I’ve started using Snow Leopard on my 2010 MacBook (with a new SSD and 16GB RAM), and I am loving how quickly it boots - can anyone beat 15 seconds with their setup?
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Fastest Boots!
- Thread starter InAWhiteRoom
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Not me. But I do appreciate the faster speeds in those rare times where I actually restart my Macs (they're usually just left on all the time).
Before she killed it though, my daughter had a PC with an SSD that could start Windows in 8 to 10 seconds. To clarify, she killed the PC, not the SSD. That happens when you spill pink lemonade all over the keyboard. One of these days I'm going to pull that thing and see how it handles MacOS.
I just tested my 2010 7,1 with 16GB, Raid 0, 10.6.8. 17 Seconds from power button to desktop.
I think my System 7.5 emulator boots in a second or two on my 11th gen i5 and NVMe SSD.
Late 2013 15” Retina MacBook Pro, original 256GB PCIe SSD, Mavericks: 12 seconds from power button to desktop.
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I think that's down to your hardware being afraid of you. It knows what you can make it do if it does not comply.
MacBook Air 2010 11" (MacBook Air 3,1) w/ 2GB RAM and a 256GB SSD. 10 seconds from the Mac chime to the log-in screen with Snow Leopard.
I think that's down to your hardware being afraid of you. It knows what you can make it do if it does not comply.
Mine takes 14 seconds from power button to desktop. Original 64GB Toshiba SSD.
That's crazy fast!
My 2006 iMac has never taken a long time to boot, even when it only had an HDD. My 2012 Mini did boot up very fast with Catalina but noticeably slower with Monterey. Probably still under a minute but nowhere near as fast as it did before.
My 2006 iMac has never taken a long time to boot, even when it only had an HDD. My 2012 Mini did boot up very fast with Catalina but noticeably slower with Monterey. Probably still under a minute but nowhere near as fast as it did before.
Pretty impressive! I don't even get these times with my 16" 2019 mbp, but I have a lot of fonts installed. I don't reboot that often though, so it's worth it to wait a few seconds more to have my fonts ready when I need them.
Back to early intel macs - my "new" white 13" Mid 2010 MacBook with Samsung 850 Evo 250GB needs 33 seconds from power button to desktop with High Sierra, so I guess I loose.
Back to early intel macs - my "new" white 13" Mid 2010 MacBook with Samsung 850 Evo 250GB needs 33 seconds from power button to desktop with High Sierra, so I guess I loose.
It only takes 2-3 seconds to get to the FileVault login on my Late 2008 MacBook but I guess this is considered cheating and does not represent a proper "boot"?
I count 'boot' as the time it takes to get to the login window. FileVault only gets involved if you've logged in (automatic or manual), which is after booting.
Not if the entire boot drive is encrypted using FileVault; in this case, it asks for the password very early in the boot process.
Got y'all beat - my Macintosh Classic boots System 6.0.3 in about 3 seconds flat off its ROM
Nice 😁Got y'all beat - my Macintosh Classic boots System 6.0.3 in about 3 seconds flat off its ROM
Just tried with a 2010 MacBook Air, max model with 4GB ram, 2.13GHz, booting into 10.6.8. About 11 seconds from power button (8 seconds from chime). Definitely surprised my wife, who is used to the slower boot speeds of M1... hehe.
Do you mind if I ask a little more about the specifics of your machine? I’m getting a little obsessed with trimming seconds of my boot speed, and I’ve read that the size of the SSD, and the size of the partition (if you have one) can also affect it.
I restored my MacBook from a backup cloned to a usb stick, and it’s now booting in about 18-19 seconds, so I’ve clearly done something to slow it down a little. Was your 10.6 a fresh install from a CD?
My 10.6.8 was a cloned one from another MacBook Air, which itself originally came from a bootable USB install.
The 2010 I got that boot speed on was stock max-upgraded from Apple, the standard config:
MacBook Air "Core 2 Duo" 2.13 13" (Late '10) Specs (Late 2010, MC905LL/A, MacBookAir3,2, A1369, 2392): EveryMac.com
Technical specifications for the MacBook Air "Core 2 Duo" 2.13 13" (Late '10). Dates sold, processor type, memory info, hard drive details, price and more.
So 256GB stock SSD, 4GB Ram, 2.13GHz.
I can’t boast fastest Early Intel boots, but I could be in the running for slowest Early(ish) Intel boots:
My 2013 iMac A1418, in 10.13.6 (on OEM HDD), takes 5m57s from pressing power to getting a login screen. And this was after reinstalling HS in 2021 (it was even longer in the previous install). (All my Macs have verbose boot set, so I watch all the routines and marvel in horror at how much more garbage it has to wend through compared to, say, my 10.6.8 boxes, which can take less than 20 seconds). None of my other Macs, PowerPC or Intel, have ever come close to this hair-greying delay. I hate having to reboot it.
My 2013 iMac A1418, in 10.13.6 (on OEM HDD), takes 5m57s from pressing power to getting a login screen. And this was after reinstalling HS in 2021 (it was even longer in the previous install). (All my Macs have verbose boot set, so I watch all the routines and marvel in horror at how much more garbage it has to wend through compared to, say, my 10.6.8 boxes, which can take less than 20 seconds). None of my other Macs, PowerPC or Intel, have ever come close to this hair-greying delay. I hate having to reboot it.
Ah yes, I remember the pain of 10.13 on my 2011 iMac with HDD... it's not a bad OS, but boot time was horrendous. It's about 90 seconds max on my 5,1 Mac Pro, which I can tolerate.
Whenever I get around to doing the all-at-once upgrade of HDD-to-SSD, add in the NVMe as a discrete volume (where I’ll likely stick the system), upgrade the CPU, and max out the RAM, I’ll be curious to see how much that cuts down boot times. My hope is it will be able to plough through it in around two minutes.