iMac M1 on Monterey slow loading photos.

Jonzjob · Mar 1, 2022

Our iMac M1 running Monterey has suddenly started to take an age to load photos whn=en I'm looking through some of the other forums I am on. It can take up to 15 or 20 seconds for them to appear.

It's stood next to our old 21 ½ iMac and I have tried the 2 together to check that it isnt out internet connection and the old Mac is perfectly OK. I have done a 'Restart' and a complete power off and back on. No difference.

Web pages like the BBC news site load quickly and aren't a problem. As far as I am aware there haven't been any changes or updates in the past day or so since it started on its 'go slow'.

IWT · Mar 1, 2022

Truly not sure what's gone wrong, John, but here's a couple of suggestions:

10 Common macOS Monterey Problems & How to Fix Them

Mac users are complaining about a variety of bugs and performance issues as we push away from Apple’s latest macOS Monterey update, The company’s latest macOS Monterey upgrade, macOS Monterey 12.6.3, went through testing, but problems have unsurprisingly slipped into the final release. The...

www.gottabemobile.com

Macintosh Slowdown Solutions

Ian

Jonzjob · Mar 2, 2022

It doesn't seem to be any of those Ian and I wondered if it was Safari? So I have now tried Waterfox and it's the same.

If I open photos in my PS Elements 2022 they are almost immediate. I have also tried connecting the M1 Mac by ethernet cable, and that tells me that it isn't connected to the internet, so I backed out of that for another day! One problem is enough for my poor old brain cell at the moment.

massalt · Mar 8, 2022

Are you running any sort of Adblock software?

MacInWin · Mar 8, 2022

Try running a speed check at speedtest.net and see if something is slowing your internet down.Could be anything, including neighbors, that is creating more interference for the iMac than the old iMac.

Jonzjob · Mar 9, 2022

As I said above I have our old late 2009 iMac stood alongside this M1 machine and tried hitting the button on both at the same time to load the same photo/page. The old Mac loads within a couple of seconds, but the M1 can take an age. So it can't be the internet slowing down , can it?

But I will run a speed test to be sure. Is there any that you would recommend?

MacInWin · Mar 9, 2022

Jonzjob said:
So it can't be the internet slowing down , can it?

Actually, yes, it can. The frequency for WiFi is 2.4 Ghz, or 5Ghz. At 2.4 Ghz a wavelength is about 12.5 cm, and at 5 Ghz it's about 6.25 cm. So, if the antenna is in a low spot, or a harmonic spot, it could see either a very low signal or a very high signal. Move it a few cm and the signal strength could be totally different. Add to that interference from all other 2.4/5Ghz devices in your locality (other Macs, Smart Phones, wireless devices, etc., etc., and the possibility of two machines side-by-side having different speeds is pretty high.

So, do that speedtest and then move the slow machine a cm or two and try again. You might be surprised.

Jonzjob · Mar 10, 2022

I have done a speed test Jake and it's about normal to what I have done brfore. The router and the Macs haven't moved for months now and the load speed for photos at this moment is very quick. If the 3 bits of kit are stationary then I can't see how harmonics can change? Am I being especially thick here?

The old Mac is in sleep mode but it doesn't make any difference whether it's awake or sleep and this problem has only started to occur in the last few weeks and it's intermittant.

MacInWin · Mar 10, 2022

John, if that result is what you would normally see, that's fine. Interference can come from not just what YOU do, as I said, but from what your neighbors might be doing or changed. And at the short wavelengths involved, as I said, it doesn't take much.

I have noticed Safari seems slower on Monterey 12.2.1 than it was before the update. No reason for it I can find, so maybe it will get "fixed" with the next update to Monterey? Brave seems to be quicker now than Safari, whereas before they were about the same. You might give that a try.

Jonzjob · Mar 11, 2022

That's typical Jake as I have only started using Safari with this new machine. We have always used Firefox moving on to Waterfox up until now.

Brave? "crypto/BAT assets" Where's Robin? Probably in the Bat Car

Call me thick, but what the heIIs that lot about, pray tell?

MacInWin · Mar 11, 2022

Jonzjob said:
That's typical Jake as I have only started using Safari with this new machine. We have always used Firefox moving on to Waterfox up until now.

Brave? "crypto/BAT assets" Where's Robin? Probably in the Bat Car

Call me thick, but what the heIIs that lot about, pray tell?

Brave is free, but they make money with ads. But Brave has an inherent ad-blocker, so, to incentivize people to allow ads for some things, Brave offers "rewards" if you allow those ads to appear and you view them. That is what the mysterious "BAT assets" are. Just turn it off and Brave works just fine. I haven't make it the default browser yet, and may not ever, if Apple fixes Safari soon.

Jonzjob · Mar 13, 2022

massalt said:
Are you running any sort of Adblock software?

Sorry Massalt, I managed to miss your reply.

As far as I know there are no extensions on this Safari apart from Duckduckgo and I'm not sure if that counts as an extension?

How do I go about checking that please?