iMac (late 2012) running slow - all help welcome

[Marc1603]

Hi All,
Sorry i'm new here and a bit of an IT novice.

Ive has my iMac since new from 2012 and this last 12 motnhs its shown severe signs of slowing down.
Last week i spoke to Apple, they mentioned its time for a new SSD but firdt to try creating a 'new user' to see if that runs faster than the 'user' ive had since start. The new user does run faster, not quite liek new but it was better so it lead me to wonder if the issue is on the original user.

Today ive done some reading and used programs to check for faulty files, malware (not clean my mac) and OnyX. All came back clear and everything appeared fine.

Storage wise the Mac is a 1 TB - theres 909GB available after i removed roughly 100 gbs.

Any suggestions to improve this? i'd be really greatful!!!
Also, suggestions for best SSD for what i need.

THANK YOU!

 

[iluvmacs99]

Hi All,
Sorry i'm new here and a bit of an IT novice.

Ive has my iMac since new from 2012 and this last 12 motnhs its shown severe signs of slowing down.
Last week i spoke to Apple, they mentioned its time for a new SSD but firdt to try creating a 'new user' to see if that runs faster than the 'user' ive had since start. The new user does run faster, not quite liek new but it was better so it lead me to wonder if the issue is on the original user.

Today ive done some reading and used programs to check for faulty files, malware (not clean my mac) and OnyX. All came back clear and everything appeared fine.

Storage wise the Mac is a 1 TB - theres 909GB available after i removed roughly 100 gbs.

Any suggestions to improve this? i'd be really greatful!!!
Also, suggestions for best SSD for what i need.

THANK YOU!

If you are running Mojave or Catalina with your iMac 2012, browse with Chrome and a lot of tabs opened, then you should max out the iMac's memory to 16Gb RAM if you hadn't done so already. This will lessen the need for the iMac to swap out memory to SSD as it will do often with Mojave and Catalina.

For SSD, download DriveDX which gives you a 15 days trial free so you can see the health of your SSD. Aging and dying SSDs can start to have read/write errors which will be shown on DriveDX.

You probably did some scans, but just to be sure you should scan your iMac with Malwarebytes and then deep scan your iMac again with BitDefender free scan. If you did scan your iMac with both of these apps, then you are relatively 99.9% safe from Malware and Virus infection.

In regards to what is the best SSD out there. Samsung, Crucial and Sandisk are good brands. WD and Seagate aren't bad either. Choose whatever fits your budget I guess.

 

[Marc1603]

If you are running Mojave or Catalina with your iMac 2012, browse with Chrome and a lot of tabs opened, then you should max out the iMac's memory to 16Gb RAM if you hadn't done so already. This will lessen the need for the iMac to swap out memory to SSD as it will do often with Mojave and Catalina.

For SSD, download DriveDX which gives you a 15 days trial free so you can see the health of your SSD. Aging and dying SSDs can start to have read/write errors which will be shown on DriveDX.

You probably did some scans, but just to be sure you should scan your iMac with Malwarebytes and then deep scan your iMac again with BitDefender free scan. If you did scan your iMac with both of these apps, then you are relatively 99.9% safe from Malware and Virus infection.

In regards to what is the best SSD out there. Samsung, Crucial and Sandisk are good brands. WD and Seagate aren't bad either. Choose whatever fits your budget I guess.

That sounds brilliant, thanks so much for your help!

 

[Fishrrman]

You didn't tell us WHAT KIND OF DRIVE is inside the iMac right now?
Is it a platter-based drive?
Or... is it something else?