Is The Macos Mojave Slow For Older Macbooks

11-05-2021
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Aug 26, 2019  As I write previously, I have a Macbook 5.2 and other Macbook 5.1, both with mojave patcher and both with APFS file system in SSD disks. The Operating System was working, but since some months i noticed that both computers runs very slow. I have an iMac 7.1 with Mojave too, but formatted in HFS+ in a hybrid disk. That's all very well, but the latest version of MacOS, known as Catalina, won't run on any Mac older than 2012, and in the case of the Mac Pro, late 2013. Which may well mean that your Mac can't.

  • Mac runs slow after installing macOS 10.14 Mojave If your Mac is running slowly after installing macOS Mojave, the problem might be caused by third-party apps launching automatically at startup.
  • Aug 31, 2018  In this fourth and final part, we will install and patch the macOS Mojave on our old Mac computer. Follow the steps below to complete the remaining procedure. Restart your computer and hold down the “Option” key as soon as the Mac starts up. Step 2: Select the USB drive, which was named as “macOS Mojave” as the startup disk.
  • Dec 31, 2019  Older machines get left behind and because new advancements can happen quickly, older equipment can become antiquated. If your computer is compatible with macOS Catalina and turns out to be running slowly after the update, there are several different things you can do to get it back up to speed.

Check compatibility

Macbook pro slow after mojave update

Jun 05, 2018  “macOS Mojave will be available this fall as a free software update for Macs introduced in mid-2012 or later, plus 2010 and 2012 Mac Pro models with recommended Metal-capable graphics cards.” From a system requirements standpoint, macOS Mojave appears to require a modern CPU as well as a GPU that is compatible with Metal graphics architecture. Nov 04, 2017  Dealing with older hardware. Normally, if you have a modern Mac, an OS repair is a straight forward thing where you can reboot by pressing the Command-R keys at boot time and be presented with a series of tools to help you recover your Mac. Following that, you can either re-install (not wiping your personal data), run disk utilities to repair a hard drive (my intention), or wipe your hard.

You can upgrade to macOS Mojave from OS X Mountain Lion or later on any of the following Mac models. Your Mac also needs at least 2GB of memory and 12.5GB of available storage space, or up to 18.5GB of storage space when upgrading from OS X Yosemite or earlier.

MacBook introduced in 2015 or later
MacBook Air introduced in 2012 or later
MacBook Pro introduced in 2012 or later
Mac mini introduced in 2012 or later
iMac introduced in 2012 or later
iMac Pro (all models)
Mac Pro introduced in 2013, plus mid-2010 or mid-2012 models with a recommended Metal-capable graphics card.

To find your Mac model, memory, storage space, and macOS version, choose About This Mac from the Apple menu . If your Mac isn't compatible with macOS Mojave, the installer will let you know.

Make a backup

Is The Macos Mojave Slow For Older Macbooks 2

Before installing any upgrade, it’s a good idea to back up your Mac. Time Machine makes it simple, and other backup methods are also available. Learn how to back up your Mac.

Get connected

It takes time to download and install macOS, so make sure that you have a reliable Internet connection. If you're using a Mac notebook computer, plug it into AC power.

Download macOS Mojave

Macbooks

For the strongest security and latest features, find out whether you can upgrade to macOS Catalina, the latest version of the Mac operating system.

If you still need macOS Mojave, use this App Store link: Get macOS Mojave.

Begin installation

After downloading, the installer opens automatically.

Click Continue and follow the onscreen instructions. You might find it easiest to begin installation in the evening so that it can complete overnight, if needed.

If the installer asks for permission to install a helper tool, enter the administrator name and password that you use to log in to your Mac, then click Add Helper.

Allow installation to complete

Please allow installation to complete without putting your Mac to sleep or closing its lid. Your Mac might restart, show a progress bar, or show a blank screen several times as it installs both macOS and related updates to your Mac firmware.

Learn more

  • If you have hardware or software that isn't compatible with Mojave, you might be able to install an earlier macOS, such as High Sierra, Sierra, or El Capitan.
  • macOS Mojave won't install on top of a later version of macOS, but you can erase your disk first or install on another disk.
  • You can use macOS Recovery to reinstall macOS.

I'm far too much of a fiddler. And in my fiddling I managed to completely FUBAR my beloved and venerable 2010 MacBook Air. I managed to successfully install GNU/Linux along side my macOS High Sierra installation; however, when I went back to reclaim the disk space used by GNU/Linux for my macOS install running APFS, I was met with a failed boot screen. Yikes!

If you have an older Mac and you perform Time Machine (or other) backups, sometimes that diligence might not be enough to get your system back up and running to an expected working state. The recovery process is more involved than simply restoring from Time Machine.

When backups aren't enough

In my previous life as a network and system administrator, I learned (the hard way) that backing up data is only part of the data protection process. In fact, backing up is the easy part. The hard part is system restoration. Just because you have your data ready on a remote disk to be restored, doesn't mean you have a computer ready for you to restore to.

Dealing with older hardware

Normally, if you have a modern Mac, an OS repair is a straight forward thing where you can reboot by pressing the Command-R keys at boot time and be presented with a series of tools to help you recover your Mac.

Following that, you can either re-install (not wiping your personal data), run disk utilities to repair a hard drive (my intention), or wipe your hard disk completely and do a fresh install. When that's done, you can restore from Time Machine as needed. So far so good.

Old begets old

What happens if you have no ability to start restoration utilities at boot time? Well, Apple has a built-in system that allows you to perform an internet-based recovery. 'That's great,' you say. And it is. Until we realize that the recovery mode from the internet will query your system and provide a version of the recovery based on when the system was released. Therefore, since my MacBook was from late 2010, it provided me tools that would only install and repair disks that work with OS X Lion.

macOS High Sierra now runs Apple's new file system, aptly named APFS. APFS isn't supported on OS X Lion. My disk utilities to repair my drive were now useless. So I was forced to wipe and install Lion from the internet recovery utility.

Starting internet recovery mode.

The good news is that getting to internet recovery mode is as easy as starting the regular recovery mode except with some extra steps.

  1. Shut down your Mac.
  2. Power you mac back on while pressing Command-Option-R until you are prompted to connect to a network.
  3. Select your Wi-Fi network and enter the password.

You'll now have to wait while your system downloads the recovery utilities from the internet.

Install OS X

You'll be happily greeted by a familiar (yet older looking) version of the repair utilities where you can restore from Time Machine, install OS X (not a typo since OS X was the default install on my 2010 Mac), or run Disk Utility (Again useless in my case since APFS was what my internal hard drive had running).

You'll be tempted to try and run a restore from Time Machine and your certainly free to try it out to see if things will automatically start working (and if your APFS volume is intact you may be able to). However, I had to do a complete OS X install.

You can follow our guide to install a fresh copy of OS X if you need help.

I strongly suggest to create an Install account rather than use your normal account name when preforming a fresh install so that when you come to the restoration process, you avoid any compatibility issues with having similar account names.

Once again, you'll need to wait a while while your Mac downloads the installation file from the internet.

Upgrade OS X

Once re-installed, you'll quickly want to upgrade to macOS High Sierra. Unfortunately, you can't. You need to first upgrade to a minimal macOS version of 10.8 and that would be macOS X Mountain Lion.

Searching for older versions of macOS in the App Store yields no results. But if you've downloaded and installed previous versions on your Mac, you can simply select it from your purchased apps list.

  1. Launch App Store.
  2. Select Purchased.
  3. Sign In to the App Store.
  4. Scroll down until you see an older macOS version such macOS X Mountain Lion.

  5. Click DOWNLOAD.

The installer will automatically start and you can follow the prompts or you can look at how to upgrade your macOS install by following our guide.

Upgrade to macOS High Sierra

Now we can finally go ahead and perform the macOS High Sierra upgrade on our older Mac.

  1. Launch App Store.
  2. Search for macOS High Sierra.
  3. Click DOWNLOAD.

Again the installer will automatically start and you simply follow the prompts or follow our macOS installation guide.

Get your data restored

Finally, we're ready to restore our backed up data. If you back up using Time Machine, here's what you do.

  1. Launch Migration Assistant.
  2. Click Continue.
  3. Enter your Password.
  4. Click OK.
  5. Select to transfer From a Mac, Time Machine backup, or startup disk.
  6. Click Continue.
  7. Select your Time Machine backup location.
  8. Click Continue.
  9. Enter the Time Machine Password if needed.
  10. Click Connect.
  11. Select your Backup File.
  12. Click Continue.
  13. Select your Macintosh HD to restore to.
  14. Click Continue.
  15. Select The information you want restored. Select all for a complete restore.
  16. Click Continue.

  17. Allow any upgrades to occur if prompted such as iTunes.

  18. Click Continue.

Now you need to wait for the restore to complete which can take many hours depending on the amount of data to restore and how you're transferring that data whether it be via ethernet cable or Wi-Fi.

Macbook Pro Slow After Mojave Update

Is The Macos Mojave Slow For Older Macbooks

When complete, log into your restored account and delete the 'installer' or 'Setup' account if you created one earlier.

Your old mac is Restored! Any comments?

That's finally it. Your older Mac should now be restored to it's pre-FUBAR glory. Do you have any stories from the backup/restore trenches? Let us know in the comments!

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Is The Macos Mojave Slow For Older Macbooks Pro

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