2

enter image description hereMy Mac desktop is running incredibly slow and takes forever to open files and apps. My adult son is very tech savvy, but is not an Apple expert. Any advice based on his input here:

Verified total storage should be 2.12 TB with 865 GB free, but the combined file total shows there should actually be more than 1.2 TB free. Temporary files have been purged. No Time Machine or local backup. The computer was purchased in 2017.

macos storage settings

Is there a process we can use to investigate performance on this Mac?

enter image description here

Improve this question
4
  • Your storage discrepancy is minor and not related to any performance issue. I would get a backup going as the fastest way to tell if a performance issue is hardware or software is to wipe the machine and erase and test with a clean OS installation. From there you would buy storage / repair the Mac or restore the files to make what you need run fast.
    – bmike ♦
    Commented Jun 5 at 1:07
  • 1
    Performance issues more likely related to your Fusion drive (mix of SSD and HDD); possibly the 16GB RAM (though that should be enough unless into video or photo processing).
    – Gilby
    Commented Jun 5 at 1:27
  • To explore what is using the 1.25 TB, suggest DaisyDisk daisydiskapp.com (free trial).
    – Gilby
    Commented Jun 5 at 1:30
  • When I add up the numbers (in 2nd screenshot) I get ~1250 GB used. That would be ~870 free. I don't see any discrepancy. The first screenshot doesn't to show all folders - that may be the cause of the confusion.
    – Gilby
    Commented Jun 5 at 3:00

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
1

Your Fusion drive is made up of two parts: an SSD (solid state) for speed; and a mechanical hard drive for space.

In my experience, as the hard drive fills, the combined drive gets slower and slower.

Also, the mechanical drive is now seven years old. It may be unreliable, and could fail at any time. If that happens, you will lose ALL your files.

I'd recommend moving to a fast external SSD drive.

Old drives and no backup are not a good combination.

Also, when you say "13.0.1", I presume you mean macOS Ventura? Is there any reason you haven't updated to 13.6.6?

(I wouldn't do it before you've made a backup, though, as a large number of writes could be the final straw for your disk.)

Improve this answer
1
  • This is solid advice and the best way to take the next step to increase performance on a hard drive. That next step is an erase of all data and reinstall the OS to see if it speeds up before restoring data.
    – bmike ♦
    Commented Jul 5 at 19:06

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .