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Hi All,
Need some help here. My iMac is running very slow.
It is 21.5 inch, 2017 model, Dual core intel core i5, 8G memory and 1TB RAM. Recently updated to Big Sur 11.6, but it was slow even before that. Etrecheck report attached below.
I have done a complete reset of the iMac and it is still slow. Please help! Thanks in advance!
iMac Line (2012 and Later)
Welcome to the Apple Support Communities.
First, you have no Time Machine backup. It is very important to have one! For Time Machine, you need an external hard drive. Apple sells external hard drives, such as the LaCie Rugged USB-C + USB 3.0 Portable Hard Drive - Apple or the G-Technology G-DRIVE mobile USB-C Portable Hard Drive - Apple.
Regardless of which drive you choose, it needs to be formatted. Follow these steps:
Finally, setup Time Machine: Back up your Mac with Time Machine - Apple Support.
However, the reason your iMac is very slow is due to the 5400 rpm hard drive, as indicated by this data:
Performance:
Write speed: 96 MB/s
Read speed: 97 MB/s
Very slow. If you use an external SSD and run macOS from that, it will make your Mac 10 to 30 times faster for storage. For more info, instructions, and what external SSD to buy, please read: How to Setup and Use an External SSD as y… - Apple Community.
Jack
Welcome to the Apple Support Communities.
First, you have no Time Machine backup. It is very important to have one! For Time Machine, you need an external hard drive. Apple sells external hard drives, such as the LaCie Rugged USB-C + USB 3.0 Portable Hard Drive - Apple or the G-Technology G-DRIVE mobile USB-C Portable Hard Drive - Apple.
Regardless of which drive you choose, it needs to be formatted. Follow these steps:
Finally, setup Time Machine: Back up your Mac with Time Machine - Apple Support.
However, the reason your iMac is very slow is due to the 5400 rpm hard drive, as indicated by this data:
Performance:
Write speed: 96 MB/s
Read speed: 97 MB/s
Very slow. If you use an external SSD and run macOS from that, it will make your Mac 10 to 30 times faster for storage. For more info, instructions, and what external SSD to buy, please read: How to Setup and Use an External SSD as y… - Apple Community.
Jack
Also be aware you bought the crippled "educational/institutional" iMac with a slow 2.3ghz laptop grade dual-core processor.
Hardware Information:
iMac (21.5-inch, 2017)
iMac Model: iMac18,1
2.3 GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i5 (i5-7360U) CPU: 2-core
That model was last updated in 2017.
The standard entry model in 2017, the 4K, has a proper four-core processor. These are benchmark scores for your iMac compared to the 2017 4K model:
[from the MacTracker database, available in the Mac App Store]
For an 18 percent increase in purchase price, you get a nearly 50 percent increase in performance.
And a +1 from me for the external SSD option Jack shows. It is your only option with this computer. It will make the computer feel much more responsive.
Hi Jack,
Thank you for your quick response.
I do not see any External section in the Disk Utility, only Internal.
You perform those steps after you purchase an external backup drive, but that won't solve your speed problem.
To solve your performance issue, you need the external SSD.
Ah ok, sorry for the confusion.
No worries.
iMac is too slow
