Frequently asked questions
Two things may be occurring here - one is that the program, such as Microsoft Word, doesn't have enough Ram Memory, and/or the HHD (hard drive) is slow to access the file.
The two combined make for a slow file opening or even a frozen screen, with the spinning wheel of death.
This a common issue with aging computers, but it is not the end of them, because there's an inexpenise way to speed up your Mac computer without breaking your bank balance.
By upgrading your HHD (hard drive) to the latest technology of an SSD (soild state drive) and adding more Ram, your Mac computer will open those frozen files up to 12 times faster and speed up your Mac generally, ie: opening programs, loading pictures and having multiple programs open without taxing your system.
All you need to do is contact us for a free quote, or if you are feeling adventurous, scroll down a little on this page to the 'upgrades section', select your mac model, and we'll have the pricing of your upgrade there.
Software
One of the most commonly asked questions we get is - I've just upgraded the macOS X softwar, so why has my Mac computer slowed down?
A couple of things might be going on here, but it's clear that the new macOS X has bigger files and the computer is trying to do more, with the same hardware configuration.
Hard Drives
Pretty much all older Macs support the slower rotational hard drive, even the newer low spec Macs still support the old rotational technology, with the latest supporting fusion drives.
Fusion Drives
Apple has tried to bridge the gap between the older rotational hard drives and the newer SSD drives by introducing the fusion drive, which consists of 20% SSD and 80% rotational technology.
While this has advantages, once you start adding files to the fusion drive that exceed the 20% SSD capacity, you still have to deal with the slower rotational drive, once the drive fills up, thus slowing down the speed of the Mac.
That's why Apple offer a pure SSD drive as an option when buying a new Mac.
SSD Drives
The latest high spec Macs have SSDs installed, which are super fast and they don't have moving parts, which allow them to access files much faster.
Ram Memory
This is the other important bit of hardware which affects computer preformance.
Most of the older Macs have on average 4GBs of Ram onboard which was fine 5-10 years ago. However, with the ever increasing size of the macOS X software releases, these Macs tend to struggle.
Later Macs come with 8GBs of Ram as a general rule, with higher GB configurations coming at a much higher cost.
Every time you turn on your computer, you’re using your storage drive. This drive holds all of your irreplaceable files and it loads and saves almost everything your system does. Join more and more people who are keeping their family videos, travel photos, music, and important documents on an SSD drive, and get near-instant performance and lasting reliability that comes with solid state storage.
Upgrading from a rotational hard drive to an SSD drive, which can run up to 12x faster, will have the OS up and running in seconds.
The computer can access the files it needs in seconds compared to what you are probably use to (waiting a minute or more).
In a work enviroment, time is money and even at home it can get a bit frustrating just trying to do simple tasks.
Ram Memory
This is an important part of hardware which affects computer preformance.
Most of the older Macs have on average 4GBs of Ram onboard which was fine 5-10 years ago, howeverwith the ever increasing size of the macOS X software releases, these Macs tend to struggle.
Later Macs come with 8GBs of Ram as a general rule, with higher GB configurations coming at a much higher cost.
More Ram allows you to multi-task at a greater pace and allows applications such as web browsing, emailling and MS Word document execution to perform faster.
As a general upgrading rule, 8GB of Ram is a bare minimum, with 12GB -16GB being the recommeded amount of Ram for general use (depending on your Mac).
If you are planing on running high intensive programs such as video editing, photos and gaming, you may want to consider 32GB of Ram (if your Mac is compatible).