January 2019
Intermediate to advanced
205 pages
4h 33m
English
As I described in detail in RAM, free RAM correlates strongly with speed, and running out of free RAM—which in turn increases virtual memory usage—is a major reason for slowdowns. So in this chapter I explore ways to keep more of your RAM free. The things that free up RAM often reduce CPU usage and disk access too, but here I’m looking at cases where RAM is the main consideration.
Of course, the best way to increase your free RAM is to add more (see Add RAM). But if your Mac won’t hold any more or can’t be upgraded, or if you can’t afford to add physical RAM, the steps in this chapter should help.
Look at your Dock right now. How many apps are open? (Open apps have a dot ...