Every calculator begins to show its age over time. Y'all likely know the signs of an outdated Mac: you tin make a sandwich in the fourth dimension it takes to boot your machine, it doesn't support the newest version of macOS, and modern resource-intensive software struggles to run.

Merely you might not accept to get a new computer but withal. Macs hold their value for a reason, and in that location are steps you can take (both free and paid) to get some more life out of an onetime MacBook or old iMac.

We'll show you how to make your old Mac run faster and freshen it upwards.

1. Upgrade to an SSD

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By far, the all-time upgrade y'all tin can make to an old Mac is replacing its sometime mechanical hard drive with a solid-state drive (SSD). This is a relatively simple procedure y'all can do on older Macs that don't accept the storage bulldoze soldered to the logic lath.

Different older hard disk drive drives, SSDs accept no internal moving parts. Their speed improvements boost operation beyond the lath. Whether you're booting your Mac, opening apps, or moving files, you lot'll feel the benefits of an SSD.

Have a await at resource like Crucial's Mac SSD folio or OWC's SSD hub to find drives uniform with your system and review the procedure beforehand. Most MacBooks only crave removing a few screws to make the swap, but some old iMac models don't have the hard drive in such an attainable spot.

For an accommodating selection, information technology's hard to go wrong with Samsung'south 860 EVO 500GB drive.

ii. Add More than RAM to Your System

MacBook RAM Notches Aligned

Secondary to adding an SSD is upgrading the RAM on your Mac. While an SSD improves overall operation, having more RAM means that you can run more than programs at one time without slowdown. If you e'er have dozens of browser tabs open equally y'all stream music and employ heavy apps similar Photoshop, having more than RAM is a proficient idea (even on an one-time MacBook Pro that had a lot of RAM for the time).

Like with the SSD, you'll need to cheque the specifics for your Mac model. You tin can go to the meridian-left Apple menu > About this Mac to view your model and how much RAM y'all currently have in your system. Afterwards this, head to OWC'southward Mac RAM page to find compatible upgrades for your model.

The site also provides the maximum corporeality of RAM you can put in your organization. In some cases, Apple tree has specified a limit that'due south completely condom to exceed.

You may exist able to find RAM for cheaper on Amazon, though we recommend buying from Crucial in near cases. Crucial'southward RAM has a lifetime warranty and is guaranteed to work. Plus, the site offers piece of cake-to-follow installation videos and money back for your former RAM. If you exercise decide to buy on Amazon, verify that the RAM volition work with your verbal model.

3. Uninstall Former Apps

Move App to Trash

If you have an old Mac, y'all've probably got some programs sitting effectually that you never utilise. To make your Mac faster and save storage space, it's a good idea to identify these apps and become rid of them.

Tried some app that you lot disliked merely never removed? Sitting on some outdated software that's still taking up a lot of space? It's time to go rid of it, particularly Mac apps that run at startup and waste material system resources.

Walk through our guide to uninstalling programs on your Mac and toss anything you lot never use. The best way to speedily uninstall multiple apps, including removing the actress files that the built-in method of deletion might miss, is to apply AppCleaner. This utility simply has you elevate and drop an app's icon to its window to remove all the associated files.

You don't have to uninstall every app on your system, of course. But you probably have some good candidates for removal.

iv. Use Lighter Apps

Once you've eliminated software you lot no longer use, information technology'southward smart to wait at the software you do use. While there are plenty of neat apps for macOS, there are also some that we recommend avoiding. This goes double if you're using an sometime MacBook or iMac.

For instance, you should stay away from using Chrome on your Mac due to its heavy battery drain, drag on organization functioning, and poor integration with the residual of the OS. Safari provides a speedier feel that's more than power and resource-efficient; Apple'due south browser is much better than information technology used to be.

Yous can probably place similar apps on your system that are good candidates to replace with a lighter alternative. Instead of Photoshop, could you get by with a dissimilar Mac photograph editing app until you're able to upgrade your organisation?

To identify more than apps that apply a lot of ability, open the Activity Monitor by searching for it with Spotlight (Cmd + Space). Have a look at the Energy tab, which shows how much bombardment life apps utilise. You should also pay attention to the CPU and Memory lists to see which eat the most resources.

5. Reinstall macOS

For many Windows users, reinstalling the OS every once in a while to prepare problems and clean up clutter is adequately common. While Mac users don't frequently practise this, ane reason they might need to is speeding upwards an old, slow Mac.

If you're looking for a fresh get-go on your machine, upgrading the hardware as above, combined with a fresh install of macOS, is a groovy selection. When you reinstall macOS, yous don't take to delete all your personal information unless you want to.

In case you desire a completely fresh get-go, make sure you back up with Time Motorcar or another backup solution starting time.

6. Requite Your Desktop a Fresh Glaze of Paint

Desktop and screensaver settings on macOS Mojave

The above steps are the near of import parts of making your Mac feel like new, but there are a few optional sections of the procedure, too. If you're ill of staring at the aforementioned old desktop all the time, yous can revamp your feel.

There are tons of ways to personalize your Mac desktop, and you can tweak Safari to go far perform exactly as yous want after leaving Chrome.

7. Physically Make clean Your Mac

To replicate the "shiny new computer" feel fifty-fifty more closely, have a look at the physical state of your Mac. Is there whatever balance from spills on the organisation, dust on your keyboard, or other unsightly aspects?

If and then, have a few minutes to follow our MacBook and iMac cleaning guide to go your keyboard, mouse, and screen nice and clean.

Your Old Mac Tin can Be as Good as New

With a few upgrades and a little maintenance, your erstwhile Mac might only experience like a new machine over again. Following these steps on how to make your MacBook faster leads you to accept a blazing-fast new SSD, plenty of RAM for keeping apps open, more optimized apps for improve performance, less clutter, and peradventure a quieter auto to boot.

This might help yous get another few years out of your old Mac. It's a lot cheaper to spend $100 on new components and take the time to perform some upgrades than information technology is to buy a new computer.

If these steps didn't assist your old Mac experience faster, it might be time to supersede your Mac.

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Ben Stegner (1803 Articles Published)

Ben is the Editor in Chief at MakeUseOf. He left his IT job to write full-time in 2016 and has never looked back. He's been roofing tech tutorials, video game recommendations, and more as a professional person writer for over viii years.

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