16, 2017 7:09 AM in response to Nick Baker 22

Here is the Activity Monitor after Safe Mode Restart

Feb 16, 2017 7:12 AM in response to cavemees

Thanks for your reply.

Not sure what Bomgar is, could it have been installed by Apple Support for remote access during the initial troubleshooting episode when new?

Here are my Adobe applications

Feb 21, 2017 6:46 AM in response to Lexiepex

Not many crashes lately, one a day or less. One this morning, here's the Activity Monitor.

I'll try to post another Activity monitor + etrecheck list this afternoon.

thanks

Feb 23, 2017 6:32 PM in response to Nick Baker 22

more images

Csound1

Level 9

60,063 points

Feb 23, 2017 6:52 PM in response to Nick Baker 22

Absolutely not.

cavemees

Level 4

1,652 points

Feb 3, 2017 11:50 AM in response to Nick Baker 22

I would start to check the harddisk(s): Repair disk permissions with Disk Utility - Apple Support

OGELTHORPE

Level 9

57,329 points

Feb 7, 2017 7:22 AM in response to Nick Baker 22

Check for kernel panics and use these directions to download and post them, if found:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201753

Ciao.

cavemees

Level 4

1,652 points

Feb 7, 2017 8:12 AM in response to Nick Baker 22

Recommended reading after you finished with Lexiepex and Ogelthorpe tips, John Galt's Effective defenses against malware and other threats

OGELTHORPE

Level 9

57,329 points

Feb 11, 2017 8:49 AM in response to Nick Baker 22

What is the MEMORY PRESSURE?

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201464

Ciao.

Feb 3, 2017 12:28 PM in response to cavemees

OK, I'm trying that. There were indeed many disk permissions requiring repair, I'll have to see whether that resolves the issue. Thanks for the suggestion.

Feb 3, 2017 1:07 PM in response to Nick Baker 22

FWIW, partitioning the internal HD is probably not a good idea. At a minimum, performance suffers.

Barry

Feb 4, 2017 8:23 AM in response to Barry Hemphill

Thanks Barry

The partition was set up when new under advice from Apple Support when troubleshooting another issue.

Feb 4, 2017 5:45 PM in response to cavemees

The problem recurred today, with only a Word document open, so I guess that Reparing Disk Permissions what not the complete solution

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My MacBook Air is running out of Application Memory