MacBook Air Performance

I have an older MacBook Air with a 1.6 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 2 GB 667 MHz DDR SDRAM. I have Snow Leopard. The performance of my computer is very slow especially since installing Snow Leopard. If I view videos or do web searches they are very very slow. Is there anything I can do to improve the performance or do I need to get a new computer?

Reinstall OS X without erasing the drive
1. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
2. Reinstall Snow Leopard
If the drive is OK then quit DU and return to the installer. Proceed with reinstalling OS X. Note that the Snow Leopard installer will not erase your drive or disturb your files. After installing a fresh copy of OS X the installer will move your Home folder, third-party applications, support items, and network preferences into the newly installed system.
Download and install Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1.

Similar Messages

Yosemite slowing down macbook air performance

Ever since upgrading to yosemite, my 2011 macbook air 11' has been very noticeably sluggish compared to how it was with mavericks. At first i thought it might be from some conflicts from the previous OS, so I did a completely fresh install with yosemite, but it's still dragging and sluggish, especially with any kind of graphics intensive process. I know the air isn't supposed to be a marvel at graphics performance, but I never had these performance issues with mavericks.
Is yosemite just too resource heavy for my macbook air? I wonder if I'd just be better off going back to mavericks. However, if there's some kind of settings I need to adjust, I'd be happy to experiment. I've already tried the 'reduce transparency' trick, but it didn't do much (not that I noticed anyways).

Gatekeeper is described here: OS X: About Gatekeeper - Apple Support. It is only one defense to protect you from inadvertently installing malware, and an effective defense does not rely upon only one method.
... I can use software that isn't officially "identified" by apple, even though it is trusted.
Apple's philosophy is such that a Mac user with Admin privileges always has control over what he or she installs. As I wrote Gatekeeper will serve to protect you against inadvertently installing malware, including the adware that is affecting your Mac. Adware does not get installed on its own - it requires your explicit permission, which you provided by supplying your Admin name and password. When that dialog appears, it should be expected, not a surprise, and its implications should be clearly understood. By providing your credentials OS X concludes you know what you're doing and the reason you're doing it. Determining the "trusted" aspect of software thereby falls to you.
In your case, by choosing the "anywhere" option you effectively circumvented this basic OS X security feature.
The problem with adware is that it relies upon deception to convince you that it's legitimate software offered for some beneficial purpose, when in fact all it will do is interfere with your normal activity and possibly crash your Mac.
Is there anything I can do to possibly identify which apps may be slowing my system down?
Yes, although you installed quite a number of them. For troubleshooting, read below the line that follows the end of this post.
An EtreCheck report generated on a Mac as it ships from Apple will show no entries under Kernel Extensions, Launch Agents, User Launch Agents, Safari Extensions, 3rd Party Preference Panes, etc. Everything that appears under those headings is there because you installed them. As I wrote it's a user's responsibility to understand the specific benefits they are intended to convey, the effects they will have, and the means of uninstalling them should they result in unacceptable performance - which was your original complaint.
It's also possible that the slowdowns are not caused by software, but given the extent to which your system has been modified, hardware failure is less likely than incompatible or poorly implemented software.
... anything that isn't officially "identified" by apple is adware?
Although OS X incorporates specific prohibitions against installing common malware, they can hardly attempt to classify specific user-installed modifications as adware. The only certain way to do that would be to prevent user-installed system modifications altogether, in the same manner as they do with iOS (iPads and iPhones).
Adware's appearance changes approximately every day. Their pathetic developers are desperate to change its appearance in an effort to continue their deceptive tactics, and a simple change of a file name precludes a reliable automated means of intercepting it. That's the reason it's incumbent upon Mac users to educate themselves about its appearance so that they are not so easily gulled into installing some junk. Gatekeeper merely helps you understand that's what you'd be doing.
Back up your Mac if you have not already done so. To learn how to to that read Mac Basics: Time Machine backs up your Mac - Apple Support.
If your Mac is momentarily unresponsive, consider the following.
Launch the Console app - it is in your Utilities folder. You can find it by selecting Utilities from the Finder's Go menu.
If the log list column on the left is not already displayed, show the log list by selecting Show Log List from Console's View menu. Select Show Toolbar if it is not already shown.
Locate system.log in the list and select it. Many date and time-stamped entries will appear, hundreds of them, and you must find the entries relevant to your Mac's problem.
To do that click the Clear Display button in the Toolbar. All previously displayed log entries will be disappear.
Next: Perform whatever actions cause the Mac to exhibit the slow behavior. If the problem is caused by errors logged by the system, the Console window will show them being recorded in system.log.
One or more of them, along with their time stamps, may reveal the reason for the problem you describe.
Copy and paste those log entries in a reply. If hundreds of the same repetitive messages appear, please edit them before posting. There should be no need for more than a few log entries.
Most of the entries will be cryptic but will contain information you might consider personal such as your Mac's name. If you do not want that information to appear, delete or obscure it when posting your reply. Leave enough information so that the entries can be deciphered.

How well does MacBook air Perform with the sims 2?

I don't know how you apple lovers did this to me but.. God, after yeas of hating Mac for no appearent reason and favoring microsoft, worshiping Bill gates someone handed me an iPhone and it was love at first touch. I'm sorry Bill I can no longer resist apple's incredible products! Time to get my first apple computer! Bottom line I love the sims 2 and wish to have a laptop that plays it easily. I've got my eyes on the latest MacBook pro, is it captable? The bigger issue is the price.. One thousand dollars is already a ton of money but amazingly I'm willing To spend just that but two thousand dollars is out of the question.. I need a MacBook of any sort that will play the sims 2 at least and a decent screen resolution.. I'm probably better off with a windows vista. Prove me wrong!

I have several other Macromedia applications - but not Air. But if the other applications are an indication, boot is going to be slow (around a minute); Air's dependence on Flash will guarantee relatively slow performance. As you know, most other applications boot in seconds.
Your best solution would be to download the free part of the programs to determine if you find the performance acceptable.

My friend have new Macbook Air with OSX Mavericks and I have Macbook Pro with OSX Mountain Lion, Can I create a bootable maverick in pendrive from macbook air and perform a clean installation/update on my macbook pro with osx mountain lion?

I have late 2012 edition Macbook Pro, I have a internet connection with does not run smoothly It gets disconnected and reconnects Thus I failed everytime when I update my OSX Mountain Lion to Mavericks in App Store. My friend just bought 2013 end Macbook Air whicch have OSX Mavericks pre installed.
I was hoping if I can create a OS X version in pendrive from his laptop and use that to install and thuss also update OS on my Mountain Lion.
Kindly explain me in detail how to perform this.
I have already taken back up of all files and I am ready to total clean my laptop.
And I want to update to Maverick so I can thus further update to upcoming OS X Yosemite.

The Mavericks on the Air is probably machine specific since it came pre-installed, so it wouldn't work on your computer. See if your friend will let you access the App Store, where you can sign in using your Apple ID and download the installer. You can use this free program to copy the installer and update your computer.
Bootable USB Flash Drive – Diskmaker X

MacBook Air from prior MacBook Pro leads to poor performance?

Last week my laptop (MacBook Pro) was stolen. I decided to buy a MacBook Air and reinstall my applications and some of my data from the MBP to a new MBA. I love the size/weight of the MacBook Air and the battery life but I've been having a number of issues with performance. For example:
-I'm getting the "beachball" a lot more on the MBA than I did on the MBP. I took the computer into the Genius Bar today and they told me that "it might not be good to run more than 6-7 apps at the same time" on the MBA. With the MBP I never had a problem runs lots of apps simultaneously.
-I'm having a problem whenever I download images from the Web. My computer basically freezes for 5 seconds or so. That never happened on the MBP.
What I'm wondering is whether these things are common with the MBA because it isn't as high-powered as the MBP. I'm also wondering if a part of this is because I didn't install the MBA from scratch but rather from my previous MBP install (through Time Machine). I know fresh installs are better but am really dreading the thought of having to reinstall all apps, reconfigure preferences, etc.
Any thoughts?

Sorry to hear about the theft. The Airs are great machines for a few reasons but one in particular is that the NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics chip is a really top notch choice. Some benchmarks report that it is comparable or superior to the upgrade on the new Pros. The CPU is Core 2 Duo and at a lower GHZ it is designed for low temp, long battery life. Multi applications really depend on a combination of spare hard drive space and loads of RAM (although yes, you will see beach balls more than a Pro, but in theory it is more a cosmetic lag than sluggish machine). I've had two Macs, and I feel that any Mac can get sluggish if you don't do maintenance on them. Repair, verify, clear your cache, and so on. Don't forget certain times are heavy with background activity (indexing, etc). In the end if you need the snap of instant response, take it back and get a Pro, but you pay a price (heat and short battery life.) What size is your Air? How much RAM has it got and what size SSD? Another idea would be to get your exact old machine from the refurbished Apple page (at a discount)>
Message was edited by: NA Smith

How can I improve performance of macbook air

My MacBook Air seems ti be running slow: Slow to start up, slow to start new programs, slow when running multiple tasks at the same time.
Here's how my machine is set up:
Processor 1.86 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Memory 2 GB 1067 MHz DDR3
OSX 10.8.2
Any suggestions or is this what i can expect?
Thanks for any help.
-PR

Things You Can Do To Resolve Slow Downs
If your computer seems to be running slower here are some things you can do:
Start with a visit to: OS X Maintenance - MacAttorney.
Boot into Safe Mode then repair your hard drive and permissions:
Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions Pre-Lion
Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
Repair the Hard Drive - Lion
Boot from your Lion Recovery HD. When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported, then click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the main menu. Select Restart from the Apple menu.
Boot to the Recovery HD:
Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
Restart your computer normally and see if this has helped any. Next do some maintenance:
Suggestions for OS X Maintenance
For situations Disk Utility cannot handle the best third-party utility is Disk Warrior; DW only fixes problems with the disk directory, but most disk problems are caused by directory corruption; Disk Warrior 4.x is now Intel Mac compatible.
OS X performs certain maintenance functions that are scheduled to occur on a daily, weekly, or monthly period. The maintenance scripts run in the early AM only if the computer is turned on 24/7 (no sleep.) If this isn't the case, then an excellent solution is to download and install a shareware utility such as Macaroni, JAW PseudoAnacron, or Anacron that will automate the maintenance activity regardless of whether the computer is turned off or asleep. Dependence upon third-party utilities to run the periodic maintenance scripts was significantly reduced since Tiger. These utilities have limited or no functionality with Snow Leopard or Lion and should not be installed.
OS X automatically defragments files less than 20 MBs in size, so unless you have a disk full of very large files there's little need for defragmenting the hard drive. As for virus protection there are few if any such animals affecting OS X. You can protect the computer easily using the freeware Open Source virus protection software ClamXAV. Personally I would avoid most commercial anti-virus software because of their potential for causing problems. For more about malware see Macintosh Virus Guide.
I would also recommend downloading a utility such as TinkerTool System, OnyX 2.4.3, or Cocktail 5.1.1 that you can use for periodic maintenance such as removing old log files and archives, clearing caches, etc.
For emergency repairs install the freeware utility Applejack. If you cannot start up in OS X, you may be able to start in single-user mode from which you can run Applejack to do a whole set of repair and maintenance routines from the command line. Note that AppleJack 1.5 is required for Leopard. AppleJack 1.6 is compatible with Snow Leopard. There is no confirmation that this version also works with Lion.
When you install any new system software or updates be sure to repair the hard drive and permissions beforehand.
Get an external Firewire drive at least equal in size to the internal hard drive and make (and maintain) a bootable clone/backup. You can make a bootable clone using the Restore option of Disk Utility. You can also make and maintain clones with good backup software. My personal recommendations are (order is not significant):
1. Carbon Copy Cloner
2. Data Backup
3. Deja Vu
4. SuperDuper!
5. SyncTwoFolders
6. Synk Pro
7. Synk Standard
8. Tri-Backup
Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQs on maintenance, optimization, virus protection, and backup and restore.
Additional suggestions will be found in Mac maintenance Quick Assist.
Referenced software can be found at CNet Downloads or MacUpdate.
Additional Hints
Be sure you have an adequate amount of RAM installed for the number of applications you run concurrently. Be sure you leave a minimum of 10% of the hard drive's capacity as free space.
Add more RAM. If your computer has less than 2 GBs of RAM and you are using OS X Leopard or later, then you can do with more RAM. Snow Leopard and Lion work much better with 4 GBs of RAM than their system minimums. The more concurrent applications you tend to use the more RAM you should have.
Always maintain at least 15 GBs or 10% of your hard drive's capacity as free space, whichever is greater. OS X is frequently accessing your hard drive, so providing adequate free space will keep things from slowing down.
Check for applications that may be hogging the CPU:
Open Activity Monitor in the Utilities folder. Select All Processes from the Processes dropdown menu. Click twice on the CPU% column header to display in descending order. If you find a process using a large amount of CPU time, then select the process and click on the Quit icon in the toolbar. Click on the Force Quit button to kill the process. See if that helps. Be sure to note the name of the runaway process so you can track down the cause of the problem.
Often this problem occurs because of a corrupted cache or preferences file or an attempt to write to a corrupted log file.

Which is a better performer, the macbook air or the mac mini?

Which one performs better, the late 2013 macbook air (standard configuration: 4GB RAM, dual core i5 1,3 Ghz CPU) or the mac mini core quad core i7, 4GB RAM with a regular hard disc?

LowLuster
No Air model can be as fast as a Mini with a quad core i7 CPU. Can't happen.
I didnt solicit your opinion, and it IS a fact, .....skilled users here on this board will and DO TELL other users OFTEN that:
"outside of processor core use (video/ photo etc.) you will NOT NOTICE ANY DIFFERENCE on X computer vs. slower Y computer"
I have a 8 month old QUAD core Mac Mini and it is , as I said above "noticeably not ONE BIT" faster than my current 2013 macbook Air with 8gig.
My quad core came with 4gig of RAM as I recall, I immediately tossed in 16gig.
Notice the word "noticeably"
Your subjective hyperbole aside, you are wrong......., those above yourself and myself (point wise,...as Ogel has stated, Clinton has stated, and others) state this fact very often regarding ---"outside of processor core use (video/ photo etc.) you will NOT NOTICE ANY DIFFERENCE on X computer vs. slower Y computer"
Its not my opinion, its a fact, namely additionally that I stated "noticeably" - "my quad core mac mini on MOST EVERYTHING (which is most things since 'most things' are NOT photo and video editing) is not "noticeably" ONE BIT faster than my Macbook Air.
"most things" people do (most people) on their computer does NOT involve photo and video editing (photoshop pro, final cut pro etc etc)
This is a fact, that AS SUCH most people WILL NOT notice any difference in general computer use between a quad core mac mini (for example) and a entry level macbook Air. (SSD vs. HD speeds aside). Nobody is going to notice faster youtube, or Word use, or websurfing, Acrobat Pro, Quicktime play, general APPS that havent changed much in 7 years.
Dont curse on these family boards please, its uncouth.
Peace

Macbook Air case with magnets. Will it affect hardware or performance of product?

Macbook Air case with magnets. Will it affect hardware or performance of product?

No, the low power N30 or N35 gauss neodymium magnets in the magnetic flap cases will not affect it.
There is no HD, and the SSD are hard (relatively) to corrupt by magnetic field unless high gauss and at close proximity.

Older Macbook Pro VS. Air Performance?

I currently have this MBP:
Processor Name:          Intel Core i7
Processor Speed:          2.66 GHz
Number Of Processors:          1
Total Number Of Cores:          2
L2 Cache (per core):          256 KB
L3 Cache:          4 MB
Memory:          8 GB
Processor Interconnect Speed:          4.8 GT/s
Would I notice much difference in performance between this Mac and a new Macbook Air
1.8GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i7
4GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM
256GB flash storage
Is the video card in the Air bad? I didn't even see it listed in the store.
Thanks.

Relative performance is dependent upon the particular application of each computer.
Moreover, you don't indicate the type of storage drive on your MBP.
With the MBP having a conventional HDD, and the MBA having an SSD, the Air will perform a variety of functions faster than the MBP, i.e. booting, application launching. These are operations in which the SSD's speed advantage will shine.
However, if you are doing a complex CPU or GPU dependent operation such as decoding/encoding a video file, playing certain types of games, or manipulating data within memory, the MBP will perform these tasks with greater alacrity.
The MBA can't be outfitted with memory beyond 4 GB, whereas the MBP can have at least double that amount, if inclined. The MBP can also be upgraded to an SSD, in which there would no longer be any deficit, no matter the task.
In essence, the stock MBA could be quite a bit faster for some folks than a stock MBP. However, the MBP has the potential to be the overall winner, if the user so inclines as to outfit the MBP in a net superior configuration.
That being said, the question can only be answered straightforwardly if we know more about your situation.

Why is Open GL performance so poor on MacBook Air?

I was just comparing the performance of the MacBook Air compared to a MacBook Core Duo 2 GHz. MacBook Air has the newer and slightly faster graphic chipset (GM950 vs X3100), yet the MacBook air Open GL performance is terrible (221 for older MB vs 16.5 for MBA!). MBA even has more graphic memory.
Anyone have any idea why this is?

After a little research it actually looks like the new integrated graphics should have much better GL performance, but apparently the drivers are just not there yet.
Here is hoping to a release soon!

10.6.7 Combo Update Slows MacBook Air 3D Performance

Several weeks ago I noticed a dramatic slowdown in the graphics performance of my late 2010 MAcBook Air, and after weeks of futile searching, and falsely diagnosing the problem as SSD degradation, I came across the article below on MacWorld:
http://www.macworld.com/article/158494/2011/04/1067updatemba.html
There, the authors described the same problem I was having, and attributed the dramatic graphics slowdown to a problem with drivers installed by the OS 10.6.7 update. I've done my own testing and found that the bad driver problem is specific to the 10.6.7 Combo Update.
I was able to completely restore graphics performance on my MAcBook Air to waht it should be (ie Portal 2 runs great) by following the steps described by commenter shawnyeager (Thanks Shawn!) in the MacWorld article, which I'm copying here for the benefit of others:
Boot off the MAcBook Air USB media, do an in-place install of 10.6.5 (it's non-destructive) and then download individual (non-combo) updaters for 10.6.6, 10.6.7 and 10.6.7 Supplemental. After applying them, Portal 2 is will run beautifully on a late 2010 MacBook Air with native resolution and 'Medium' to 'High' settings on all graphics options. The difference is dramatic.
Cheers!

It's hard to compare the current Macbook air and MacBook Pro models, I'm lucky to have both and both are superb laptops .. but for different reasons.
The current MacBook Air models are head and shoulders above the previous MacBook Air models. Thanks to the SSD and the cache Boot times and basic disk i/o times are blindingly fast .. noticeably faster than my 15'' Thunderbolt MacBook Pro with 7200rpm drive. Overall CPU and graphcis performance are pretty impressive too. you won't find a faster mroe powerful ultralight laptop.
That being said, the current MacBook Pro's are performance powerhouses whose CPU and graphics performance definitely outclass the MacBook Airs ... but with a bit slower IO, and of course a much heavier form factor.
So, both are great, but it's really a matter of which type of machine you prefer. If you to go for eh MacBook Pro, though I don't think the SSD upgrade with worth the price. the 7200rpm drive is plenty fast and much cheaper.

Poor performance of facetime on macbook air while it works fine with other devices

Hi all,
I am experiencing poor performance when using facetime with my macbook air (image is poor and voice keeps breaking) while facetime works absolutely fine with my iphone or ipad. Skype works fie with the macbook as well. I have fiber optic connection with plenty of bandwidth. Any ideas?
Dimitri

Reboot and try again.

New MacBook Air & VMware Fusion Performance

Need to make a decision. Has anyone installed VMware Fusion on the new MacBook Air? If so, is the performance acceptable? I have heard the previous Airs were from from acceptable. Thanks in advance.
DrB

I have heard the previous Airs were from from acceptable.
If the opinion is based on on the users' attempt to play a 3D game, I'd agree: far from acceptable. The biggest failing of virtualization is graphics and since the MBA uses integrated graphics that effect is multiplied. However I've used VMWare and Parallels Desktop to run Windows 7 and Office 2010, for programming, surfing, and other less taxing programs with acceptable results. Acceptable enough that I've not had the desire to utilize BootCamp.
And in deference to SP Forsythe's comment about not using a Mac, several of my Windows using friends believe the MBA is the best Windows computer ever made.

SSD performance of new MacBook Air?

There are huge performance differences for SSDs. Does anyone have some numbers about the performance of the SSD of the new MBA?
Depending on the speed it may make sense to get buy it with the cheaper harddisk drive and then replace it with a really fast SSD

Here are a couple on older models...they should be close in performance...
http://www.barefeats.com/macair1.html
http://arstechnica.com/apple/reviews/2008/02/macbook-air-ssd-review.ars
Dave M.
MacOSG Founder/Ambassador  An Apple User Group  iTunes: MacOSG Podcast
Macsimum News Associate Editor  Creator of 'Mac611 - Mobile Mac Support'

MacBook Air Gaming Performance

I plan on getting the MacBook Air with i7, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of SSD. My question is how well this machine can run games? Obviously it isnt a gaming machine, but how well will it run games like Counter Strike Global Offensive or Garry's Mod? How bout Minecraft? Or even something like Portal 2? Thanks for all answers!

First thing you'll need to do is get used to checking the game specs to see if the game supports Intel integrated graphics. If it does you can expect it will perform acceptably to well only at the lower graphic settings. The MBA isn't a gaming machine, especially for games that involve high definition 3D rendering. That said, I do play Diablo III and SimCity 4 & 5 on a computer that has slightly less powerful graphics than the current MBA. But there are games that I can't play on that machine at all because they require a discrete video card.

MacBook Air Performance

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