Is Mac OS supposed to be Slow? Super Confused...

[bagusbagus]

Long term windows user,decided to try Mac OS. (I'm on the macos 15 latest,fresh install of OS)

I got 2019 Macbook Pro with 16gb ram/512gb ssd with the quad core i5, the cpu in it is really decent.

For example when you open settings app and click on different sections it legit takes 1-1.5sec to load any section when you start going through the various menus there.

same with opening apps as well,there just seems a lot of delay in super basic stuff where there shouldn't be any.

I do not find any problems with the horsepower of it for example when rendering any videos or watching 4k stuff, it's just that the OS itself appears very sluggish and not fast at every step/at everything you do. It's just not ''smooth'' basically.

I have installed also windows on it and on Windows it seems decent & there are no problems, it doesn't have any such delays in the OS.

Is this supposed to be Normal?

[Whataguy]

Yes, it’s something I noticed coming from being a lifetime windows user.

Windows can open an app from cold quickly, whereas Mac from cold takes time to open the app.

However, it’s only the first open that takes time. Once apps have been opened then switching between them is fast.

I now make sure that when I shut down the ‘open same apps at startup’ box is ticked.

Then the next time you start up, it will load all the apps ready for use. Unless you try to use an app before they have all pre-loaded then that avoids the issue.

In a race from powered off to using an app windows would win, but mainly I sleep the Mac so it’s instantly available. It hardly uses any battery power while sleeping.

Edited by Whataguy on Wednesday 25th September 20:34

[nikaiyo2]

I still use a 2011 i5 8Gb Mac mini for streaming and it is slow but serviceable so a 2019 should be.

[jesusbuiltmycar]

MacOS Sequoia is targeted at Apple Silicon Macs - I am supposed it is supported on Intel Macs.

If you try a modern Mac with Apple Silicon (basically an ARM processor) you will find that most apps open instantly

[Evolved]

Your Mac, although fairly new, is actually ancient in the current Mac life cycle. The intel chips never delivered on the what was promised hence Apple producing their own chips.

They’re on M3 now, but any of the Apple silicone will wipe the floor with the i5 chipset. The latest OS is geared toward their own chips and current Macs, really.

[Whataguy]

Mine is an M1 on the latest OS and I also had an M2, coming from windows Mac OS is much slower opening apps on first launch.

However it’s not an issue after the apps are pre-loaded with the option ticked. After that, it’s faster than windows.

( My first Mac was a rare 7 year old mini with an i3 and a physical hard drive - that took minutes to boot and load apps. Speeded up massively by using an external SSD instead of the internal drive. Apparently it was a model that developers used, so Apple kept it supported with the latest OS for years. )

[eeLee]

SWIMBO had a 2019 Pro.
Blew like a hooker and did not feel faster than her 2013 Pro.
She is far happier now with an M3 Air.

I think it's an OK machine, limited by Intel with not great battery life. The teenager has it now, he did not install much on it, needs to be near a power supply but his stuff does not cause it to sound like a helicopter.

Ironically, I suspect it was OneDrive for macOS but I cannot be sure.

[wyson]

My experiences with 2018 15 Inch MBPro are the same.

I suppose one bonus was that I could keep the heating off in the winter and my fingers didn’t lose dexterity because of the heat coming off the machine.

Other than that, I fail to see anything other than massive compromises for a slim form factor. My current 16 inch M1 Macbook Pro is much more Pro. Clicking stuff gives an instant response. The 2018 machine wasn’t this snappy, although much quicker than lagging for a 1 second. I would find such a machine unusable.

Also, I understand a casual user will feel differently, but for Pro use, a 2019 machine should be on the path to retirement, if not shuffled off already.

Edited by wyson on Friday 27th September 10:32

[Evolved]

The intel machines were shocking. Constant throttling and cooling due to the inefficient design. I had one, it was rubbish from day one. As you say, the M1 I replaced it with feels light years ahead. Had it a few years and it’s still as fast as day one.

[ecs]

The Intel Macbooks of that era are awful - they overheat and throttle down far to easily. I had to endure a couple before getting an M1 which was a massive improvement.

[bagusbagus]

Thanks everyone for Confirming
I'm using windows on it now and feels great, still left the mac on a small partition on it just in case.

First time having a macbook, overall a very nice device with a GREAT Screen, Awesome Speakers & very quiet.
Keyboard however isn't nearly as good as on thinkpads.

[therams]

bagusbagus said:

Long term windows user,decided to try Mac OS. (I'm on the macos 15 latest,fresh install of OS)

I got 2019 Macbook Pro with 16gb ram/512gb ssd with the quad core i5, the cpu in it is really decent.

Unfortunately, the MacBook you have is a bit of a dog. it's 5 ish years old, running 7 years ish old tech. battery life is very poor and processor utilisation and speed is low

obvs depends on how much it cost, but one of the new model MacBook Air's with M3 processor technology would outperform the 2019 MBP by a long way

[Brainpox]

bagusbagus said:

Keyboard however isn't nearly as good as on thinkpads.

As a 2019 model it's highly likely to have the awful butterfly switch keyboard. Apple ditched them completely in 2020.

[CheesecakeRunner]

Interesting, I’ve just tried this in Settings on my 2021 M1 MacBook Pro, and yes, there is an oddity. First load of each settings page does take about a second, but subsequent views are instant. Never noticed this before.

[bagusbagus]

therams said:

Unfortunately, the MacBook you have is a bit of a dog. it's 5 ish years old, running 7 years ish old tech. battery life is very poor and processor utilisation and speed is low

obvs depends on how much it cost, but one of the new model MacBook Air's with M3 processor technology would outperform the 2019 MBP by a long way

paid 200 for it, can't complain.. Same RAM/Storage M3 would be 1800
Frankly Speaking I do not think this i5-8257U CPU I have in it is insufficient or bad ,especially if you check the actual benchmarks of it.

I have thinkpad which has almost identical CPU Power as M3 CPU and there's barely any difference in speed/performance between the two for everyday basic tasks, only for heavy workloads...
It's only the frickin MacOS that makes it appear clunky, on Windows its Great!

I have another like 10 year old thinkpad with even 3x worse cpu & 2x less RAM than this Mac, the Windows on it Honestly Feels More Responsive/Faster than on this when Running MacOs

battery also seems plenty at least for me for a 5year old laptop, 3.5 hours of normal usage & about 7 when just watching movie.

Edited by bagusbagus on Friday 27th September 12:01

[therams]

For £200 its fine, a decent 2nd hand buy


The £900 ish MacBook Air would be many many many times faster, with battery life of 12 plus hours depending on usage

But Obvs, that’s £900 ish not £200