MacFormat UK – June 2019

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FEATURE Speed up your Mac

Six straightforward ways to make your Mac happier

Have you considered...?

30 | MACFORMAT | JUNE 2019

Speedier external storage

> Whether you use

permanently connected

hard drives, network

storage or USB sticks,

it’s likely you have files

scattered in different

places. Are they fit for

your needs? Could you

replace a slower drive

with a Thunderbolt or

USB 3 model? What about

investing in an SSD for

drives used in demanding

tasks like video or audio

editing? Think about how

you use external storage

and whether what you’re

using is really suitable.

How old are your drives?

Mechanical hard disks

don’t last forever. The

longer you use them, the

more likely they’ll develop

problems. Eventually they

will fail. Now is a good

time to consider replacing

those that are several

years old, especially if

you can swap a slow

USB 2 drive for a faster

one. You don’t have to

ditch the old one if it’s

healthy. You can use it as

an additional backup disk

to serve you longer, and

its eventual loss won’t

be felt as keenly.

Keep vents clean

The air vents on your Mac

are designed to allow the

fans inside to blow out

warm air and cool the

Intel processor and other

components. If the vents

are clogged with dust, the

fans will be less efficient

and have to work harder.

On a portable Mac that

will have a significant

effect on battery life.

It can also slow your Mac

down, because when the

internal sensors detect

it’s getting too hot, the

processor is throttled

to prevent overheating,

limiting the tasks it can

complete in a given time.

Set up your keyboard and mouse

Wired keyboards and mice

are more reliable than

Bluetooth versions, and

they never need to have

their batteries replaced.

It’s a minor improvement,

but if you don’t need the

convenience of wireless,

wired versions will

provide better stability

and reliability. Take the

time to set up the buttons

on your mouse so they

enable shortcuts that

will make you more

productive. If you often

work with numbers,

invest in an extended

keyboard or a separate

numeric keypad.

Add a second display

If you work at a desk, and

especially if you use a

portable Mac, employing

a second display can

work wonders for your

productivity. Whether you

use one screen for the

document you’re working

on and the second for a

web browser for research,

are copying data between

spreadsheets, or simply

need many windows

open at once, having

two displays will help you

work faster by cutting

down the time you spend

switching between things.

Wi-Fi or Ethernet?

Wi-Fi is very convenient,

but even though it has

improved significantly

in recent years, it still

isn’t as fast or as robust

as wired Ethernet. So, if

you use a desktop Mac,

the fastest performance

will be had by connecting

it directly to a router –

even if you have to use

powerline adaptors.

If Wi-Fi performance

is an issue, consider

mesh networks; they’re

faster than boosters/

extenders, which halve

available bandwidth.