High Sierra photo editing slow

Same... Photo retouching VERY slow. My library all on top spec 2014 iMac (Fusion drive). Nothing in iCloud. Only happened after High Sierra upgrade - all background processes completed as far as I can tell.

The only version of iPhoto that works with High Sierra is 9.6.1.

In order to obtain that version there are two conditions that you must meet:

1 - you have some version of iPhoto 9 on your Mac.

2 - that version must have been obtained from the App Store.

If you can't meet those two conditions you will not be able to obtain 9.6.1.

MacSales.com, which is Other World Computing (OWC). Here's a copy of my invoice with the relevant item number. Installation is so easy, even a caveman could do it (apologies to any cavemen reading this).

Here's a YouTube video of the installation. ifixit.com is also a good place to look:

Macbook late 2009 Memory upgrade from 2gb to 8gb of ram! Big Improvements! - YouTube

I have this very same issue but it doesn't seem to be limited to just editing. When I'm viewing just one picture and I attempt to go to the next picture, it tends to freeze. In-fact, the whole computer freezes for a good 30 to 45 seconds. This never happened in 10.12 version of Photos. Most of my pictures are DNG files too.

I'm attaching report out of EtreCheck as I've heard that some of the support personnel like to use them for more information about systems having issues.

EtreCheck version: 3.4.5 (455)

Report generated 2017-10-04 22:15:01

Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

Runtime: 4:33

Performance: Good

Click the [Lookup] links for more information from Apple Support Communities.

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

Problem: Computer is too slow

Description:

New Apple Photos App is running very slow and sometimes locks up the entire computer. Does it for DNG and JPG images.

Hardware Information: ⓘ

iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2015)

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

iMac - model: iMac17,1

1 3.2 GHz Intel Core i5 (i5-6500) CPU: 4-core

8 GB RAM Upgradeable - [Instructions]

BANK 0/DIMM0

4 GB DDR3 1867 MHz ok

BANK 0/DIMM1

Empty

BANK 1/DIMM0

4 GB DDR3 1867 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM1

Empty

Handoff/Airdrop2: supported

Wireless: en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac

iCloud Quota: 85.24 GB available

Video Information: ⓘ

AMD Radeon R9 M390 - VRAM: 2 GB

iMac 5120 x 2880

Disk Information: ⓘ

APPLE HDD ST1000DM003 disk1: (1 TB) (Rotational)

[Show SMART report]

EFI (disk1s1 - MS-DOS FAT32) <not mounted> [EFI]: 210 MB

(disk1s2) <not mounted> [CoreStorage Container]: 999.35 GB

(disk1s3) <not mounted> [Recovery]: 650 MB

APPLE SSD AP0032H disk0: (24 GB) (Solid State - TRIM: Yes)

(disk0s1) <not mounted> [EFI]: 315 MB

(disk0s2) <not mounted> [CoreStorage Container]: 23.55 GB

(disk0s3) <not mounted> [Boot]: 134 MB

USB Information: ⓘ

USB30Bus

GenesysLogic USB3.0 Hub

Generic USB Storage

GenesysLogic USB2.0 Hub

Broadcom Corp. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)

Logitech USB-PS/2 Optical Mouse

Apple Inc. MacBook Air SuperDrive

Thunderbolt Information: ⓘ

Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

BUFFALO INC. HD-PATU3

ST1000LM024 HN-M101MBB disk4: (1 TB) (Rotational)

[Show SMART report]

(disk4s1) <not mounted> [partition_map]: 32 KB

PhotoDrive01 (disk4s3 - Journaled HFS+) /Volumes/PhotoDrive01 : 1.00 TB (491.14 GB free)

Virtual disks: ⓘ

Macintosh HD (disk2 - Journaled HFS+) / [Startup]: 1.02 TB (212.50 GB free)

Physical disk: disk0s2 23.55 GB Online

Physical disk: disk1s2 999.35 GB Online

System Software: ⓘ

macOS High Sierra 10.13 (17A365) - Time since boot: about 7 days

Gatekeeper: ⓘ

Mac App Store and identified developers

Kernel Extensions: ⓘ

/Applications/VMware Horizon Client.app

[not loaded] com.vmware.kext.vmioplug.17.2.1 (17.2.1) [Lookup]

/Library/Application Support/VirtualBox

[not loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxDrv (5.1.14) [Lookup]

[not loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxNetAdp (5.1.14) [Lookup]

[not loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxNetFlt (5.1.14) [Lookup]

[not loaded] org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxUSB (5.1.14) [Lookup]

/Library/Extensions

[loaded] com.AmbrosiaSW.AudioSupport (4.1.4 - SDK 10.11) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.Logitech.Control Center.HID Driver (3.9.5 - SDK 10.8) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.Logitech.Unifying.HID Driver (1.3.5 - SDK 10.8) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.logitech.manager.kernel.driver (6.62.1 - SDK 10.11) [Lookup]

/System/Library/Extensions

[loaded] com.valvesoftware.SteamInput (3083.39.61 - SDK 10.8) [Lookup]

System Launch Agents: ⓘ

[not loaded] 8 Apple tasks

[loaded] 169 Apple tasks

[running] 78 Apple tasks

[killed] 33 Apple tasks

33 processes killed due to insufficient RAM

System Launch Daemons: ⓘ

[not loaded] 36 Apple tasks

[loaded] 165 Apple tasks

[running] 88 Apple tasks

[killed] 39 Apple tasks

39 processes killed due to insufficient RAM

Launch Agents: ⓘ

[running] com.Logitech.Control Center.Daemon.plist (Logitech Inc. - installed 2016-12-17) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2017-10-04) [Lookup]

[failed] com.adobe.AdobeCreativeCloud.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2017-10-04) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.cisco.anyconnect.gui.plist (? 40bd3462 0 - installed 2017-10-04) [Lookup]

[running] com.logitech.manager.daemon.plist (Logitech Inc. - installed 2017-07-29) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist (? 9e367439 be93c7fb - installed 2017-07-20) [Lookup]

[running] com.symless.synergy.v2.synergyd.plist (Synergy Si Ltd - installed 2017-09-28) [Lookup]

Launch Daemons: ⓘ

[running] com.adobe.acc.installer.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2017-10-04) [Lookup]

[running] com.adobe.agsservice.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2017-09-27) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (? 2afb3af7 6e45fe59 - installed 2016-12-10) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.apple.installer.cleanupinstaller.plist (? 1963bf56 0 - installed 2017-09-25)

[running] com.cisco.anyconnect.vpnagentd.plist (? f363637f d52acebb - installed 2017-06-20) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.crashplan.engine.plist (? 0 ? - installed 2017-06-13) [Lookup]

[running] com.microsoft.autoupdate.helper.plist (Microsoft Corporation - installed 2017-09-25) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensingV2.helper.plist (Microsoft Corporation - installed 2016-12-09) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist (Shell Script e3fefdd2 - installed 2017-07-12) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.symless.synergy.v2.ServiceHelper.plist (Synergy Si Ltd - installed 2017-09-28) [Lookup]

User Launch Agents: ⓘ

[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist (Google, Inc. - installed 2017-07-10) [Lookup]

[running] com.spotify.webhelper.plist (Spotify - installed 2017-08-29) [Lookup]

[not loaded] org.virtualbox.vboxwebsrv.plist (Oracle America, Inc. - installed 2017-03-02) [Lookup]

User Login Items: ⓘ

CrashPlan menu bar Application

(/Applications/CrashPlan.app/Contents/Helpers/CrashPlan menu bar.app)

iTunesHelper Application (? 0 - installed 2017-09-13)

(/Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunesHelper.app)

Internet Plug-ins: ⓘ

FlashPlayer-10.6: 24.0.0.186 (installed 2016-12-14) [Lookup]

Flash Player: 24.0.0.186 (installed 2016-12-14) Outdated! Update

QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (installed 2017-09-20)

JavaAppletPlugin: Java 8 Update 141 build 15 (installed 2017-07-20) Check version

AdobeAAMDetect: 3.0.0.0 (installed 2017-10-04) [Lookup]

MeetingJoinPlugin: 1.0 (installed 2017-08-11) [Lookup]

Safari Extensions: ⓘ

[disabled] Adblock Plus - Eyeo GmbH - https://adblockplus.org/ (installed 2017-01-29)

[disabled] Dashlane - Dashlane Inc. - http://www.dashlane.com (installed 2017-09-22)

3rd Party Preference Panes: ⓘ

Flash Player (installed 2016-12-10) [Lookup]

Java (installed 2017-07-20) [Lookup]

Logitech Control Center (installed 2016-12-17) [Lookup]

Logi Options Launcher (installed 2017-07-29) [Lookup]

Time Machine: ⓘ

Time Machine not configured!

Top Processes by CPU: ⓘ

3% Safari

3% com.apple.WebKit.WebContent

2% WindowServer

2% kernel_task

1% hidd

Top Processes by Memory: ⓘ

1.17 GB kernel_task

442 MB com.apple.photos.ImageConversionService

240 MB CrashPlanService

231 MB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent

211 MB Adobe Bridge CC 2017

Top Processes by Network Use: ⓘ

Input Output Process name

33 MB 6 MB mDNSResponder

18 KB 27 MB CrashPlanService

621 KB 94 KB com.apple.WebKit.Networking

499 KB 132 KB netbiosd

40 KB 69 KB apsd

Top Processes by Energy Use: ⓘ

19.08 Adobe Bridge CC 2017

3.28 AppleSpell

2.56 com.apple.WebKit.WebContent

2.32 mobileassetd

Virtual Memory Information: ⓘ

3.71 GB Available RAM

1.63 GB Free RAM

4.29 GB Used RAM

2.08 GB Cached files

610 MB Swap Used

Software installs: ⓘ

Cyberduck: 6.2.6 (installed 2017-09-11)

Cyberduck: 6.2.6 (installed 2017-09-11)

Slack: 2.8.0 (installed 2017-09-14)

Slack: 2.8.0 (installed 2017-09-14)

Microsoft AutoUpdate: (installed 2017-09-25)

Pixelmator: 3.6 (installed 2017-09-26)

Microsoft Remote Desktop: 8.0.27325 (installed 2017-09-30)

Microsoft Excel for Mac: (installed 2017-10-02)

Microsoft PowerPoint for Mac: (installed 2017-10-02)

AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client: (installed 2017-10-04)

RAWPower: 1.2.1 (installed 2017-10-04)

PhotoScape X: 2.6.3 (installed 2017-10-04)

digiKam-5.7.0-02-MacOS-x86-64: (installed 2017-10-04)

Install information may not be complete.

Diagnostics Information: ⓘ

2017-10-04 21:41:35 Adobe Bridge CC 2017.app High CPU use [Open] [Details]

2017-10-04 21:09:47 Synergy.app Crash [Open]

Cause: abort() called

terminating with uncaught exception of type boost::exception_detail::clone_impl<boost::exception_detail::error_info_injecto r<boost::system::system_error> >: bind: Address already in use

2017-10-04 20:15:39 digikam.app High CPU use [Open] [Details]

2017-10-04 19:55:13 Photo Mechanic 5.app Hang [Open]

2017-10-02 22:32:00 Adobe CEF Helper.app Crash [Open]

2017-09-27 22:15:21 Last shutdown cause: 3 - Hard shutdown

I am experiencing the exact same issue with retouching photos. Below is my EtreCheck output. Any thoughts?

EtreCheck version: 3.4.6 (460)

Report generated 2018-01-04 18:57:04

Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

Runtime: 3:29

Performance: Good

Click the [Lookup] links for more information from Apple Support Communities.

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

Problem: Beachballing

Description:

photo slow

Hardware Information: ⓘ

MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2014)

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

MacBook Air - model: MacBookAir6,2

1 1.4 GHz Intel Core i5 (i5-4260U) CPU: 2-core

4 GB RAM Not upgradeable

BANK 0/DIMM0

2 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM0

2 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

Handoff/Airdrop2: supported

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

Battery: Health = Check Battery - Cycle count = 518

iCloud Quota: 707 MB available

Video Information: ⓘ

Intel HD Graphics 5000 - VRAM: 1536 MB

Color LCD 1440 x 900

Disk Information: ⓘ

APPLE SSD SD0128F disk0: (121.33 GB) (Solid State - TRIM: Yes)

[Show SMART report]

EFI (disk0s1 - MS-DOS FAT32) <not mounted>
[EFI]: 210 MB

(disk0s2) <not mounted>
[APFS Container]: 121.12 GB

USB Information: ⓘ

USB30Bus

Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Thunderbolt Information: ⓘ

Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

Virtual disks: ⓘ

Macintosh HD (disk1s1 - APFS) /
[Startup]: 121.12 GB (49.22 GB free)

Encrypted: Yes (Unlocked)

Physical disk: disk0s2 121.12 GB (49.22 GB free)

(disk1s2) <not mounted>
[Preboot]: 121.12 GB

Physical disk: disk0s2 121.12 GB

(disk1s3) <not mounted>
[Recovery]: 121.12 GB

Physical disk: disk0s2 121.12 GB

(disk1s4) /private/var/vm
[VM]: 121.12 GB

Physical disk: disk0s2 121.12 GB

Time Machine Backups (disk2s2 - Case-sensitive Journaled HFS+) /Volumes/Time Machine Backups : 2.00 TB (1.41 TB free)

Physical disk: Disk Image 2.00 TB (1.41 TB free)

System Software: ⓘ

macOS High Sierra
10.13.2 (17C88) - Time since boot: less than an hour

Configuration files: ⓘ

/etc/hosts - Count: 1

Gatekeeper: ⓘ

Mac App Store and identified developers

Kernel Extensions: ⓘ

/System/Library/Extensions

[not loaded] com.leapfrog.codeless.kext (2.0) [Lookup]

[not loaded] com.leapfrog.driver.LfConnectDriver (1.12.0 - SDK 10.10) [Lookup]

System Launch Agents: ⓘ

[not loaded] 9 Apple tasks

[loaded] 187 Apple tasks

[running] 94 Apple tasks

System Launch Daemons: ⓘ

[not loaded] 36 Apple tasks

[loaded] 190 Apple tasks

[running] 106 Apple tasks

Launch Agents: ⓘ

[failed] com.adobe.ARMDCHelper.cc24aef4a1b90ed56a725c38014c95072f92651fb65e1bf9c8e43c37a2 3d420d.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2017-01-11) [Lookup]

[running] com.brother.LOGINserver.plist (? a1772de2 41ad4933 - installed 2015-08-05) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.coupons.coupond.plist (? d6de63d4 88e927a2 - installed 2015-06-02) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist (Google, Inc. - installed 2017-09-27) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.microsoft.update.agent.plist (Microsoft Corporation - installed 2018-01-03) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist (? 4a358d2e 72ac4dde - installed 2017-10-29) [Lookup]

[loaded] org.chromium.chromoting.plist (Shell Script 81572da9 - installed 2017-10-23) [Lookup]

Launch Daemons: ⓘ

[loaded] com.adobe.ARMDC.Communicator.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2017-01-11) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.adobe.ARMDC.SMJobBlessHelper.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2017-01-11) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (Adobe Systems, Inc. - installed 2017-11-27) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.apple.installer.osmessagetracing.plist (Apple, Inc. - installed 2017-12-01)

[loaded] com.google.keystone.daemon.plist (Google, Inc. - installed 2017-10-13) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.leapfrog.connect.authdaemon.plist (LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc. - installed 2017-08-05) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.microsoft.autoupdate.helper.plist (Microsoft Corporation - installed 2018-01-03) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensingV2.helper.plist (Microsoft Corporation - installed 2016-11-15) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist (Shell Script e3fefdd2 - installed 2017-09-05) [Lookup]

User Launch Agents: ⓘ

[loaded] com.skype.skype.shareagent.plist (Skype Communications S.a.r.l - installed 2017-10-20) [Lookup]

[loaded] com.spotify.webhelper.plist (Spotify - installed 2017-07-28) [Lookup]

User Login Items: ⓘ

CricutLauncher4 Application

(~/Library/Application Support/CricutDesignSpace3/BRIDGE/CricutLauncher4.app)

Google Chrome Application

(/Applications/Google Chrome.app)

iTunesHelper Application (Apple, Inc. - installed 2017-12-07)

(/Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunesHelper.app)

Internet Plug-ins: ⓘ

FlashPlayer-10.6: 28.0.0.126 (installed 2017-12-12) [Lookup]

QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (installed 2017-12-21)

AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: 17.012.20098 (installed 2017-12-02) [Lookup]

AdobePDFViewer: 18.009.20050 (installed 2017-12-02) [Lookup]

Flash Player: 28.0.0.126 (installed 2017-12-12) [Lookup]

CouponPrinter-FireFox_v2: 5.2.0 (installed 2015-06-02) [Lookup]

JavaAppletPlugin: Java 8 Update 151 build 12 (installed 2017-10-29) Check version

User internet Plug-ins: ⓘ

ZoomUsPlugIn: 3.5.57166.0713 (installed 2016-08-23) [Lookup]

3rd Party Preference Panes: ⓘ

Flash Player (installed 2017-11-27) [Lookup]

Java (installed 2017-10-29) [Lookup]

Time Machine: ⓘ

Skip System Files: NO

Mobile backups: OFF

Auto backup: YES

Volumes being backed up:

Macintosh HD: Disk size: 121.12 GB Disk used: 71.90 GB

Destinations:

Data [Network]

Total size: 2.00 TB

Total number of backups: 94

Oldest backup: 9/1/16, 2:39 AM

Last backup: 1/4/18, 5:58 PM

Size of backup disk: Excellent

Backup size 2.00 TB > (Disk size 121.12 GB X 3)

Top Processes by CPU: ⓘ

108%
Photos

25%
kernel_task

10%
mds

7%
WindowServer

7%
backupd

Top Processes by Memory: ⓘ

664 MB kernel_task

439 MB Photos

98 MB Google Chrome

59 MB Google Chrome Helper

56 MB mds_stores

Top Processes by Network Use: ⓘ

Input Output Process name

201 MB 226 MB kernel_task

75 KB 29 KB mDNSResponder

9 KB 9 KB apsd

7 KB 2 KB cloudd

3 KB 1 KB netbiosd

Top Processes by Energy Use: ⓘ

83.10Photos

7.40WindowServer

4.46backupd

3.80diskimages-helper

Virtual Memory Information: ⓘ

1.14 GB
Available RAM

22 MB Free RAM

2.86 GB
Used RAM

1.11 GB
Cached files

0 B Swap Used

Software installs (last 30 days): ⓘ

Adobe Flash Player:
(installed 2017-12-12)

Microsoft AutoUpdate:
(installed 2017-12-13)

Microsoft Excel for Mac:
(installed 2017-12-13)

Microsoft Word for Mac:
(installed 2017-12-13)

Microsoft Outlook for Mac:
(installed 2017-12-13)

Microsoft AutoUpdate:
(installed 2018-01-03)

Install information may not be complete.

Diagnostics Events (last 3 days for minor events): ⓘ

2018-01-04 18:32:33 Last shutdown cause: 3 - Hard shutdown

2018-01-03 20:29:59 Photos.app High CPU use [Open] [Details]

You should report the issue via an actual ticket visible to the Developers. If phone support cannot do that for you, you can go here: Product Feedback - Apple

Another avenue is https://developer.apple.com/bug-reporting/

It's worth noting that you should not need a paid account. You should be able to join the Developer program for free and report bugs.

Dropbox however broke Photos

It is well documented that the iPhoto library can not be on any synced service, dropbox included. Having it on a synced external service like Dropbox will damage or destroy the library

Where is it safe to store a Photos Library? Requirements for the external drive

LN

My Photos is at present working as it should!!! Here is the pain I went through to get this working:

1. I backed up my drive to an external drive using Superduper! - This makes a bootable copy of my system in case something went wrong( I also back up to Time Machine and Backblaze but I wanted to be safe)
2. I did a clean install of 10.13.3 High Sierra - which included the following steps
   1. Created a bootable installation USB drive for 10.13.3 High Sierra
   2. Booted system to the above USB drive
   3. Erased my hard drive using disk utilities on bootable USB
   4. Installed High Seirra
   5. During install, 1 migrated all users, data and settings EXCEPT applications from backup I made in step 1. This means I will have to install all 3rd party apps manually.
3. Once Step 2 completed in total(about 7 hours later) I tried using Photos and it worked great! Yay!
4. The next thing I did was install back my missing apps one by one. After each app install I would restart and check Photos. The apps that installed and DID NOT affect Photos performance are as follows:
   1. Office 2016
   2. Pages
   3. Numbers
   4. Keynote
   5. Backblaze
   6. Chrome
   7. Firefox
   8. Parallells
   9. iMovie
   10. Steam
5. Dropbox however broke Photos. I installed Dropbox for Business, linked it back to my Dropbox folder, rebooted, logged back in and waited for a bit. Then I checked Photos and I was back to the lock up behavior described in my previous post Once I quit Dropbox and uninstalled it (threw it away out of the Applications folder) and restarted, Photos started working as it should.

I will keep checking Photos over the next week and post if it starts acting up again.

Hope that helps - Will send Apple feedback as well.

Where is your Photos library located? Are you using iCloud Photo Library with optimized photos? How long has it been since you upgraded (there is a log of background upgrading and scanning going on behind the scenes which can slow things down until it has completed)

LN

My 2012 MacBook pro is doing the same. Almost all editing is slow and just basically useless cause it takes so long. Photos also quits unexpectedly a lot now. All this started when I upgraded to High Sierra. Any help would be appreciated.

I will say, that after leaving Photos open for a full day it seems to be running a bit faster. I wouldn't say it's on-par with something like Adobe Lightroom, but it's no longer locking up my computer. My guess is that there are some background processes going on that once complete, the performance improves slightly. Probably the face detection process...

Yes as posted

Where is your Photos library located? Are you using iCloud Photo Library with optimized photos? How long has it been since you upgraded (there is a lot of background upgrading and scanning going on behind the scenes which can slow things down until it has completed)

LN

I get that, but a product shouldn't be designed as such to impact the usability of the system. The core part of the OS allows for priority of processes to run (nice value as an example). In my case, it was locking the computer completely up, on a brand new iMac. I had similar performance issues with my MacBook Pro. Sad to say that my perception of Apple products are moving away from the well-polished user experience and more towards the fragmented and inconsistent experience.

Have these exact same issues as described above on my 5K iMac with 24gb of RAM! Very frustrating - this needs to be fixed, It would be one thing if Photos just halted - but it hangs the whole system which is so like working in '90s on Windows 98 or OS 9. Really unacceptable. Welcome to iOS being the money maker and macOS getting B team attention.

My MBP from early 2015 is having this same issue. It didn't happen when using Sierra - only once I upgraded to High Sierra did the Photos.app editing become almost unusable. It's on when editing .NEF RAW files that it goes haywire tho. If it's a normal photo from my iPhone it's fine. It just seems like it can't handle the higher resolution files like it used too.