Older MacBook models are experiencing high memory usage, unclear cause
Older MacBook models are experiencing high memory usage, unclear cause
Hello there! I see you're looking for advice on your MacBook Pro. It sounds like you're dealing with memory issues after upgrading. You might want to consider downgrading to a more stable version like macOS Catalina or later, which often resolves such problems. If you're open to it, checking the latest recommended versions from Apple could help. Just make sure your hardware supports the new OS and you have the right drivers installed. Let me know if you need more details!
You're likely considering an SSD upgrade. Replacing the drive will greatly improve performance. Upgrading to Mohave could be beneficial if the system is old or for specific needs.
It had already been upgraded to an SSD, but I’m not sure why the strange RAM issues are happening.
MacOS will utilize RAM for caching and similar tasks when available; otherwise, it may discard less critical data if memory becomes constrained. Those systems from the mid-2010s typically ran on Core 2 Duos, which are likely to struggle significantly with anything beyond Yosemite or El Capitan. In my view, the CPU is the main bottleneck rather than RAM consumption.
I’d agree, if I’m actively using something while it slows down, it appears inactive and doesn’t reflect full CPU usage. It’s hard to pinpoint which task is consuming memory—just a compressed 4GB with only 0.5GB in cache and nothing else visible. I’m wondering if there’s a slider or registry setting that lets me limit background processes.