MacBook Has Been Running Slow, Upgrade RAM?

Hi,

First, try resetting the SMC: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201295.

To see if more RAM might help, go to Utilities and open Activity Monitor > run for awhile as you normally would, with same apps open, browser tabs open, etc. > click on the Memory "tab" > click on Memory just underneath it > click as needed to bring the highest RAM usage to the top of the list > look to the bottom where it says Memory Pressure and Swap. If the Memory Pressure is up beyond green, then there is more Memory Pressure than is desirable. If there is any Swap Used, then the OS is out of RAM sometimes and is using the much slower HD as "RAM" and this greatly slows things down. (Posting a screen shot would be helpful.) It means you don't have enough RAM for the OS and apps to do what you want them to do, and upgrading the RAM would be helpful.

I have an early 2011 MacBook Pro 13" as well.

I upgraded my RAM from 4 GB to 8 GB. Did not notice a big speed increase, other than being able to open more programs at once.

I upgraded the HDD to a 500GB Samsung EVO SSD and noticed a big increase in speed. Especially when booting computer.

Also before adding more RAM or an SSD, tried to find out what is slowing it down.

Download EtreCheck and post a report here. Maybe someone can find what is slowing your computer down.

Using EtreCheck: Using EtreCheck

Kim

I assume you're replying to me? Please click the Reply button immediately under the post you're replying too. I often don't reread the entire thread to figure out if someone is replying to me when they don't reply directly to me. 🙂

Yes, given the Swap, you'd definitely benefit from more RAM. If I was going to upgrade anyway, I'd upgrade to 16GBs, not 8, even though 8 might do the job for now.

Also consider a SSD if you're really looking to speed things up; this will make any drive related tasks snappier.

As for the fans, I don't know if either is going to affect that issue. You already have a fan app to see the fan speed, but also install a temperature monitoring app so you know if the high fan speeds are actually warranted. If not, it could be a sensor issue. Run Apple Hardware Diagnostics and see if it catches anything: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202731

I highly recommend macsales/owc or crucial RAM as both are time tested by many many users here, they have a 100% compatibility guarantee, and a lifetime warranty.

You're welcome. 🙂