As the years go by, even the most reliable Macs can start to show signs of aging, slowing down and losing performance. However, it's not always necessary to invest in a new computer, and with a few tweaks and improvements, you can revive your old Mac and restore much of its original speed.
And so you can do it and enjoy your old Mac as if it were the first day, we will explore various tips and tricks that will help you speed up your Mac and optimize its performance.
Revive your old Mac by updating to the latest available version
Update your operating system to the latest compatible version can significantly improve the performance of your Mac, since if you keep it with the original operating system you could be missing out on features and optimizations that have come out later, which can help it run better.
And if you don't have a compatible "new" version and you dare to mess around... you can check a little about Hackintosh, since there are developers who are working on making newer versions of macOS compatible with older computers. Of course, at your own risk, since you will not be able to receive official updates (which if you have a very old version, you will not be able to receive them either, so try...)
Reduce startup items
Another way to revive your old Mac and speed it up is reduce startup items that are not neededs.
Startup items are applications that start automatically every time you turn on your Mac, and if you keep too many startup items, they can significantly slow down the boot process and consume system resources.
To reduce them, go to System Preferences > Users & Groups, Select your user and then click Starter Items. Select the items you don't need and click the – button to delete them.
Cleaning the hard drive
Over time, your Mac can accumulate a lot of temporary files, caches, and other unnecessary data that take up hard drive space and slow down your system.
To clear all temps, the easiest way is to do it from Finder, selecting Go> Go to folder. Within that option write ~ / Library / Caches and remove unnecessary cache files.
You can also use the Storage tool in About this Mac to identify large files and delete the ones you no longer need.
Buy more RAM
One of the most effective methods to improve the performance of an older Mac is to increase the RAM, since it allows the system to better handle background applications and processes, resulting in smoother performance.
You simply have to check the models that are compatible with your device on this website and install them to see the effective increase in memory. Of course, it does not work for all Macs, since there are some MacBooks that are not expandable, so you can check compatible consumables at websites like this.
Change your HDD for an SSD
Upgrade your Mac's traditional hard drive (HDD) to a solid state drive (SSD) can have a significant impact on performance, as SSDs are much faster than traditional hard drives, greatly improving boot times and allowing for faster application loads, and better overall performance. To know how to do it, here is a post dedicated to it.
Disable macOS visual effects
Another drag on performance if you are low on resources are visual effects, that is, animations and transparencies, which can be nice to look at but can also consume significant system resources. Disabling them can free up resources and improve performance.
You can disable them in System Preferences > Accessibility, Select Screen and check the option Reduce transparency.
Then go to System Preferences> Dock and disable animation options like "Automatically adjust when hiding or showing the Dock."
Revive your old Mac by repairing disk permissions
Repairing disk permissions can help fix system performance issues, especially on Macs running macOS versions older than macOS Sierra, much like the old Scandisk in Windows.
To do it easily too, you have to open the Disk Utility from Applications > Utilities. Select your startup disk and click Repair disk permissions.
Manage Safari Extensions
We already know that Safari extensions are very cool, but if you use it as your main browser, make sure to manage them, since too many extensions or even malicious extensions can slow down your browsing.
Open Safari and go to Preferences > Extensions and there you will have the entire list of active extensions, which you can deactivate or delete if you do not need them.
Consider using Mac optimization software
There are several apps designed to optimize your Mac's performance, like CleanMyMac, which are designed to automate many of these tasks and can also help you eliminate junk files, manage storage, and perform other maintenance tasks.
You will simply have to download them and run them, looking for the button to start the optimization. Of course, check the configurations it gives you since sometimes they propose certain optimizations that are not the ones that interest us the most.
Reinstall macOS
If all of the above methods don't improve your Mac's performance, consider perform a clean reinstall of macOS.
This will delete everything on your hard drive and reinstall the operating system from scratch, eliminating any software issues that may be slowing down your Mac because it will be basically clean.
To do it is easy and does not have any major complications, you can follow the steps in this other post where we told you how to install macOS Sequoia, but using the version you want to put on your Mac, the process is the same.
Extra: Would you dare to try Linux?
There are devices that, even with older versions of macOS, do not achieve their full potential, but there are still other uses that you can give it with a different operating system, such as Linux.
This “cousin” of macOS exists in different versions and There are even some designed for computers with few resources like a Pentium I.. So I'm sure it will work more than correctly on your old Mac.
For ease of use, we advise you to start with a simple distribution such as Ubuntu o Linux Mint, which are similar to other systems and are characterized by automating almost the entire task.