OS Yosemite - Addressing Poor System Performance

Our customers frequently mention that their machines are performing poorly after upgrading to Yosemite. If you’ve recently upgraded your Mac to OSX Yosemite, we’ve got a few tips to keep your machine performing at its best. 

As you may know, upgrading your memory is the most affordable and effective improvement you can make to your Mac. With Ramjet, we make the process easy and convenient. Simply head over to our site, find your Mac’s Model ID, choose your memory size, and select the option that’s best for you. If you need a recommendation, we’re happy to help!

Memory.  Yosemite requires a LOT of memory compared to previous versions of Mac OSX. Yosemite requires 3.75GB of RAM for the operating system alone! If you have less than 4GB of RAM, a memory upgrade will offer a massive improvement in performance.

Reduce transparency. This appearance enhancement to Yosemite requires a shocking amount of system resources. Other than upgrading the RAM, reducing transparency is the single biggest improvement you can make in system performance under Yosemite.  Reduce window transparency by clicking Apple > System Preferences > Accessibility, and check “Reduce Transparency.”

Clear your desktop.It's common for desktops to become cluttered, as it’s the most convenient place to put frequently accessed files. However, did you know that all items on the desktop occupy valuable system memory? Clearing up the clutter can be the key to substantial performance improvements.

Disable widgets.Widgets are mini-programs or extensions that can be useful when you need them, but can drastically bog down your machine. Disable these by clicking Apple > System Preferences > Extensions > Today, and uncheck all the options you don’t care to see. 

Turn off minimize window genie effect.Another visual effect in Yosemite that can slow things down is the minimize window genie effect. Turn this effect off by clicking Apple > System Preferences > Dock and next to “minimize windows using” select “Scale Effect.”

Keep an eye on the activity monitor.The activity monitor on your computer will tell you which programs are using the most memory. To access Activity Monitor, open a new Finder window and click Application > Utilities > Activity Monitor > Memory. If you have programs open that you aren’t using, they may be slowing you down. Many Mac users cite the Google Chrome Helper plugin as a culprit. 

Another great option for improving performance in older Macs is replacing your conventional hard drive with a Solid State Drive. Ever wonder why the new mac portables perform pretty well even though they have low speed processors? SSD storage is the key. Now you can have the same blazing fast performance for a fraction of the new machine price.