You will hear plenty of people praising MacBooks for their performance. These good words are not necessarily true all the time due to bias toward Apple, but the company is known for its innovations and has done a great job with Macs.
MacBook fans are eagerly waiting for the next installment in the Mac series and hoping to experience even better things.
That said, having an older MacBook model might result in various problems. For instance, you might notice that it takes longer for an internet browser to load (though that particular issue might be related to an internet connection), or there are noticeable FPS drops while playing video games despite these games not being resource-heavy.
Such performance issues force some Mac owners to start thinking about a new computer. Well, spending money on it is an option, but you could also take some time and work on restoring your current MacBook’s performance. Here are some suggestions to do that.
Get Rid of Visual Effects
Start with disabling redundant visual effects. It might seem cool to have a backlit keyboard and various animations around when you are on the MacBook. However, these effects are one of the biggest resource drainers, and they offer no real value in return.
An old MacBook already has problems with resource distribution and restarting it regularly is just a temporary solution. Well, if there are any redundant visual effects that you have enabled, get rid of them, and you should see a slight or even significant improvement to the overall Mac speed.
Use Antivirus to Scan the System for Malware
Minor malware can snowball out of control and lead to serious performance problems. While macOS is relatively safe and not as prone to cybersecurity threats as other operating systems, you should not discard the possibility of a small virus causing the laptop various issues and slowing it down.
Get yourself a reliable anti-malware tool and scan all the files to confirm that there are no traces of corrupted data. In case antivirus software detects potential threats, remove them from the system.
Invest in Accessories and Hardware Upgrades
The tricky thing with hardware upgrades for Macs is that not all models are compatible. However, it does not mean that you need to give up before even trying. For Macs, three hardware upgrades stand out the most: extra RAM, an external GPU, and an SSD instead of an HDD.
As far as accessories go, you have a plethora of options. Investing in a cooling pad is probably the best in terms of value, particularly if you encounter overheating despite cleaning the dust inside the laptop.
A new battery charger might also make a difference, though whether it is significant enough to consider is debatable.
Lastly, you could purchase an external HDD to free up drive storage. In addition, external hard drives also work as a location for data backups. You can use the accessory together with Time Machine and back up MacBook data.
Optimize Your Internet Browser
A slow internet browser is not always related to computer problems. Perhaps you have installed too many extensions without realizing that they are a hindrance? If so, check the extension list and remove those you do not need as much.
Failing to clear browser cache is also a common cause behind browser problems, so keep an eye on the cache.
Lastly, avoid opening too many browser tabs simultaneously. MacBooks are not known for having a lot of RAM to spare, and if internet browser tabs require memory, they will consume it even if the tabs themselves are idle.
Check Activity Monitor
Take advantage of Activity Monitor to see which background applications are consuming the most resources and make adjustments accordingly.
The MacBook might be running some apps that are part of the startup item list, and you forgot to close some of these applications. When you do not need an app, there is no reason to keep it running, right?
Make Sure macOS Is Up to Date
It is no secret that installing operating system updates as soon as they are out should be one of your priorities. Other than overall performance upgrades, you can also expect some new features and maybe security upgrades. Sometimes, developers react to the latest threats, and they try their best to come up with hotfixes that protect users.
Downloading and installing an OS update on an old and slow computer might be a bother, but a missing update could be exactly what is causing these performance issues in the first place. Thus, be patient and wait for the MacBook to update.
Delete Unnecessary Drive Clutter
Temporary clutter, such as app extensions, plugins, system backups, old .doc, or .rar files is part of the junk data. If you do not know what to do with it or how it works, do not stress yourself and get a cleanup utility tool to remove these files. And keep in mind that they accumulate regularly, meaning that you will need to get rid of them regularly as well.
