As we use our Mac on a daily basis, we often activate additional features and services that, while useful in some contexts, can end up slowing down the system over time. If your Mac starts to feel slow or overloaded, one of the most effective ways to revitalize it is to disable unnecessary features on your Mac.
This approach not only improves overall performance, but can also help extend the life of your device. Here's how to identify and disable these features on your Mac for better performance.
Reduce GPU consumption of your applications
macOS has various visual effects that make the interface more attractive, such as transparency in the windows and animations when minimizing or maximizing. However, these effects require GPU power, and while they are visually appealing, they are not strictly necessary for system functionality.
- Go to System Preferences> Accessibility> Display.
- Check the box Reduce transparency, which will remove transparency effects and reduce the load on the GPU.
Disable Dock animations
As we saw in the article for revive your old Mac, Reducing these effects can make the system feel more agile, especially on more “legacy” models.
- Go to System Preferences> Dock and menu bar.
- Change the Scale minimization effect instead of Genius.
- Turn off Auto Fit when hiding or showing the Dock to avoid unnecessary animations.
Optimizing macOS startup
Every time you start your Mac, certain programs automatically run in the background. Although some applications are essential, many others may not be necessary and only consume RAM and CPU resources.
Reduce the number of apps that start automatically Not only does it speed up boot time, but it also frees up resources that can be used for other tasks.
- Go to System Preferences > Users & Groups > Startup Items.
- Select the items you don't need and click the button - To eliminate them.
Disable geolocation all the time
Location services allow apps to use your current location to offer you personalized services. However, This consumes battery and processing power, especially if there are several applications using your location in the background and it is not that they are necessary all the time on a Mac, since you will rarely use mobility applications with it.
- Go to Preferences System > Security and privacy > Privacy.
- Choose Location services and turn off services for apps that don't need to access your location.
“Sayounara Siri”
Siri is a built-in feature that allows you to perform tasks with voice commands and that has been gaining more role even with Apple Intelligence. However, Keeping Siri activated in the background consumes system resources, especially when Hey Siri is enabled.
If you don't use Siri regularly (like the one here), you can disable it to free up system resources and improve overall performance. Or at least, so that Siri is not “taking you for granted.”
- Opens System Preferences> Siri.
- Deactivate Activate Ask Siri and uncheck Show Siri in the menu bar.
Turn off automatic updates
This advice as such does not seem to me to be the most advisable thing in the world, because Its counterpart is to expose the cybersecurity of your team, but it's true that macOS automatic updates and App Store apps can run in the background, consuming network and processing resources.
Disabling this feature allows you to have control over when these updates are made but remember: “With great power comes great responsibility.”, which implies that you will have to be organized and check periodically for updates at hand.
- Go to System Preferences > Software Update > Advanced.
- Uncheck the option of Check for updates automatically.
Browser extensions: gaining speed to your browsing
The browser extensions, although useful, They can consume a considerable amount of memory and slow down browsing, especially on older computers where you will have to evaluate and deactivate unnecessary extensions.
Faster browsing translates into a better user experience, especially when working with multiple tabs open, and that's what we're after in the end when selecting which extension to use.
- Opens Safari > Preferences > Extensions.
- Review your installed extensions and disable or delete any you don't use regularly.
Turn off non-essential iCloud features
iCloud offers syncing across all your Apple devices, which can be useful for accessing your files and settings from anywhere.
However, some iCloud features, such as syncing Photos or iCloud Drive, can consume a lot of bandwidth and system resources and really, they are not something critical that we need in our daily lives, being the stars for disabling unnecessary functions on Mac
In the end, this optimization depends a lot on the user, but it is true that iCloud in the end is still a cloud service that we can customize based on our tastes and preferences. In order to optimize our network and storage resources.
- Go to System Preferences > Apple ID > iCloud.
- Turn off options you don't need, like Photos, iCloud Drive, or Mail.
Spotlight: Limit indexing to lighten system loads
I have been applying this advice since I had a Mac with PowerPC, because it is also not a tool that I usually use in my case and for me, it is in my top settings to deactivate unnecessary functions on Mac
Spotlight is a powerful tool for searching your Mac, but constant file indexing can consume resources, and if you have computers with little RAM it makes it quite easy to disable it.
- Opens System Preferences > Spotlight > Privacy.
- Drag and drop folders or drives that you don't want Spotlight to index.
Remove Widgets
The widgets in the Notification Center can be useful, but They also consume resources and can even be a “visual nuisance” for more than one user., so it may be good for you to disable them to clean up resources.
- Open the Notification Center by swiping left from the right edge of the trackpad or by clicking the three-line icon in the top right corner.
- Click Edit at the bottom and remove unnecessary widgets.
Fidgeting with your computer's Power Preferences
The energy preferences They may be configured to extend battery life at the expense of system performance. And following that rule, Adjusting these preferences can improve performance in times when you need full power.
- Opens System Preferences > Battery (o Saver on some models).
- Adjust the sliders to increase performance rather than save power.