Questions dealing with performance of Apple hardware or software, especially about troubleshooting or improving poor performance.
32
votes
7answers
10k views
How to simulate slow internet connections on the mac
What's a good software solution to slow down internet connections on the mac for testing and simulations?
My primary need is when testing code in the iPhone / iOS simulator, so slowing down the ...
28
votes
12answers
17k views
Why would I disable swap file in Mac OS X?
I came across a thread about installing an SSD drive in MacBook Pro.
Someone in the comments also recommended to disable the swap file but didn't say why:
sudo launchctl unload -w ...
26
votes
5answers
2k views
Do computers slow down as they age?
I have an eMac I bought in 2004. I just used the system restore CD to re-install Panther, iLife '04, Internet Explorer for Mac(!), etc. I don't have any timed specs from "back then", so I can't answer ...
24
votes
3answers
7k views
What are the differences between journaling HFS+ and non-journaling HFS+?
I'm about to format an external hard disk drive (HDD).
What are the key differences between journaling HFS+ and non-journaling HFS+? Apart from the fact that one has journaling and the other does ...
23
votes
5answers
950 views
Is there any way to speed up my iPhone 3G since upgrading to iOS4
I have recently upgraded my iPhone 3G to iOS4 and there is some noticeable performance issues will some of the basic tasks (text messaging, loading application, etc.)
I have restarted my iPhone and ...
15
votes
5answers
2k views
Does the use of SSD give one a dramatic performance boost?
I use Mac book pro 15", and it's time to buy a new one.
For HDD, now I see a new option of SSD, which is pretty expensive.
I can expect shorter boot-up time and faster access of files, but I'm not ...
14
votes
11answers
28k views
Will Mountain Lion make an older computer run faster or slower?
Performance/responsiveness is a common concern with new software, especially on older machines. In general, upgrading from Snow Leopard (10.6) to Lion (10.7) wasn't too bad, but now Mountain Lion ...
11
votes
5answers
452 views
Should you format your Mac?
Back in my Windows days, I used to fully format my PC once a year or so, to start fresh and get rid of some of the slowdowns. It helped.
Would you recommend the same for Macs? What's the recommended ...
11
votes
2answers
3k views
What does FreeMemory actually do?
There's a highly-rated app on the Mac App Store called FreeMemory. It claims to be able to "increase your free memory with a simple click." Although it's free right now, I believe it normally goes ...
10
votes
5answers
684 views
What scenarios benefit from Mac OS X allowing apps to run when no document windows remain?
As a rule of thumb programs on Mac OS X stay running when you close all their document windows.
This is the behavior I noticed in MacVim, VmWare Fusion, Chrome and host of other applications.
I ...
9
votes
4answers
2k views
What has changed Finder list view in Lion to make “Calculate all sizes” exponentially faster?
Since way before Mac OS X came on the scene, we have been able to ask the Finder to Calculate all sizes in order to determine the sum total of readable file size space contained in each folder for the ...
8
votes
3answers
10k views
Can the iPad / iPad 2 handle iOS 6?
I've heard anecdotal evidence of iOS 6 seriously impairing the performance of the iPhone 4 (and had a poor personal experience with it on iOS 5). I was wondering if anyone has had any problems ...
8
votes
3answers
63k views
What is the best version of iOS to use on an iPhone 3G?
my girlfriend is currently using an iPhone 3G (iOS version 3.1.3 - 7E18) and I've noticed it can be very sluggish. She doesn't use it for much more than the usual messaging/safari/mail. Compared to my ...
7
votes
4answers
831 views
How can I simulate having a slow CPU?
I am almost done coding my webapp-game. It runs on all modern browsers. However, I want to establish some minimum requirements for it.
Thus, I need a slow Mac. However, I don't have access to a slow ...
7
votes
3answers
6k views
Using FaceTime without the video
I have a first generation MacBook Air that heats up a lot when playing videos, and almost grinds to a halt after a few minutes of playback.
Is there a way I could turn off the video during FaceTime ...
7
votes
4answers
2k views
Will upgrading to Lion boost performance and responsiveness?
I remember going from Leopard to Snow Leopard was a huge performance boost.
Going to Lion, is it going to be the case? Read so many reviews yet none of them discussed this (many discussed gestures ...
7
votes
2answers
274 views
How can I diagnose really poor performance of my 13" MBP 2011 on 10.6?
The specs are:
2011 MBP 13"
Core i7
4Gb RAM
320Gb HDD (not SSD)
I use the system for work everyday, I almost always run the following:
Mail.app
Chrome (7-10 tabs)
Terminal (2-3 sessions)
Skype
...
6
votes
3answers
946 views
Is the i7 2.3 Ghz CPU significantly faster than the 2.2 one?
I'm shopping for a 17-inch MacBook Pro and trying to figure out my minimum specs.
From the Apple website it appears these are the two procesor options...
2.2GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor ...
6
votes
3answers
7k views
Are the Retina MacBook Pro 15" suitable for PC (Windows) gaming?
I want to buy a MacBook Pro Retina 15" and install Windows 7 or 8 (boot camp) to play games.
Obviously games aren't ready for this 2880x1800 resolution, so I hope I can set the games to run at ...
6
votes
4answers
17k views
What is the fastest iOS version for the iPhone 3GS?
I upgraded my wife's iPhone 3GS to iOS 5.0.1 and now basic tasks like opening apps like Texts/Phone dialer are now slower than before. I understand the 3GS is 2 years old, but just being able to type ...
5
votes
4answers
943 views
Are there general or specific iOS6 performance issues on iPhone 4?
I would like to upgrade my iPhone 4 to iOS6 but I'm wondering if I will get performance loss (as when I upgraded my iPhone 3G to iOS4 : terrible).
Can someone confirm that it won't affect my day to ...
5
votes
4answers
1k views
Alternative activity monitors for OS X?
I’m a bit intrigued by the new detailed activity monitors and progress indicators in Windows 8 (copying files, the task monitor, network activity, etc.) It got me thinking: surely there must be some ...
5
votes
3answers
3k views
How can I speed up SD card writing speed (using /dev/disk*) on a MacBook Pro?
I've been installing some linux distributions onto an SD card from my MacBook, although they take over an hour to transfer a few hundred MB (using dd and /dev/disk1).
If you look at the above ...
5
votes
4answers
3k views
How can I boost the performance of my MacBook?
I know that upgrading my MacBook with extra RAM can help boost the general system performance.
Recently, I upgraded from OS X 10.5 to OS X 10.6.8. I thought that my RAM upgrade would speed up my ...
5
votes
3answers
10k views
What's the fastest connection speed / shortest elapsed time using Migration Assistant?
When using Migration Assistant to move users, files, and folders from an old Mac to a new one, you have a few different choices, depending on the Macs involved. Presuming that both Macs have ...
5
votes
3answers
3k views
How would enabling FileVault alter my system and TM performance?
What are the pros and cons, performance-wise, of enabling and using FileVault? Is there any at all, or does it slow a computer down significantly or on the contrary speed it up? Also, what effect will ...
5
votes
3answers
13k views
Functionally speaking, where will I see a difference between dual- and quad-core i7s?
I am ready to buy a new MacBook Pro. I am drawn to the portability of the 13" and the better specs of the 15". If you take money out of the picture I would really like to know where I would see the ...
5
votes
4answers
1k views
How can I best use an SSD?
I have a Mac Pro, and I've added an Intel 80GB SSD to improve performance in LightRoom and Photoshop. So far so good.
But after moving all of my current work, catalogs, etc. to the SSD, I still have ...
5
votes
1answer
2k views
Are there performance (slowness) issues with iOS 6 running on iPhone 3GS?
My brother has an iPhone 3GS. The upgrade to iOS 5 has considerably slowed the device. Will the upgrade to iOS 6 slow the device even more?
Will iOS 6 work well (not any different from iOS 5) on an ...
5
votes
1answer
222 views
How to isolate the most disk-active process(es) in OS X?
I have some process(es) performing a lot of drive access from time to time, however I've hitherto been unable to isolate which process or processes are performing the access. What shell command can I ...
5
votes
3answers
3k views
Mac Mini suddently terribly slow
My Mac Mini crashed. I restarted and after a long time the screen remained gray.
I then started in single user mode, did a disk check (fsck reported no problems) and rebooted again.
The Mac is now ...
5
votes
1answer
2k views
Animated GIF images are slow on iOS
Animated GIF images seem incredibly slow since iOS 4.3ish. Prior to that, animated GIFs worked just fine and had the same speed as on a computer. I don't mean loading the GIF, but the speed of the ...
5
votes
1answer
510 views
How can I figure out which tab in Safari is using CPU?
I usually have several tabs open in Safari in the background, and sometimes I see it taking up an unusual amount of CPU (PluginProcess or WebProcess).
How can I figure out which tab (or tabs) is ...
5
votes
3answers
562 views
Does moving my home folder to an non-boot drive decrease performance?
I'm going to get an SSD, making that my boot drive and moving the existing hard drive to the optical drive bay. I will keep my data on the original hard drive.
MacPerformanceGuide.com says "If the ...
4
votes
2answers
361 views
How do I tell what processes are driving I/O loads?
Something is driving a lot of Disk I/O on my system lately. I can see in ActivityMonitor that there are huge volumes of reads and writes every second. But none of the "normal" suspects are active when ...
4
votes
2answers
760 views
Bootcamp: is there an advantage of 64-bit vs 32-bit Windows?
I've got the new MabookPro retina. I want to install a dual boot Windows OS.
I have the option from MSDN to either install a 64-bit or a 32-bit. Is there a performance advantage? Other advantages?
4
votes
3answers
556 views
MacBook Air mid 2011 Geekbench results too low
My MacBook Air from mid 2011 recently only scores about ~1800 on geekbench vs 5300+ that it was before. I'm starting the benchmarking right after reboot, and the CPU seems initially calm. Any points?
...
4
votes
1answer
247 views
How fast should my MBP internal drive be?
I'be been experiencing an ongoing (if not precisely measurable) feeling that my MBP is underperforming, and it seems to be related to disk IO. I recently downloaded a disk benchmarking tool, to see ...
4
votes
4answers
1k views
Will the MacBook Air (2011) perform as well as my MacBook Pro (2008)?
I've got a 13" 2009 MBP (8GB, 2.53Ghz). A lot of the time it runs a Win 7 web dev environment (Visual Studio, SQL Server databases, various editors, Photoshop etc.) under Parallels Desktop. It ...
4
votes
1answer
2k views
Snow Leopard vs. Lion performance: what are the differences?
Is Snow Leopard or Lion faster?
And how significant is the speed difference?
4
votes
2answers
5k views
Will a reset make my old iPad faster?
I have an old iPad (the first generation), and over time it has become unbearably slow. Now I understand that I cannot expect apps designed for faster iPads to work perfectly on this old device. ...
4
votes
3answers
3k views
How does the new iPad's A5X graphics processor affect PDF rendering speed?
How much, if any, has the new iPad has gained in PDF rendering speed with the A5X processor (quad-core graphics)?
4
votes
1answer
3k views
Mission Control slow and jerky on 2011 MacBook Pros: any fix?
Mission Control has been horribly slow on my 2011 MacBook Pro 15" (2GHz quad i7, 8GB RAM, 256MB graphics, SSD) -- swiping up usually freezes the screen for 2 seconds, before showing me the Mission ...
3
votes
2answers
2k views
Mac Pro Memory - Should I use 8 RAM slots in dual-channel mode or 6 RAM slots in triple-channel mode?
I have a Mac Pro tower with a 2 x 2.66 GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon chipset, and 8 RAM slots. I have been told because of the processor's triple-channel memory capability that I should be installing RAM ...
3
votes
1answer
102 views
Is it good to keep apps closed on iOS devices?
Is it better to keep apps closed (double tap home button, hold the icon, and exit the app), as much as possible on iOS devices? I know the more apps one has open, the more RAM, for example is used, ...
3
votes
2answers
2k views
Using memory with a higher MHz rating?
Can MacBook Pro's successfully support and fully exploit RAM of a higher MHz rating than that which they ship with?
For example, take my 15" MacBook Pro (Late 2011) that ships with 4GB of 1333MHz ...
3
votes
4answers
5k views
What can I do to speed up a Mac that is running slow?
My mac seems like it is running slower and slower. While I am thinking abut installing Lion from scratch, I figure there has to be stuff I can do now to help. I have reset PR RAM recently, I have run ...
3
votes
2answers
690 views
If I install more RAM should I boot into 64bit Kernel? Does it matter?
I've got an Early-2009 Unibody Mac Book Pro 17".
It came with 4 GB RAM and by default it boots into 32-bit Kernel.
I've just upgraded to 8 GB RAM and my main concern is getting maximum performance ...
3
votes
5answers
256 views
How can I put heavy load on my CPU for a long period of time?
How can I put my CPU under very high pressure for a long period of time? Are there programs for that that I can keep running ?
3
votes
3answers
1k views
What is an SSD drive's negotiated link speed?
When I look at my Apple SSD TS256C (Toshiba) in the System Profiler on my MacBook Pro (Late 2011), I see:
Link Speed: 6 Gigabit
Negotiated Link Speed: 3 Gigabit
Why is that? Does that mean ...
