New iMac supper slow , did I get screwed ??!!

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Hello ,

In January , maybe March of 2018 , I purchased a new iMac , the 21.5 ,i5 , 3g , 8g ram with the 1TB. ( 5400 ) hard drive.

This computer runs so slow its sickening ! , I have tried everything I could think of to get it to work correctly , My next step it to bring into Apple to see if there is something wrong with it .
I have freed up as much of the HD as I could , I am only using 210.gb of the 1 TB hard drive .

I have reviewed the above sticky ( How to keep your Mac up and Running for years ) however none of those suggestions have made any improvement , when I run Activity Monitor , nothing seems to be unusual to me ( However , I don't know what most of that stuff is , but it looks like most of it is system files and nothing is running really high.

In my sheer ignorance , I presumed that the all the new iMac's had a SSD hard drive and that they didn't even make ( 5400 RPM hard drives ) so this was completely my own stupidity .

with that being said , is there anything I can look for that could be making this thing so slow ? I have read that one solution is to boot the OS from and external SSD and this would give me better performance , however as some of you may have guessed that after spending $1400 on a computer that is only 6 mouths or so old , only to have to purchase a dedicated SSD is absoulty ridiculous , but trading it in for a 100 or so is even more ridiculous .

I am a or I should I say I was a fanboy for a long time , my G4 867 MMD still works and my mid 2011 iMac works well also , actually this new one only works a little better during some task .

And no , I do not use this for anything serious , as a matter of fact , I use this 90 percent of the the time to do Messages , e-mail and web browsing . I do write a little Python code , but very basic stuff , I just started a few mouths ago .

Sorry for the rant , I really wanted to keep this civil but I get very angry just thinking about it and I am beyond the point of returning it to get a better one !

any help would be greatly appreciated .

Thank You
John
 
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Welcome to the forum.

When you say it's slow, can you be a bit more specific? Slow doing what? If all you do is Messages, email and web browsing, the main choke point is your internet provider. What speed lines do you have? How is the Mac connected? What have you tried already beyond cleaning up the drive and looking at Activity Monitor? You bought a new machine with a very slow hard drive, but once the programs are in memory, that doesn't matter.

I can understand the frustration, but ranting about "it's slow" isn't much help to us to try to tell you what to do.
 
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MacinWin , that’s fair enough.
When I first open iTunes , Photos , Pages or just about any other app . It takes what seems like for ever , Garage Band 30 sec. , Pages 15 sec. ( with beach ball )
This is after a restart.

I have have my photos all into one library on iCloud ( this was actually a bounus to me )
I have free up my disk space .
I have deleted most all 3rd party app. Most notably a Torrent app.

I downloaded Onyx and that didn’t seem to do anything for me .

I am no longer connected via WiFi only from Ethernet ( the WiFi was way to slow on that machine) I have much better WiFi speed on my iPad , phone and older iMac ( and all these devices are with in reaching distance of each other ) I have tried shutting off WiFi on all of there devices and the WiFi is still slow on the new iMac .

The Bluetooth keyboard and track pad intermittently have lag .

When I launch an app , sometimes I have to click the icon a few times for it to open .

I have not downloaded any strange app. I have also checked the root folder for any large files and Googled them to make sure they are part of the original OS files .

All software is up to date ( have not installed Mojave yet , not sure if I should)

It seems that the only solution is to install a SSD drive either internally ( not by me ) or externally .

Hopefully I can get some other option to try on this forum if not maybe bringing it back to Apple my be the best solution at this time .

Perhaps it’s the machine that is faulty ?
 

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...I have tried everything I could think of to get it to work correctly...

I'm sure there are things that haven't been tried.:)

...when I run Activity Monitor , nothing seems to be unusual to me ( However , I don't know what most of that stuff is , but it looks like most of it is system files and nothing is running really high.

Exactly...got to know what you're looking at in order to come to the proper conclusions.;)

...with that being said , is there anything I can look for that could be making this thing so slow ? I have read that one solution is to boot the OS from and external SSD and this would give me better performance...

It's possible you may have misinterpeted this suggestion. The suggestion of using an external storage device is not to operate things permanently like this...the external device is used as a temporary diagnostic tool.:)

Also...you don't need to purchase an expensive external SSD...just get a cheap external spinner hard drive. Depending on your computers backup strategy...having an external drive can be a must anyway for backups.:)

Maybe start off by posting some screenshots of what you're seeing in Activity Montitor.

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MacinWin , that’s fair enough.
When I first open iTunes , Photos , Pages or just about any other app . It takes what seems like for ever , Garage Band 30 sec. , Pages 15 sec. ( with beach ball )
This is after a restart.
That is most likely the slow spinner hard drive showing it's lack of speed. About all you can do about that is to change to a faster drive.

I have have my photos all into one library on iCloud ( this was actually a bounus to me )
I have free up my disk space .
I have deleted most all 3rd party app. Most notably a Torrent app.

I downloaded Onyx and that didn’t seem to do anything for me .
Ok, those are good. Not sure about Onyx, it works for what it does, which is to clean up things that aren't needed and fix issues it finds. If it didn't do much, and if there was not much difference, then not much it can fix was wrong.

I am no longer connected via WiFi only from Ethernet ( the WiFi was way to slow on that machine) I have much better WiFi speed on my iPad , phone and older iMac ( and all these devices are with in reaching distance of each other ) I have tried shutting off WiFi on all of there devices and the WiFi is still slow on the new iMac .
Ethernet is definitely faster than WiFi, but even Ethernet into a slow internet connection from your ISP isn't going to solve speed issues. What ISP do you have and what speed is the line? Have you tried testing at Speedtest.net?

The Bluetooth keyboard and track pad intermittently have lag .

When I launch an app , sometimes I have to click the icon a few times for it to open .
Neither of those is supposed to happen. Given you are still in Apple Care, I'd say take it back to Apple to have the genius bar test to see what may be happening with the lag and the mouse clicking on apps. Or try calling Apple support and work with them over the phone to see if there is a way they can save you the trip to the store. It's a PITA to carry an iMac around.

I have not downloaded any strange app. I have also checked the root folder for any large files and Googled them to make sure they are part of the original OS files .

All software is up to date ( have not installed Mojave yet , not sure if I should)
Well, Mojave seems to me to be a bit quicker, but I don't think that's the issue for you. It's either the Internet speed or the slow drive, maybe both, and maybe something intermittent with BT.

It seems that the only solution is to install a SSD drive either internally ( not by me ) or externally .

Hopefully I can get some other option to try on this forum if not maybe bringing it back to Apple my be the best solution at this time .

Perhaps it’s the machine that is faulty ?
Could be. The keyboard and trackpad should not lag, and launching an app shouldn't take multiple clicks. Those are definitely not normal. The speed is, as said, a combination of slow drive and maybe internet speeds.

I'd say call Apple for phone support and if that doesn't work out, take it back to the store for testing.
 
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You might also get Etrecheck and run it and post the results here. You can find it in the Mac App Store. Free.
 
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any help would be greatly appreciated .


Just for a test, you might want to shut down and then boot using Safe Boot Mode and see if most things work a bit better.

Note: not all things work when in Safe Boot Mode.
To get back to regular use, just restart as normal.





- Patrick
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chscag

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Is Etrecheck free? The App Store says "In App Purchases" and the last time I checked his website, it was not free. Older versions which you can still find are free, although I don't know if an older version works with Mojave.
 
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Is Etrecheck free?


I believe the current version gives one it's three free runs, then one needs to pay.

I would doubt that it's going to show anything drastic as the OP has already done most of the maintenance stuff it's most likely to suggest doing.

I'm also wondering if downloading and running the latest compatible Mac OS COMBO Update would help, but it wouldn't hurt.

Doing a Safe Boot as I suggested previously should help clean up some surplus stuff that may help speed things up.





- Patrick
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Simple.

You purchased an underperforming iMac with a slow as molasses 5400rpm laptop style drive instead of one with an SSD. You can attach an SSD via USB3 externally, clone over the contents of your hard drive, select the external in System Preferences > Startup Disk as the boot disk by highlighting (selecting) and you will notice a huge increase.

Also alas to install more memory you have to crack it open and just about dismantle everything to get to the memory slots, not recommended by Apple. A 27" model has the door in the rear for user installation of up to four memory slots.
 
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You purchased an underperforming iMac with a slow as molasses 5400rpm laptop style drive instead of one with an SSD.


I would tend to agree and I'm just wondering if the OP purchased one of that era's models intended for lower school grades.

But interestingly, even the lowest of such marvelous still have a decent Geekbench score that does not match the performance the OPD is getting.

Geekbench 3 (32): 3869 Geekbench 3 (32): 15820
Standard Storage: 1 TB HDD/Fusion* Std. Storage Speed: N/A
Details: If configured from the iMac "Core i5" 3.0 21.5-Inch (4K, Mid-2017) (MNDY2LL/A), it has a 1 TB 5400 RPM hard drive by default. If configured from the iMac "Core i5" 3.4 21.5-Inch (4K, Mid-2017) (MNE02LL/A), it has a 1 TB "Fusion" Drive, which combines a 32 GB SSD and a 1 TB hard drive.
https://everymac.com/systems/apple/...1-inch-aluminum-retina-4k-mid-2017-specs.html

But it sure does falter on whatever the second score represents for the basic model:
Geekbench 3 (32): 3461 Geekbench 3 (32): 7674
https://everymac.com/systems/apple/imac/specs/imac-core-i5-2.3-21-inch-aluminum-mid-2017-specs.html

But I'm not even sure what exact model the OP has.





- Patrick
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Hello ,

Thank you for all your feedback , I apologize for being a little dramatic and short yesterday . I appreciate the help you are all willing to give Me .


Below I am have posted a screen shot of the Activity Monitor as well as the EtreCheck report , hopefully this will give you a better idea of what if anything is going on .

note :

You will notice on the EtreCheck that it is showing an Adware detected , this is on page two of the report.


Adware:
Status
Enabled Enabled
Launchd: ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.macmechanic.mmhlpr.plist
Reason: Adware name match
Executable: ~/Library/Application Support/mmc/mmhlpr.app/Contents/MacOS/mmhlpr


it is my understanding that Launchd is part of the OS and is suppose to be running .

Here is the full report:

EtreCheck version: 5.0 (5008)
Report generated: 2018-09-28 11:33:57 Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com Runtime: 2:54
Performance: Good
Sandbox: Enabled
Full drive access: Disabled
Problem: Computer is too slow Major Issues:
Anything that appears on this list needs immediate attention.
Adware - Adware detected. Minor Issues:
These issues do not need immediate attention but they may indicate future problems.
32-bit Apps - This machine has 32-bits apps that may have problems in the future.
Hardware Information:
iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2017)
iMac Model: iMac18,2
1 3 GHz Intel Core i5 (i5-7400) CPU: 4-core 8 GB RAM - Upgradeable
BANK 0/DIMM0 - 4 GB DDR4 2400 ok BANK 1/DIMM0 - 4 GB DDR4 2400 ok
Video Information:
Radeon Pro 555 - VRAM: 2048 MB iMac 4096 x 2304
Drives:
disk0 - APPLE HDD HTS541010A9E632 1.00 TB (Mechanical - 5400 RPM) Internal SATA 3 Gigabit Serial ATA
disk0s1 - EFI (MS-DOS FAT32) [EFI] 210 MB
disk0s2 - Macintosh HD (Journaled HFS+) 999.35 GB (228.11 GB used) disk0s3 - Recovery HD (Mac OS Extended) [Recovery] 650 MB
disk1 - SAMSUNG HD103SI 1.00 TB External USB 480 Mbit/s USB
disk1s1 - EFI (MS-DOS FAT32) [EFI] 210 MB
disk1s2 - B*****p (Journaled HFS+) 999.86 GB (460.69 GB used)
Mounted Volumes:
disk0s2 - Macintosh HD 999.35 GB (770.97 GB free) Journaled HFS+
Mount point: /
disk1s2 - B*****p 999.86 GB (539.17 GB free) Journaled HFS+
Mount point: /Volumes/B*****p
Network:
Interface en0: Ethernet Interface en6: iPad Interface en5: iPhone
Page 1
John’s iMac 2018-09-28
Interface en1: Wi-Fi
Interface en4: Bluetooth PAN Interface bridge0: Thunderbolt Bridge
System Software:
macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 (17G65) Time since boot: About 14 hours
Configuration Profiles: Information not available
Security:
System
Gatekeeper
System Integrity Protection
Adware:
Status
Enabled Enabled
Launchd: ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.macmechanic.mmhlpr.plist
Reason: Adware name match
Executable: ~/Library/Application Support/mmc/mmhlpr.app/Contents/MacOS/mmhlpr
32-bit Applications:
2 32-bit apps
System Launch Agents:
[Not Loaded] [Loaded] [Running] [Other]
8 Apple tasks 163 Apple tasks 122 Apple tasks One Apple task
System Launch Daemons:
[Not Loaded] [Loaded] [Running] [Other]
36 Apple tasks 182 Apple tasks 116 Apple tasks One Apple task
Launch Daemons:
[Loaded] com.apple.installer.osmessagetracing.plist (Apple - installed 2018-07-04)
User Launch Agents:
[Loaded] [Running] [Loaded]
com.revieve.transporter.agent.plist ((null) - installed 2018-09-27) com.macmechanic.mmhlpr.plist (Adware - installed 2018-08-05) com.google.keystone.agent.plist ((null) - installed 2018-09-09)
User Login Items:
iTunesHelper (Apple - installed 2018-07-31) (/Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunesHelper.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunesHelper)
ShareMouse (Bartels Media GmbH - installed 2018-05-28) (/Applications/ShareMouse.app/Contents/MacOS/ShareMouse)
Internet Plug-ins:
QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (installed 2018-07-31)
Time Machine:
Time Machine information not available
Page 2

iMac
Performance:
System Load: 2.23 (1 min ago) 1.81 (5 min ago) 1.79 (15 min ago) Nominal I/O speed: 0.24 MB/s
File system: 28.19 seconds
Write speed: 93 MB/s
Read speed: 89 MB/s
CPU Usage:
Type Overall Individual cores
System 3% 5% 2% 2% 2% User 6% 8% 5% 5% 5% Idle 91% 87% 93% 93% 92%
Top Processes by CPU:
Process (count)
Other processes EtreCheck Safari ShareMouse cloudd
Source CPU
Location
Top Processes by Memory:
Process (count)
EtreCheck Safari Messages Finder photoanalysisd
Source
App Store Apple Apple Apple Apple
RAM usage
468 MB 197 MB 131 MB 114 MB 110 MB
Source
Location
Top Processes by Network Use: Process
mDNSResponder
helpd com.apple.WebKit.Networking Mail
ShareMouse
Virtual Memory Information:
Input Output Location
Available RAM Free RAM Used RAM Cached files Swap Used
1.67 GB 15 MB 6.33 GB 1.65 GB 0 B
Software Installs (past 30 days): Name
Version Install Date
7.0 2018-09-18 12.0 2018-09-18 155 2018-09-24 5.0 2018-09-28
Pages
Safari
Gatekeeper Configuration Data EtreCheck
End of report
?
App Store
Apple
Bartels Media GmbH Apple
17.14 % 4.80 % 2.69 % 2.61 % 2.13 %
Apple
Apple
Apple
Apple
Bartels Media GmbH
3 MB 226 KB 81 KB 58 KB 8 KB
511 KB 6 KB 32 KB 15 KB 35 KB
Page 3


This is the screen shot of Activity Monitor :

Screen Shot 2018-09-28 .jpg
 

Raz0rEdge

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The 5400 RPM drive can't be all that it is causing this machine to operate so slowly. If that were the case, Apple would never include a 5400 drive in any iMac. However, based on the Etrecheck report, your disk read/write speeds are what I'd expect to see from a spinning media. The 7200 version would probably do about 8-10 MB/s more (so not a HUGE difference).

However, your Nominal I/O speed of 0.24 MB/s is concerning when other reports I've seen show close to 24+ MB/s. This would indeed causing a delay in launching anything.

Was the machine slow from day one when you bought it?
 

pigoo3

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Agree with Ashwin...a slow spinner HD would not be the main cause of slowness. One test that I frequently recommend is boot the computer from an external storage device with ONLY a fresh copy of the macOS installed.

When you do this...you can quickly determine if the computer is having a hardware or software/OS issue. This is a key step in how to approach further troubleshooting.:)

- Nick
 
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macmechanic may well be the major problem.

Download malwarebytes for mac and run in scan mode. Do not pay the registration fee as it will run the free version after the trial period.


https://www.malwarebytes.com/mac/
 

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I will throw this out there for what it's worth. I have a late 2012 iMac 21.5" I bought used so I could test and run Mojave. The only thing that I would call slow at all is booting to the desktop and that is the 5400 RPM drive causing most of that. my 2012 has the same specs as your new mac as far as Hard Drive, RAM, ETC. Once in the OS most things open in 1-2 bounces of the dock icon. Roxio toast takes a bit longer but it does that on my 8 thread i7 iMac also.

Something just sounds wrong about what you are seeing. I wish I could help but can not duplicate your issue here.

Also does this new 21.5" have Mojave installed or High Sierra?
 
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macmechanic may well be the major problem.


I'd agree and good catch.

Description
Removal
How to remove Mac Mechanic from Mac?
Mac Mechanic may bother your Mac computer with a number of pop-up alerts and warnings that do not really exist. Remove this unwanted program by executing the guide as presented on this page.
https://www.precisesecurity.com/hijacker/remove-mac-mechanic

How to Remove Mac Mechanic
Mac Mechanic is a deceptive application identical to Advanced Mac Cleaner and a number of others.
https://www.pcrisk.com/removal-guides/12475-mac-mechanic-pup-mac


I'd still be interested if the OP booted using Safe Boot Mode and knowing what if any any changes there were.






- Patrick
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I believe it was pm-r that was curious about just what model iMac I have :

it is this one :

https://everymac.com/systems/apple/...1-inch-aluminum-retina-4k-mid-2017-specs.html

harryb,

thank you for catching the Mac Mechanic app. I will remove that and see if that has any improvement .



I have booted it in safe mode and it was actually running worse !

on boot up the screen had blue lines going up and down ( similar to a analogue CR- TV.

when the desktop came up the icons in the dock where pixelated when the pointer moved over them , I was going to record the screen , however the recorder would not work and it was a challenge to open and quit the apps.

one thing I wanted to mention , I took a while for me to boot the machine in safe mode , I tried a number of times to no avail , then final it booted .


I have not tried to boot from a fresh install of the OS from an external HD , not 100% sure how to do that without some reading , nor where to actually get the copy of the OS from .
maybe I will dive into that as a fun Saturday project. !!
 

chscag

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one thing I wanted to mention , I took a while for me to boot the machine in safe mode , I tried a number of times to no avail , then final it booted .

Not a problem to worry about. Ever since Apple in their "wisdom" did away with the boot chime, it's very difficult to catch the right moment to hold down an appropriate key. Here's what I found - but you have to watch the screen closely -

Reboot, and eventually the screen will turn all black. Look for the backlight to come on very dim, as soon as you see that, hold down the appropriate key for what you want the machine to do. You may have to do that several times before you get it just right. Why Apple did away with the boot chime is beyond me.
 
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dtravis7 ,

I am still running High Sierra , I would like to install Mojave , but I am not sure if it would help or make matters worse .

FWIW :

I am also running an :

iMac
Mid 2011 ,
21.5 iMac
2.7 GHz i5
12 Gb 1333 DDR3
1 TB 7200


I purchased the new iMac to replace the old one but after I was able to free up a lot HD space it is working pretty good .

I think I am going to dust off my G4 867 MMD and see what that does.
 

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