2013 iMac runs slow

faceman

Hi folks, I'm getting close to the wits end with my iMac, as its performance is really starting to slow down to sub standard speeds.

I've a late 2013 27" iMac with a 3.2GHz Intel i5 Processor. 8GB Ram. Nvidia GT 755 1M graphics card. I'm using High Sierra 10.13.3. It has a 1TB HDD and there is never less than 300gb available on the HDD. Data is backed up via Time Machine to a wired external drive.

Aside from web activities, I use MS Office, Photos, Pixelmator, iMovie, iTunes, regularly. I use Pixelmator and iMovie on a casual basis and i'm expectant that the Mac may not be the fastest computer for those tools.

The iMac has been running slower than past Macs for a few years now, even under previous OS. I regular get the beachball for simple things such as opening Safari or awaking from Sleep. Rebooting the machine reminds me of the Windows 97 days. It takes quite some time compared to modern Window machines.

The only other bit of info to add is that with each install of the OS, it has been an upgrade. Same goes with when I replaced my previous 2 iMacs. I have never done a fresh install. Don't know if that makes a difference.

Is there any programmes or suggestions for how I can check if my machine is running optimally? Or is this the norm? I know the machine is old in Window's PC years but I wouldn't consider it old in Mac lifespans. Particularly given the machine is not used in a demanding way.

While I dont post regularly some of you may be familiar with me from postings over the years (I first moved to Macs back in 2007) so I'm not exaggerating the performance issues out of keyboard rage!

Any help very much appreciated.

whiterebel

I'd be looking at the OS, Faceman. I've a brand new MBP 13" Touchbar, and I've never seen such a buggy OS. Simple things; connecting to network, clicking on Mail, Safari, system preferences and it goes to beachballs. I must have reinstalled 15 times by this stage. 2012 Macbook Air is better. It may be caused by migrating over from a Time Machine backup, but it shouldn't have this effect. If I were you, I'd go back to an OS you have the installer for, wipe it and start again.

Type 17

8GB of RAM isn't very much in that machine, especially with the latest OS version - I have a 2013 model with the 3.5GHZ i7 processor and it still works pretty well - I used to use it for editing photos in Aperture (RIP ), but now that I've changed jobs, it mainly gets used for email, surfing and light office duties and still uses over 10GB of RAM with just Mail, Safari and Word or Excel 2011 running.

*It's a refurb that came with 16GB (2 x 8GB), and I had 2 x 4GB kept from my previous iMac, so why not .

EyeCake

I have a mid 2011 iMac 3.4 I7 which had got painfully slow about 2 years ago, lots of spinning beachballs and was slower than my old MacBook Air until I invested in a good SSD drive and it is now so good even with the latest OS I have no need to change.
I made an unbelievable difference

Greentree_uk

I;de be worried about that 1tb hard drive. think there was a recall on this a few years back. may be wrong.

faceman

Just wanted to circle back on this. I fitted 2x 8gb RAM chips the other day bringing my RAM up to 24gb and its made such a difference. Type 17 above is absolutely right.

To give example of how underpowered the machine is as shipped; currently I have 1 tab in Safari open, MS Word and Adobe PDF Reader lying idle, Dropbox running in the background and its using 8.5gb in RAM alone!

JonMac

How much did they cost you and where did you have it done? My 14,1 model needs to go to CompuB or similar as it is a "glued" model.

faceman

JonMac wrote: »

How much did they cost you and where did you have it done? My 14,1 model needs to go to CompuB or similar as it is a "glued" model.

I got them from Crucial Memory online. 2x 8gb cards for €152. I fitted them myself.

JonMac

Update: my iMac has to have the screen removed to install more RAM. I just had CompuB do it; 160 for 2x8GB and 69 labour charge.
Can already see the difference, currently 10GB available.