Apps launching very slowly on M1 MacBook Air

By Manuel, 18 March, 2022

Forum
macOS and Mac Apps

Hi,
I've got my MacBook Air M1 one year ago and am still wondering why the apps launch so slowly.
An example: When I open Pages, I have to wait almost 10 seconds until the app is ready for use. Microsoft Word even needs almost 15 seconds until I can work with the app. Under Windows, for example with an Intel core I5 (8th Gen) and JAWS, Word only needs 3 seconds until it's ready for use.
Can anyone confirm this behaviour on an M1 Mac (not an M1 Pro or Max)?

Thanks!

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Comments

By Maldalain on Friday, March 18, 2022 - 08:12

Although you wanted to exclude the M1 Pros, I am not having this on my M1 Pro.
BTW there is almost no difference between the Pro and the Air as far as performance is concerned.

By Manuel on Friday, March 18, 2022 - 08:59

Hi,
How long does Word, for example, need to open on your MacBook with the M1 Pro chip when the app was completely closed or after a cold boot?

By Manuel on Friday, March 18, 2022 - 09:31

That leads me to the question, why do I have this strange issues? How can I fix them? ...

By Quin on Friday, March 18, 2022 - 12:23

Pages takes about 2 or 3 seconds to open and be ready for use on my M1 MacBook Air. Not 10 though, that's not normal.

By crayton on Friday, March 18, 2022 - 22:15

Any time that I have problems like that, a reinstall always fixes that.

By Manuel on Saturday, March 19, 2022 - 08:15

Hi,
No, low energy mode is turned off.
Regarding the reinstall, that is the last option I'd choose. Currently, I simply do not have the time to completely reinstall the system. Maybe I'll give it a try in the next few weeks.

By VivekP on Saturday, March 19, 2022 - 10:51

The first thing you can do is to perform a check on your HD. Go to disk utilities and perform a first aid on all of your disks, the Mackintosh HD, Mackintosh HD (data) and any other volume disks.
If this does not fix the issue, then start your M1 Mac in a recovery mode and perform disk utility+disk check/first aid and repair.
Generally it should repair the disk permissions and other necessary things and your Mac should start running as it should.
Note: pardon me as I do not know the technical jargon, I just suggested the everyday terms.
Please let me know if this fixes the issue (it did for me).
Thank you and have a smashing day!

By Manuel on Saturday, March 19, 2022 - 15:36

Hi,
First Aid in recovery mode didn't help. What do you mean with repair option? I only found the first aid option in disk utility. After a cold boot, Pages still needs in every case more than 5 seconds to open. MS Word even longer. That's so strange. I thought the M1 is already super fast. After I opened word for example and then quit the app and then open it again, it only took 4-5 seconds to open...