MacOS Catalina so slow

[Zenedge]

i recently got a 2011 15" macbook pro and decided to install catalina to it

it is a fresh install. so i doubt its any software related problem.

 

i feel like this laptop is more than capable to handle catalina

 

i7 2635QM

8gb ram

256gb ssd

 

any idea what causes it to be so slow? or should i just go back to high sierra?

 

[NelizMastr]

The reason it's slow is becuase your AMD graphics are unsupported. Mojave and Catalina don't support AMD Radeon HD5000 and 6000 graphics.

You'll need to disable your AMD card completely in firmware to get the HD3000 to step in, which is also kinda slow.

 

It's the same way with my Mac Pro 2008, which has a 5870 card. High Sierra runs great, Mojave/Catalina does not.

[Zenedge]

ohhhhhh. okay. i didnt think of it that way. the patcher i used had those legacy video drivers so i assumed the graphics would be fine..

thanks for that info. i didnt know that  my amd graphics still works tho. so i guess i will just disable it once it dies. (seeing as almost all 2011 macbooks are doomed to fail)

 

i guess ill just go back to high sierra.  

[Lord Vile]

3 hours ago, Zenedge said:

i recently got a 2011 15" macbook pro and decided to install catalina to it

it is a fresh install. so i doubt its any software related problem.

 

i feel like this laptop is more than capable to handle catalina

 

i7 2635QM

8gb ram

256gb ssd

 

any idea what causes it to be so slow? or should i just go back to high sierra?

 

Your Mac isn't on the supported list so won't run well. It's not supported after high sierra. 

[Zenedge]

2 hours ago, Lord Vile said:

Your Mac isn't on the supported list so won't run well. It's not supported after high sierra. 

yes i know it is unsupported. but i see older macbooks that can run catalina fine with no problems.

it just so happened catalina does not support the HD6000 graphics chip (what NelizMastr said).  so that causes the main slowdown

 

anyhow. i installed high sierra and this laptop is very fast again.

[Lord Vile]

1 hour ago, Zenedge said:

yes i know it is unsupported. but i see older macbooks that can run catalina fine with no problems.

it just so happened catalina does not support the HD6000 graphics chip (what NelizMastr said).  so that causes the main slowdown

 

anyhow. i installed high sierra and this laptop is very fast again.

Good, when it's not supported it's a lucky dip as to how well it runs

[Donut417]

7 hours ago, Zenedge said:

i see older macbooks that can run catalina fine with no problems.

How old? You MacBook is running a Sandy bridge CPU, there are 8 generations of newer Intel CPU's beyond that guy. Sandy bridge hasn't been relevant in years. The fact is mobile chips don't age as well as their desktop counterparts. Also the support thing is an issue, Apple doesn't supply drivers forever. 

 

Maybe think about a Linux OS of some kind. 

[Zenedge]

5 hours ago, Donut417 said:

How old? You MacBook is running a Sandy bridge CPU, there are 8 generations of newer Intel CPU's beyond that guy. Sandy bridge hasn't been relevant in years. The fact is mobile chips don't age as well as their desktop counterparts. Also the support thing is an issue, Apple doesn't supply drivers forever. 

 

Maybe think about a Linux OS of some kind. 

i have seen 2009 macbooks and macbook pros running catalina in a fairly good state.

but the way i have experienced it was like. stuttering issues. sometimes the launchpad would not even open. it just kinda gets stuck in the transition. completely unusable.

 

[Donut417]

5 hours ago, Zenedge said:

i have seen 2009 macbooks and macbook pros running catalina in a fairly good state.

but the way i have experienced it was like. stuttering issues. sometimes the launchpad would not even open. it just kinda gets stuck in the transition. completely unusable.

 

Like I said. Linux. It can put new life in to that computer. But as it stands Sandy Bridge CPU's are pretty well done at this point. A few years ago they were still decent gaming chips (desktop wise). But now they need to be put out to pasture. Personally Id install Linux or better yet buy a new machine. Laptop hardware doesn't age gracefully. 

[Donut417]

22 hours ago, Kaloob said:

Sandy Bridge is more than fine if not doing anything too intensive, hell it's still somewhat competent for gaming (on the desktop side) if you can't upgrade to anything else. If OP is just using this for basic tasks, a replacement isn't really needed aside from the fact it's no longer supported by Apple. 

I have a Ivy bridge desktop gaming PC I used to use as my main machine up till last year. It was getting long in the tooth. Laptop chips are not nearly as powerful as their desktop counterparts, at least not in those days. So I would heavily disagree. 
 

It also seems that the latest version of MacOS is a bit buggy. People are complaining all over. People with newer MacBooks are having sever battery drain, I can tell you that with my 16 gigs if ram in my new MacBook that I see 11 gigs of usage most times. So it’s a bit of a resource hog. I stand behind my suggestion of Linux, if the OP wants an OS that’s still supported. 

[Zenedge]

Yes. this laptop isn't my main one. haha. i had only picked it up for $200 which i think is a good price for a very good condition macbook.

i only use it for browsing the web. and some office work.  so far it has been working great and fast. no problems whatsoever. i think sandy bridge still hold up well by today's standards. considering that youtube, facebook, word, etc dont really demand that much. i have also tried using iMovie and it seems to do fine at that too.