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After a few years of use, even the best machines just don’t run as smoothly or quickly as they used to. Luckily, a few tweaks under the hood can rev up the performance of your MacBook, iMac, or Mac Mini. (Not an Apple aficionado? Check out Popular Science’sguide to improving the performance of Windows machines.) These adjustments won’t be immediately obvious, but they can give macOS a new spring in its step. Follow these steps to speed up your Mac machine like the experts do.
1. Tone down the visual effects
There’s no doubt macOS is a gorgeous-looking operating system. But all those fancy animations and transparency effects take up resources that could be going towards actual applications. If you want to make sure your machine runs as lean and as mean as possible, you can turn these extra visual flourishes off. This trick is especially useful for those who tend to leave a lot of applications and windows open at one time.
To cut down on the extraneous eye candy, open up System Preferences from the Apple menu, then go to Accessibility and open up the Display tab. Tick the boxes marked Reduce motion and Reduce transparency, which will leave you with a faster, albeit plainer, interface.
While you have System Preferences open, you can adjust more visual settings. Go to the DockContacts (itch) mac os. screen to switch off the animation for opening applications. For another tiny speed boost, use this menu to ensure the box next to Automatically hide and show the Dock is unchecked. This will lock it in place at the bottom of your desktop rather than having it constantly disappear and reappear. In the General tab, there’s a similarly named option that will keep the menu bar in place.
Logi Tune simplifies mass deployment and makes it easy to manage rules and roles, lock certain features to specific groups or the entire company, and propagate one-click diagnostics. With support for Mac, Windows and mixed OS environments, Logi Tune makes it simple to set up and manage options for supported devices deployed globally.
The new Apple OS is probably most notable for killing off iTunes and replacing it with three new apps: Music, Podcasts, and Apple TV. Features, macOS Reviews. Use CleanMyMac X to tune up your Mac for maximum performance. See the tools you can immediately apply on your Mac.
Beyond System Preferences, you can adjust visuals with an application called TinkerTool. Free to download and use, it’ll give you access to a few extra settings that the built-in app doesn’t cover. For example, you’ll be able to disable animation effects in Finder, and the fade-in and fade-out images in Launchpad. For more options, click through the various panes of TinkerTool and try turning some effects on and off.
2. Check on system use
When your computer is crawling along, you need to figure out just what might be slowing it down. To find out where all your system resources are going, check out a hidden, but useful program called Activity Monitor.
Open Spotlight with Ctrl+Space or by clicking on the magnifying glass in the menu bar. Then type “Activity Monitor” into the box. Select the first suggestion that comes up in the list, and it will show you all the applications and background processes currently running on your Mac.
Within Activity Monitor, you’ll see a barrage of constantly changing numbers and app names, but don’t panic. These screens are actually pretty simple to navigate. The first tab, CPU, shows how much processing power each running program requires. (CPU stands for Central Processing Unit; this component acts as the brains of the computer and performs most of its calculations.) You’ll see all open programs in the column on the left, along with the percentage of processor time they’re currently taking up. The bottom of this tab will show you the overall CPU usage with a constantly updating graph.
Switch to the Memory tab, and you’ll find similar readings, but this time for RAM. (A computer’s RAM, or Random Access Memory, stores information.) Keep your eye on the Memory Used entry down at the bottom of your window—this shows how much RAM macOS is currently eating up. If it’s somewhere near the maximum amount of RAM installed on your machine, that might explain any system slowdowns or crashes you’ve been experiencing.
Within Activity Monitor, you may encounter unfamiliar programs or processes. Click the little “i” button for more information about what that application does. To stop it in its tracks, click the little “x” button—just be sure you know what the process does first.
Once you’re comfortable navigating within Activity Monitor, you can use this knowledge to improve your system’s performance. First, identify the applications that are consuming more than their fair share of resources. If they don’t really need to be open, you can shut them down. If you’d like to keep running one of the programs in question, open up its settings to see if you can get it to work more efficiently. For example, if one of your memory hogs is a browser, you might try disabling any extensions.
3. Free up hard drive storage
Your macOS machine relies on having a decent chunk of free hard disk space where it can store temporary files. It also needs this room because it will store information on the hard drive if it runs out of RAM. Without that space, when your laptop or desktop starts to run low on hard drive room, then you’re probably going to notice an overall sluggishness in system performance.
Thankfully, macOS has some options to help you out. Open the Apple menu, choose About this Mac, and switch to the Storage tab to see which types of files are using up your disk space. To tidy them and free up some extra room, click on the Manage button.
Next to Store in iCloud, click Optimize and macOS will help you move some of your photos and videos to the cloud so you can delete the local copies. If you click Optimize next to Optimize Storage, on the other hand, macOS will hunt through your iTunes and Mail folders for files that can be safely deleted. For example, it might remove downloaded movies that you’ve already watched, because they’re always available in the cloud anyway.
Next to the last entry, Reduce Clutter, click Review Files. The utility will suggest large files, downloads, and other pieces of data that you don’t actually need to be storing. It’s your call as to what you get rid of from here—use the cross icons to delete files. If you’re not sure what the file contains, hit the magnifying glass icon to see it in Finder, where you can open it up and decide whether you have to hang on to it or not. Still unsure? You can always back up files somewhere else before deleting them.
4. Prevent programs from launching at startup
Many applications want to load at least part of themselves into memory as soon as macOS starts. This automatic launch gives them a head start over other programs and ensures they’ll always be available to you. This can often be useful—something like Dropbox, for example, needs to be up and running all the time to keep your files synced up and ready. The problem strikes when too many software programs and utilities load themselves into memory, which makes the computer’s startup last longer and limits the amount of CPU and RAM available for the applications you actually want to use. Taking more control over which programs launch at startup can claw back some of the performance you’ve lost.
Open System Preferences from the Apple menu, then click Users & Groups and select your account. Switch to the Login Items tab to see—and change—the programs that get to start automatically. The minus button removes entries and the add button lets you add programs to the list. If you don’t recognize any of the applications, a quick web search should tell you what they are and why they want to launch with macOS.
But you’re not actually deleting any programs from your system—you’re just stopping them from starting automatically. If you need them later, you can always open them the normal way, and you can even add them back to the Login Items list. Ultimately, you’ll need a bit of trial and error to work out the best balance between having your various applications and utilities always available, and having macOS boot up as quickly as possible.
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The classic Macintosh startup sequence includes hardware tests which may trigger the startup chime, Happy Mac, Sad Mac, and Chimes of Death. On Macs running macOS Big Sur the startup sound is enabled by default, but can be disabled by the user within system preferences.[1]
Startup chime[edit]
The Macintosh startup chime is played on power-up, before trying to boot an operating system. The sound indicates that diagnostic tests run immediately at startup have found no hardware or fundamental software problems.[2] The specific sound differs depending on the ROM, which greatly varies depending on Macintosh model. The first sound version in the first three Macintosh models is a simple square-wave 'beep', and all subsequent sounds are various chords.
Mark Lentczner created the software that plays the arpeggiated chord in the Macintosh II. Variations of this sound were deployed until Jim Reekes created the startup chime in the Quadra 700 through the Quadra 800.[3] Reekes said, 'The startup sound was done in my home studio on a Korg Wavestation EX. It's a C major chord, played with both hands stretched out as wide as possible (with 3rd at the top, if I recall).' He created the sound as he was annoyed with the tri-tone startup chimes because they were too associated with the death chimes and the computer crashes. He recalls that Apple did not give him permission to change the sound but that he secretly snuck the sound into the computers with the help of engineers who were in charge of the ROM chips. When Apple discovered this, he refused to change it, using various claims in order to keep the new sound intact.[4] He is also the creator of the iconic (or 'earconic', as he calls it) 'bong' startup chime in most Macintoshes since the Quadra 840AV. A slightly lower-pitched version of this chime is in all PCI-based Power Macs until the iMac G3. The Macintosh LC, LC II, and Macintosh Classic II do not use the Reekes chime, instead using an F major chord that just produces a 'ding' sound. The first generation of Power Macintosh computers also do not use the Reekes chime, instead using a chord strummed on a Yamaha12-string acoustic guitar by jazz guitarist Stanley Jordan. Further, the Power Macintosh 5200–6300 computers (excluding the 5400 and 5500, which have the 'bong' chime like the one in the PCI-based Power Macs) use a unique chime, which is also in the television commercials for the Power Macintosh and PowerBook series from 1995 until 1998, and the 20th Anniversary Macintosh uses another unique sound.
For models built prior to the introduction of the Power Macintosh in 1994, the failure of initial self-diagnostic tests results in a Sad Mac icon, an error code, and distinctive Chimes of Death sounds.
The chime for all Mac computers from 1998 to 2016 is the same chime used first in the iMac G3. The chord is a F-sharp major chord, and was produced by pitch-shifting the 840AV's sound. The Mac startup chime is now a registered trademark in the United States,[5] and is featured in the 2008 Pixar film WALL-E when the titular robot character is fully recharged by solar panels as well as in the 2007 Brad Paisley song 'Online'.[6]
Starting with the 2016 MacBook Pro, all new Macs were shipped without a startup chime, with the Macs silently booting when powered on.[7] In 2020, the startup chime would be added to these models with the release of macOS Big Sur, which allows it to be enabled or disabled in System Preferences.[8] On the macOS Big Sur 11.0.1 beta, it was discovered that the new lower pitched chime was brought to all older supported Macs. In a firmware update included in the macOS Catalina 2020-001 Security Update, and the macOS Mojave 2020-007 Security Update, the new startup chime in Big Sur is brought to all Catalina and Mojave supported Macs except 2012 models.
Happy Mac[edit]
The splash screen under Mac OS 8.
The 'Welcome to Macintosh' screen seen in System 7.5 and earlier.
A Happy Mac is the normal bootup (startup) icon of an Apple Macintosh computer running older versions of the Mac operating system. It was designed by Susan Kare in the 1980s, drawing inspiration from the design of the Compact Macintosh series and from the Batman character Two-Face.[9] The icon remained unchanged until the introduction of New World ROM Macs, when it was updated to 8-bit color. The Happy Mac indicates that booting has successfully begun, whereas a Sad Mac (along with the 'Chimes of Death' melody or one or more beeps) indicates a hardware problem.
Deliberate distortion: dissonance mac os. When a Macintosh boots into the classic Mac OS (Mac OS 9 or lower), the system will play its startup chime, the screen will turn gray, and the Happy Mac icon will appear, followed by the Mac OS splash screen (or the small 'Welcome to Macintosh' screen in System 7.5 and earlier), which underwent several stylistic changes. Mac OS versions 8.6 and later also includes the version number in this splash screen (for example, 'Welcome to Mac OS 8.6').
On early Macs that had no internal hard drive, the computer boots up to a point where it needs to load the operating system from a floppy disk. Until the user inserts the correct disk, the Mac displays a floppy icon with a blinking question mark. In later Macs, a folder icon with a question mark that repeatedly changes to the Finder icon is shown if a System Folder or boot loader file cannot be found on the startup disk.
With the introduction of Mac OS X, in addition to the blinking system folder icon, a prohibition icon was added to show an incorrect OS version is found. The bomb screen in the classic Mac OS was replaced with a kernel panic, which was originally colored white but was changed to black in version 10.3. With Mac OS X 10.1, a new Happy Mac was included. This is also the last version that had a Happy Mac icon; in version 10.2, the Happy Mac symbol was replaced with the Apple logo. In OS X Lion 10.7, the Apple logo was slightly shrunk and modified. In OS X Yosemite 10.10, the white screen with a gray Apple logo was replaced with a black screen with a white Apple logo and the spinning wheel was replaced with a loading bar. However, this only applies to Macs from 2013 and later, including the 2012 Retina MacBook Pros, and requires a firmware update to be applied. All earlier Macs still use the old screen. The shadow on the Apple logo was removed in OS X El Capitan 10.11. In 2016+ Macs, the Apple logo appears immediately when the screen turns on.The Face ID logo for the iPhone X was based on the Happy Mac.
Sad Mac[edit]
One version of the Sad Mac icon, this one indicating that an illegal instruction occurred.
A Sad Mac is a symbol in older-generation Apple Macintosh computers (hardware using the Old World ROM and not Open Firmware, which are those predating onboard USB), starting with the original 128K Macintosh and ending with the last NuBus-based Power Macintosh models (including the first-generation 6100, 7100, 8100, as well as the PowerBook 5300 and 1400),[10] to indicate a severe hardware or software problem that prevented startup from occurring successfully. The Sad Mac icon is displayed, along with a set of hexadecimal codes that indicate the type of problem at startup. Different codes are for different errors. This is in place of the normal Happy Mac icon, which indicates that the startup-time hardware tests were successful. In 68k models made after the Macintosh II, the Chimes of Death are played.
Models prior to the Macintosh II crash silently and display the Sad Mac, without playing any tone. PowerPC Macs play a sound effect of a car crash, and computers equipped with the PowerPC upgrade card use the three note brass fanfare death chime (A, E-natural, and E-flat), followed by the sound of a drum, same as the Macintosh Performa 6200 and Macintosh Performa 6300.
A Sad Mac may be deliberately generated at startup by pressing the interrupt switch on Macintosh computers that had one installed, or by pressing Command and Power keys shortly after the startup chime. On some Macintoshes such as PowerBook 540c, if the user presses the command and power keys before the boot screen displays, it will play the 'chimes of death'. The chimes are a fraction of normal speed and there is no Sad Mac displayed.
Old World ROM Power Macintosh and PowerBook models based on the PCI architecture do not use a Sad Mac icon and will instead only play the error/car-crash sound on a hardware failure (such as missing or bad memory, unusable CPU, or similar).
Mac OS X 10.2 Jaguar and later instead use the Universal 'no' symbol to denote a hardware or software error that renders the computer non-bootable.[11][12]
Sad iPod[edit]
On the iPod, if damage or an error occurs in the hardware or the firmware, for example, if its files are deleted, a Sad iPod appears. This is similar to the Sad Mac, but instead of a Macintosh, there is an iPod, and there are no chimes of death. The icon also lacks a nose, and the frown is flipped horizontally. It also does not show hexadecimal codes indicating what problem occurred in the iPod. This error screen will not show up when a problem occurs in the newer iPods.
Chimes of Death[edit]
The Chimes of Death are the Macintosh equivalent of a beep code on IBM PC compatibles. On all Macintosh models predating the adoption of PCI and Open Firmware, the Chimes of Death are often accompanied by a Sad Mac icon in the middle of the screen.
Different Macintosh series have different death chimes. The Macintosh II is the first to use the death chimes, a loud and eerie upward major arpeggio, with different chimes on many models. The Macintosh Quadra, Centris, Performa, LC, and the Macintosh Classic II play a generally softer and lower pitched version of the upward major arpeggio, followed by three or four notes, with slight variation depending on the model of the Macintosh. The PowerBook 5300, 190, and 1400 use the second half of the 8-note arpeggio as found on the Quadra and Centris models, or the entire death chime if the error occurs before the screen lights up. The Macintosh Quadra 660AV and Centris 660AV use a sound of a single pass of Roland D-50's 'Digital Native Dance' sample loop, and the NuBus based Power Macintosh models (including 6100,[13] 7100, and 8100) series use a car crash sound. The Power Macintosh and Performa 6200 and 6300 series, along with the Power Macintosh upgrade card, use an eerily dramatic 3-note brass fanfare with a rhythm of drums and cymbals. The pre-G3 PCI Power Macs, the beige G3 Power Macs, the G3 All-In-One, and the PowerBook 2400, 3400, and G3 all use a sound of glass shattering; these models do not display a Sad Mac icon. Since the introduction of the iMac in 1998, the Chimes of Death are no longer used in favor of a series of tones to indicate hardware errors.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
Tuna Mac Salad Cold
^About Mac startup tones Apple. November 8, 2018. Retrieved February 23, 2020
^Hardwick, Tim (October 30, 2016). 'Classic Mac Startup Chime Not Present in New MacBook Pros'. MacRumors. Retrieved September 14, 2020.
^Whitwell, Tom (May 26, 2005) 'Tiny Music Makers: Pt 4: The Mac Startup Sound', Music Thing
^Pettitt, Jeniece (March 24, 2018). 'Meet the man who created Apple's most iconic sounds: Sosumi, the camera click and the start-up chord'. CNBC. Retrieved March 24, 2018.
^'Apple's Classic Mac Startup Chime is now a Registered Trademark'. Patently Apple. December 12, 2012. Retrieved October 30, 2016.
^Apple Sound Designer on Iconic Startup Sound. Obama Pacman. March 10, 2010. Retrieved January 24, 2011.
^Hardwick, Tim (October 30, 2016). 'Classic Mac Startup Chime Not Present in New MacBook Pros'. MacRumors. Retrieved October 30, 2016.
^Peters, Jay (June 23, 2020). 'The Mac's iconic startup chime is back in macOS Big Sur'. The Verge. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
^Hertzfield, Andy (November 19, 2011). Revolution in The Valley [Paperback]: The Insanely Great Story of How the Mac Was Made. O'Reilly Media. ISBN978-1-4493-1624-2.
^'Macintosh: 'Sad Macintosh' Error Code Meaning'. Apple. November 30, 2003. Archived from the original on June 17, 2009. Retrieved August 24, 2008.
^'OS X: 'Broken folder' icon, prohibitory sign, or kernel panic when computer starts. Apple'. Archived from the original on October 13, 2007. Retrieved July 29, 2010.
^Delio, Michelle (August 2, 2002). ''Happy Mac' Killed By Jaguar'. Wired.com. Archived from the original on February 4, 2011.
^'Weird Mac Startup and Crash Sounds'. 512 Pixels. November 14, 2011.
External links[edit]
Tube Mac Usa
The Original Macintosh: Boot Beep – Folklore.org
How Do I Tune Up My Macbook Pro - Apple Community
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