MacBook (~2010) performance issues

[MustISO]

Friend asked me to look at their Mac (which I don't work on often). The performance is pretty bad, it's running 10.9.2 on 2GB of RAM which I'm thinking is the real issue.

Even in safe mode, 1.98GB of RAM is in use (of 2GB total). If it's this bad in safe mode, normal mode can't be good.

Am I missing something here? Does a Mac work differently with RAM than a PC does? Anything I can try to free up some memory?

 

[TheStu]

Where are you seeing the RAM in use? In Activity Monitor?

What kind of Mac is it?

 

[Eug]

Modern Macs need 4 GB minimum.

2 GB is too restrictive.

 

[MustISO]

Where are you seeing the RAM in use? In Activity Monitor?

What kind of Mac is it?

Yes, Activity Monitor

It's a MacBook. When I do "About this Mac" it said something regarding being a 2010 model. It's currently running OSX Mavericks which just may be too demanding given the hardware.

 

[RossMAN]

Here's what I would do:

1) Buy and install more RAM, at least 4GB.
2) Buy and install SSD around $100 for 256GB Crucial/Samsung.
3) Reformat and clean OS install.

 

[MustISO]

Here's what I would do:

1) Buy and install more RAM, at least 4GB.
2) Buy and install SSD around $100 for 256GB Crucial/Samsung.
3) Reformat and clean OS install.

Oh I would love to do that but they are looking for a fix for no money (naturally). I thought I had 4GB of RAM sitting around somewhere but I'm unable to locate it now. I'm wondering if going back to an older version of the OSX might be an option for them.

 

[TheStu]

Oh I would love to do that but they are looking for a fix for no money (naturally). I thought I had 4GB of RAM sitting around somewhere but I'm unable to locate it now. I'm wondering if going back to an older version of the OSX might be an option for them.

IF they still have the original discs that came with it, you can revert them back to the OS that it shipped with. But at the end of the day, 2GB is way too little, and that should be rectified.

 

[ggadrian]

2GB was to little por OS X even in 2010, I bought my late 2009 MacBook with 4GB and it felt way faster than the 2GB models when you started doing stuff.

Couple of years later I upgraded to 8GB and it gas a big improvement again (I am a heavy multitasker) Even today with 8GB and an hybrid HDD it's a pretty capable laptop.

In a budget I would upgrade to 4GB RAM and 250GB SSD, and for little more 8GB RAM and 250GB SSD; it would be a very big improvement. I know your friend said she wanted it fixed for no money, but that's just impossible.

 

[Fingolfin269]

Here's what I would do:

1) Buy and install more RAM, at least 4GB.
2) Buy and install SSD around $100 for 256GB Crucial/Samsung.
3) Reformat and clean OS install.

I've got the mid-2010 variant of the 13" MBP and was looking to do this as well. I currently have 4GB of ram and the same HD it shipped with (250GB 5400RPM drive). Would you do the same upgrades to mine? I mainly just use this thing for web browsing and email but do travel with it so may watch some movies and skype. Has served me very well the last few years but has started feeling pretty sluggish over the past few months.

 

[halw]

I've got the mid-2010 variant of the 13" MBP and was looking to do this as well. I currently have 4GB of ram and the same HD it shipped with (250GB 5400RPM drive). Would you do the same upgrades to mine? I mainly just use this thing for web browsing and email but do travel with it so may watch some movies and skype. Has served me very well the last few years but has started feeling pretty sluggish over the past few months.

Yes. Check OWC (http://eshop.macsales.com) or Crucial for memory and/or SSD's.

 

[kbp]

I've got 2x4's I'll sell you brand new out of a 2014 iMac that will give you 8 total.

 

[Oyeve]

Format and put snow leopard on it.

 

[Fingolfin269]

Old thread bump but wanted to update. (even though I'm not the OP)

I just replaced my original 5400rpm HD and 4GB of ram with a Crucial M550 and 8GB of Ram. It's like I have a brand new machine. All is right in the world again.

Thanks for the advice guys.

 

[manly]

Format and put snow leopard on it.

sure if you want to run an EOL operating system that has had no security updates in nearly 2 years, and has spotty compatibility with some of the latest applications.

'grats Fingolfin269 on getting (at least) another couple years out of your MBP! If you're not running Yosemite, you can and should install TRIM Enabler.

 

[Rakehellion]

Friend asked me to look at their Mac (which I don't work on often). The performance is pretty bad, it's running 10.9.2 on 2GB of RAM which I'm thinking is the real issue.

Even in safe mode, 1.98GB of RAM is in use (of 2GB total). If it's this bad in safe mode, normal mode can't be good.

Am I missing something here? Does a Mac work differently with RAM than a PC does? Anything I can try to free up some memory?

That seems like a lot. I'd say upgrade to at least 4GB and uninstall any bloatware.

 

[Fingolfin269]

sure if you want to run an EOL operating system that has had no security updates in nearly 2 years, and has spotty compatibility with some of the latest applications.

'grats Fingolfin269 on getting (at least) another couple years out of your MBP! If you're not running Yosemite, you can and should install TRIM Enabler.

I'm glad you pointed this out. I actually forgot about TRIM when I installed the drive a couple of nights ago but now seems like it's a good thing I forgot since I do have Yosemite.

I'm not familiar with SSD usage at all to be honest. Is there anything I should be doing from time to time as maintenance if TRIM is not enabled?

 

[manly]

I'm glad you pointed this out. I actually forgot about TRIM when I installed the drive a couple of nights ago but now seems like it's a good thing I forgot since I do have Yosemite.

I'm not familiar with SSD usage at all to be honest. Is there anything I should be doing from time to time as maintenance if TRIM is not enabled?

I actually don't know but if you're a command-line geek, you can look at enabling TRIM:
https://gist.github.com/return1/4058659

 

[Eug]

I actually don't know but if you're a command-line geek, you can look at enabling TRIM:
https://gist.github.com/return1/4058659

Does this get around the driver signing requirement in Yosemite?

 

[manly]

Does this get around the driver signing requirement in Yosemite?

You tell me. The commenters say "it work's" for whatever that's worth.

 

[aaksheytalwar]

To all those new to Macs, a Mac uses all the available memory. The only way to know if it is slow is by using it. Not by checking memory usage.

 

[jji7skyline]

There seems to be a lot of confusion in this topic.

All Macbook Pros in 2010 shipped with 4GB or more of RAM. Unless someone took out a stick of RAM (unlikely), this macbook is probably:

A 2010 model Macbook Air. These machines shipped with Core2Duo CPUs running at sub-2Ghz speeds. They were usually configured with 2GB of RAM, but could be upgraded to 4GB at time of purchase.

These machines CANNOT have their RAM upgraded later in life as they are soldered to the logic board.

Additionally, those of you who are recommending an upgrade to an SSD, these machines came with either 64GB or 128GB mini-sata SSDs built in.

This means that although it has very little RAM, it won't be too bad because the machine will be able to utilise free space on the SSD as swap.

So OP:

1. Verify that you have the 2010 model Macbook Air (3,1)
2. Make sure you have at least 10GB free on the SSD so that the machine can utilise swap space.
3. Try a clean installation of the OS. You can do this by booting to recovery mode by pressing down Cmd+R during start up.
4. If absolutely neccesary, downgrade to Snow Leopard, which is what the device originally shipped with. You will need to use the thumb drive that came with the computer since the Macbook Air does not have an optical drive.

I hope that helps. If you have more questions just reply to this post.

 

[Oyeve]

I recently swapped the HD in my mid 2009 macbook pro with a 500GB SSD. It was like night and day. I was about to chuck this thing as it was becoming so slow it was borderline useless. The SSD and yosemite upgrades really put new life in this thing.

 

[manly]

A lot of confusion? Not really, it's pretty clear to almost everyone that the OP has a plastic MacBook, perhaps the last model ever made:
https://support.apple.com/kb/SP584?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

He never said "Pro" or "Air" so we take him at face value.

I still think it's a bad idea to suggest installing Snow Leopard. Both SL and Lion are EOL and who knows if there are any 0-day exploits in the wild. Although each successive OS X release tends to be "bigger," the OP is better served with Mavericks (or Yosemite) to take advantage of memory compression and ongoing support.

 

[MustISO]

just to update since there was new activity. It was a macbook,the plastic one with upgradable RAM. The users took my advice and upgraded the RAM and they are very happy. Performance is much improved.

 

[LongeCrK]

Damn, I need to upgrade my MB Pro 2011. It has become so incredibly slow, where 6 or more Chrome tabs bring it to an almost freeze.