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Apps Extremely Slow to Start

I have a Macbook Pro 13" Late 2011 Model.


For the most part it runs great, but Apps are PAINFULLY slow to open. Even something simple like Word or Chrome will take somewhere between 1-3 minutes to open.


Once an app or browser is up and running, it runs perfectly smooth and fast. But opening is always excruciating.


Also, when I try to close an app, most of them will instantly become unresponsive most of the time (if I right click on the icon in the dock, it'll say "(not responding,)") and I'll either have to wait a minute or so for it to close, or I'll have to force quit.


Any suggestions would be much appreciated.


MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 10.12

Posted on Jul 8, 2020 4:00 AM

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Posted on Jul 8, 2020 8:06 AM

Please let us know do you have Mechanical Drive or a SSD?


Please check in Safe Mode:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201262

Note: Safe mode prevents your Mac from loading certain software as it starts up, including login items, system extensions not required by macOS, and fonts not installed by macOS. It also does a basic check of your startup disk, similar to using First Aid in Disk Utility. And it deletes some system caches, including font caches and the kernel cache, which are automatically created again as needed.

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jul 8, 2020 8:06 AM in response to superherobyday

Please let us know do you have Mechanical Drive or a SSD?


Please check in Safe Mode:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201262

Note: Safe mode prevents your Mac from loading certain software as it starts up, including login items, system extensions not required by macOS, and fonts not installed by macOS. It also does a basic check of your startup disk, similar to using First Aid in Disk Utility. And it deletes some system caches, including font caches and the kernel cache, which are automatically created again as needed.

Jul 8, 2020 11:01 AM in response to superherobyday

superherobyday wrote:

"Please let us know do you have Mechanical Drive or a SSD?"

I'm not sure. Do you know how to tell? When I pull up "storage" in the System Report, I can see the hard drive, but it doesn't specify SSD or HDD.
"Please check in Safe Mode:"
Gave it a whirl. Apps were just as slow in safe mode. Maybe even slower lol.

The section, Physical Volume: Medium Type > Rotational - Meaning you have a mechanical Drive (HDD)

Thanks for checking into Safe Mode.

Jul 8, 2020 11:59 AM in response to superherobyday

You need a backup because, based on your symptoms, your drive could completely fail and stop responding at any moment.


You Will need a replacement for it, and you may not be able to salvage ANYTHING off it directly, especially since it is encrypted. Your backup will be essential for restoring any files or Photos you have created.


You need to make whatever backups you can.


You need to be shopping a replacement drive, at least as large as what you have now, and an SSD drive is strongly recommended. You may need to replace the drive cable as well.


An external enclosure to mount the new drive while you set it up can be very handy.

Apps Extremely Slow to Start

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