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The dreaded beachball

I bought an 8GB 2021 M1 iMac with 500GB flash storage (now running Monterey 12.3) specifically to get better performance running GarageBand than my 2015 MacBook Pro. It has not turned out to be the case. Every time I use it GarageBand I get the beachball, mostly when saving changes to a project or exporting to a WAV file.


I use Garageband with a Steinberg UR22C interface and this has its own problems - I get "Last selected audio interface not available" pop up multiple times during a session. It usually resolves after 10-30 seconds but it is mightily frustrating when it happens during a vocal or instrumental take.


I thought this was supposed to be a thing of the past with M1 Macs. Am I the only one with these problems?


Ian Jenkins

Sydney, Australia

iMac 24″, macOS 12.3

Posted on Mar 30, 2022 3:07 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Apr 1, 2022 8:24 AM

The best antivirus, cleaning app, and overall maintenance app for Mac OS is Mac OS itself. All you need to do with Mac OS to keep it secure and running well is to keep it up-to-date and do periodic (about 1x per week) restarts. Other than that, leave it alone. Adding third party antivirus, cleaning, security and other types of maintenance apps to Mac OS adds no additional level of security. The only thing these apps do is have the opposite affect users want. They make Mac OS slow, unstable, generate odd behavior (much like you are experiencing) and make Mac OS appear buggy.

 

Please locate the developers uninstall instructions for BitDefender and any other AV apps or cleaning apps and follow to the letter. Then restart in Safe Mode per the directions in Use safe mode to isolate issues with your Mac  and then restart normally.



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12 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Apr 1, 2022 8:24 AM in response to Mal-S

The best antivirus, cleaning app, and overall maintenance app for Mac OS is Mac OS itself. All you need to do with Mac OS to keep it secure and running well is to keep it up-to-date and do periodic (about 1x per week) restarts. Other than that, leave it alone. Adding third party antivirus, cleaning, security and other types of maintenance apps to Mac OS adds no additional level of security. The only thing these apps do is have the opposite affect users want. They make Mac OS slow, unstable, generate odd behavior (much like you are experiencing) and make Mac OS appear buggy.

 

Please locate the developers uninstall instructions for BitDefender and any other AV apps or cleaning apps and follow to the letter. Then restart in Safe Mode per the directions in Use safe mode to isolate issues with your Mac  and then restart normally.



Mar 31, 2022 8:05 AM in response to ijenkins99

Hi Ian,


Thanks for contacting Apple Support Communities!


We understand that when you're attempting to save files from GarageBand, the performance isn't what you'd expect.


We'd like to work with you to help isolate this behavior further.


Are you saving your files directly to the external drive or do you save them to the iMac them move them to your external drive?


We would suggest that you use Activity Monitor to check the processes and memory as outlined here: Check if your Mac needs more RAM in Activity Monitor


You may also consider checking the available space on your startup disk: Free up storage space on your Mac


You can also create a new user account to test with. This will let us know if this behavior is system wide or isolated to your one account.


To create a new user account, you can go to the Apple menu  > System Preferences, then click Users & Groups.

Click the lock icon, then enter an administrator name and password.

Click the add button (+) below the list of users.

Complete the fields shown for an Administrator account, then click Create Account (or OK).

Once you’ve created the new account, go to the Apple menu  > Log Out, then log in with the new account and attempt to export a file from GarageBand.


You can also run a diagnostic test on your Mac to verify this behavior isn't hardware related: Use Apple Diagnostics to test your Mac


Let us know how it goes.


Cheers!




Apr 1, 2022 6:18 AM in response to ijenkins99

ijenkins99,


Thanks for following up. Moving files to iCloud Drive or using an external drive are both great options to save space on your Mac.


If you're still experiencing an issue with GarageBand performance, we recommend testing in safe mode. Starting in safe mode allows your Mac to run certain checks, remove caches, and prevent login items from automatically launching. This can isolate possible third party issues. Use the steps and information in the following resource for assistance with safe mode: How to use safe mode on your Mac


Keep us posted.

Apr 1, 2022 5:17 AM in response to Miche11e_P

Thanks for the pointers. Running the Activity Monitor has been instructive. It looks like I'm using around 6GB of my 8GB memory most of the time. I imagine when I start working with big song files it's going to use up all available memory. I guess that means I should have got the 16GB machine. I thought I read plenty of reviews and recommendations before purchase and the 8GB was going to be plenty big enough.


GarageBand is unsurprisingly the biggest user of memory but the next two memory hogs are Firefox and BitDefender. I can ditch Firefox for Safari but I've got to have my antivirus and security apps. Once again, I did my homework and thought BitDefender was well respected for the Mac.


Looks like this 8GB iMac will become my admin machine and I'll be buying a 16GB model for music before too long.

Apr 1, 2022 6:35 PM in response to ijenkins99

You are not alone, many Windows switchers make the same mistakes. Once you eradicate your system of Bit Defender, you may want to post a fresh EtreCheck report for us to look over. Sometimes left over pieces of these apps are left behind and although they can be gotten rid of it takes some work.


Also, keeping some data on your iCloud storage is just fine, that is what it is designed for. Particularly if you want to have them available when using your iPad, iPhone or even another computer. I do this all the time. I recently travelled to Hawaii and kept all my COVID docs on my iPad and just brought up the file to show security my proof of vaccination and getting the booster. This was much more simple than dragging along hard copies.

Apr 1, 2022 7:49 PM in response to ijenkins99

Pretty sure I maxed out my 24" and I'm getting beach balls on the daily.... even on the most simple test like opening iMessages. I do run Adobe Lightroom and PSD but the lag time is shocking for a brand new computer. I'm SO SO disappointed but didn't get it set up until a couple months after purchase due to my busy season of work so no return option at this point. It does seem to work smoother with my external detached but still even when I dismount it, I still get beach ball. I'm beside myself... biggest regret so far purchasing this b/c of a friends advice over the standard iMacs I was looking at purchasing.


24-inch Blue iMac with 4.5K Retina displayWith the following configuration:

Apple M1 chip with 8-core CPU with 4 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores, 8-core GPU, and 16-core Neural Engine

16GB unified memory

2TB SSD storage

Two Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports

Two USB 3 ports

Gigabit Ethernet


The dreaded beachball

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