If you’re anything like me, you like to have the newest software and hardware on your devices. I have always used Apple products, including MacBook Airs and iPhones, so I get excited about updates that can improve the efficiency and functionality of my gadgets.
Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as it sounds.
About a month after its release, I downloaded MacOS Sonoma onto my personal computer, an Intel MacBook Air from 2019. The addition of desktop widgets, slow-motion screensavers that change to your desktop background, and significant improvements to Safari were among the features I was anticipating. Things didn’t go smoothly.
To tell the truth, my computer is getting close to the end of its life. I spent four years of college with my laptop, so I’m accustomed to some performance issues. And I am aware that certain features of MacOS Sonoma, such as Presenter Overlay and Game Mode, call for a Mac running Apple hardware.
This update, though, felt different—my Mac was heating up and freezing and crashing. It appears that my experience is not unique. Some users reported similar experiences in the MacOS subreddit, r/MacOS, which discusses MacOS releases and fixes.
Keep an eye on storage space and memory use
If your Intel Mac is having trouble running Sonoma, Apple doesn’t provide any specific instructions on what to do. It does, however, include some general advice that might help your computer run faster.
To free up space, for instance, Apple suggests deleting files or moving them to an external storage device. It also advises avoiding apps that consume excessive amounts of memory. To find out how much memory your Mac and its apps are using, check Activity Monitor.
Here’s how.
Check your computer’s storage space
All you need to do is click the Apple menu (which is marked by the Apple logo at the top left corner of your screen) and then select System Settings. Once in the settings, click General and then select Storage. There, you should see a breakdown of how much space you’ve used and what you are using it on.
Upon inspecting my storage, I discovered many items occupying space that didn’t appear to be particularly useful or essential. I removed a few, but I don’t think it made a significant difference. Remember to use caution when deleting anything to avoid erasing a file or application that you or your system actually require.
Check out your computer’s memory usage
You can do this in the Activity Monitor app. Essentially, this app provides a breakdown of which apps are eating up the memory. Making sense of the information in this app can feel a bit overwhelming, but you’ll need to know which programs are using up too much memory and slowing down your computer.
Your computer is always running a ton of programs in the background in order to, well, operate your computer. You should search for an app, such as your web browser, that appears to be using a lot of memory and try restarting it because Macs are known for their memory efficiency.
Stay up to date with MacOS Sonoma and apps
Update to the most recent version of MacOS Sonoma, which is 14.1.1, as another potential solution. Even though it’s generally advised to hold off on updating for a few days or even a few weeks, you might want to update right away if your Mac is operating extremely slowly. Additionally, confirm that the versions of your apps are up to date.
Take a break from Sonoma’s visual elements
If none of these recommendations help, redditors on the r/MacOS subreddit suggest you disable moving screensavers and desktop backgrounds. While these are pretty, they can put a strain on your Mac. I changed my desktop background to one of the available static backgrounds, and switched out my screensaver to a more basic option. If you want to access your wallpaper settings, you can either right click on your desktop and select Change Wallpaper or you can go to System Settings and select the Wallpaper section.
This alone, along with some of Apple’s recommended performance tweaks, did, for me, significantly improve the experience. Apps and websites appear to open with a little less lag, and I’ve noticed that video streaming is a little bit smoother.
Disable features that aren’t necessary to your Mac’s regular function
Reducing visual transitions in the Accessibility menu, choosing a black background, and turning off the genie effect are some other fixes recommended by the subreddit. Those on the subreddit who reported that their Macs now function better claim to have made these adjustments.
You’re not alone if you’re wondering what some or all of these items are.
If you’ve been using Macs for any length of time, you’re probably already familiar with the genie effect, which is a defining characteristic of Apple products. When you minimize a tab and send it to your dock, Apple employs a visual effect that resembles a genie returning to its bottle. Disabling this effect and minimizing other Mac visual effects is fairly simple.
All you need to do is select the Apple menu and then click System Settings. To disable the Genie effect, go to Desktop & Dock and under the “Minimize windows using” section, select Scale Effect. To reduce visual effects go to Accessibility, select Display, and select Reduce Motion.
For my part, I experimented with lessening the visual transitions, choosing (as previously stated) a more straightforward, static background, and turning off the genie effect. Taken separately, these adjustments didn’t make much of a difference. They do, however, significantly improve things when combined, and my Mac seems to have gone from nearly unusable to sluggish but functional.
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