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What's the Mac OS equivalent of speeding up a slow Windows PC?

I haven't used Mac OS for about 10 years so not too familiar with it anymore but my Dad needs help with his Mac OS machine slowing down recently (It's a 2014 iMac 5K so not too old)

 

e.g on Windows I would do something like:

 

  • Check SSD(s) have been trimmed recently and defrag HDDs (or delete stuff if close to getting full)
  • Remove most startup programs in task manager.
  • Maybe run CCleaner for the sake of it.
  • Clear dust out of the machine if it's really old.
  • Malwarebytes scan
  • Update drivers.
  • Maybe just reinstall Windows.

 

Any tips for trying to speed up Mac OS?

 

Cheers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Most likely, the storage drive that is in this system is one of those Fusion drives (SSHD) so by replacing with an SSD, the system will be much faster. This alone will speed up macOS and feel fast. Just know you should have the proper equipment to remove the screen as I believe they use adhesive to hold the screen onto the shell in the latest models. 

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5 minutes ago, ragnarok0273 said:

1. Put an SSD in it

2. Reinstall macOS via Recovery Mode

3. Make sure it's on the latest version of macOS

That's a good point. I thought there was already an SSD in it but turns out it's a "fusion" drive. Not sure if that's worth upgrading.

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Just now, SpiderMan said:

Most likely, the storage drive that is in this system is one of those Fusion drives (SSHD) so by replacing with an SSD, the system will be much faster. This alone will speed up macOS and feel fast. Just know you should have the proper equipment to remove the screen as I believe they use adhesive to hold the screen onto the shell in the latest models. 

Yeah I just checked, it's a fusion drive. It's a 2014 iMac so I'm guessing the storage can't be changed without removing the display?

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1 minute ago, Astroflash said:

Yeah I just checked, it's a fusion drive. It's a 2014 iMac so I'm guessing the storage can't be changed without removing the display?

Most likely that is the case, I think 2012 models and earlier can be removed easily as they were just held the glass front on with magnets, but they use double sided adhesive strips that hold the glass on. Check out iFixit's website for your model as most likely, they will have a guide showing you how to remove the display or change out the hard drive. If some steps are not clear enough, YT will be your best friend. 

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4 minutes ago, Astroflash said:

Yeah I just checked, it's a fusion drive. It's a 2014 iMac so I'm guessing the storage can't be changed without removing the display?

No iMac since the G5 has had storage that can be changed without removing the display. The 2014 iMac has the display held on with adhesive, so it's not super easy, but it can be done. Definitely put an SSD in it, or at the very least use a USB 3 SSD as a boot drive. 

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Some of these things still apply on macOS if you don't want to swap out the HDD for an SSD, I would still run Malwarebytes and remove startup programs as well as running First Aid on the drive (which is about as close to an automated type of OS repair as you might get in macOS). I also tend to like Onyx for some cleaning up tasks.

But I definitely agree on the swap it out for an SSD front. Honestly hard drives aren't too difficult as long as it's just the HDD bit of the fusion drive you're replacing (no reason to replace the SSD unless it's failing and that's a much bigger pain). They sell tools pretty inexpensively online that are intended for cutting through the adhesive, and replacement adhesive as well. It's a bit nerve wracking at first, but mostly it just requires a lot of patience.

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A possible quick fix here since the iMac has a Thunderbolt 2 port, you can run an SSD and boot off of that instead of the internal. There is also a way to unbind the fusion drive and 2 separate drives will show up in Disk Utilities. Then install the OS to just the SSD. Disclaimer: I've accidently unbound my fusion drive before and it's no easy task getting it back (at least in 2015 it wasn't) so if you go this route back up everything!

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