How to Check Mac Performance

Owning a MacBook device comes with the responsibility of ensuring it stays healthy, optimized, and performs at its best. Regularly checking your Mac’s performance can help you manage it more effectively. For instance, it can let you know if you need to tweak some settings to help improve it or speed it up. Is your Mac laptop suddenly lagging?

Before we start:

 

Several factors can hinder your MacBook from performing at its peak. One of these is a lack of memory. Managing your Mac’s memory can help improve its overall performance, making it less hassle to complete simple tasks.

 

MacKeeper’s Memory Cleaner is the top solution for cleaning your MacBook’s memory fast and efficiently. It automates the process, ensuring nothing is left behind, and optimizes your computer.

 

Follow these simple steps to clean your Mac’s memory with MacKeeper’s Memory Cleaner:

1. Download MacKeeper on your Intel Mac or MacBook Pro with an M1, M2, or M3 chip, or MacBook Air, iMac, or Mac mini device.
2. Select Memory Cleaner from the sidebar. You’ll find it in the Performance section.
3. Click Open > Clean Memory, and watch MacKeeper do all the work.

Mac devices offer numerous methods to check performance. In this article, we’ll show you how to do it, empowering you to manage your device better for improved productivity. This guide is also useful to owners interested in learning how to speed up a slow Mac.

What tools can you use to check Mac performance?

Several tools are available to help you check Mac system performance. These include free built-in tools such as Mac’s Activity Monitor and Apple Diagnostics. You can also use third-party benchmarking apps to track your device’s performance.

Monitoring your Mac’s performance provides countless benefits, such as identifying problems with its speed, battery, or energy consumption. Finding these issues early empowers you to help steer your computer in the right direction by applying performance-enhancing solutions. Below are the tools that can help you test MacBook performance.

1. Activity Monitor

Mac’s Activity Monitor is a helpful utility that provides information about the apps and processes running on your computer in real time—particularly how many CPU, energy, memory, and disk resources they’re consuming, as well as data about network usage. Because this data is available in real time, it changes as you monitor it, with the apps and processes consuming the most resources appearing at the top of the list. Activity Monitor comes in handy for users interested in getting an accurate view of their CPU usage. If that sounds like you, read our guide to learn how to see how much CPU is being used on Mac.

As it relates to your Mac’s performance, Activity Monitor can help you pinpoint power-hungry apps that may be depleting your battery, thereby causing your device to perform slowly or poorly. Closing power-hungry apps can make a noticeable difference in your Mac’s performance.

2. Apple Diagnostics

Apple Diagnostics is a built-in Mac tool that enables you to “diagnose” problems with your MacBook’s internal hardware. It helps you pinpoint hardware-related issues plaguing your Mac, such as the processor, battery, wireless components, logic board, memory, and more.

Mac’s Apple Diagnostics tool comes in handy when you suspect your device’s performance issues are linked to its hardware. Running a diagnostics test allows you to determine how to fix it, such as replacing affected components.

3. Third-party benchmarking apps

If Mac’s built-in tools don’t offer the level of detail you’re looking for, third-party benchmarking tools may be the answer. Third-party benchmarking apps test and score your Mac computer’s GPU, CPU, and memory to evaluate its performance. They provide more detail than Mac solutions, giving you confidence about identifying issues and deciding whether to upgrade its software or replace your device.

How to measure MacBook performance

Checking your Mac’s performance empowers you to make the necessary adjustments to improve your device’s performance.

Implement these three solutions to measure your MacBook’s performance:

1. Benchmark CPU on Mac
2. Check GPU performance on MacBook
3. Hard drive speed test on Mac
4. Check RAM performance on MacBook

1. Benchmark CPU on Mac

Benchmarking apps such as Geekbench compare your Mac’s CPU against other users and provide insight into how well your Mac performs daily tasks. In this guide, we’ll use Geekbench—one of the more popular tools for checking your Mac’s processor.

Here’s how to benchmark your MacBook’s CPU using Geekbench:

1. Download and install Geekbench 6 on your device.
2. Click on the CPU tab in the sidebar and hit the Run CPU Benchmark button.

A heads-up from the MacKeeper team: 

 

Geekbench 6 is free on the official website. However, you can buy the full version, which provides more features, such as offline use, from the App Store.

2. Check GPU performance on MacBook

Follow the steps below to use Geekbench to check GPU performance on your MacBook laptop:

1. Open Geekbench 6.
2. Click on the GPU tab > Run GPU Benchmark.

3. Hard drive speed test on Mac

Performing a hard drive speed test will provide insight into how powerful your Mac is. Multiple tools are available to achieve this, but we recommend using the BlackMagic Disk Speed Test, which is free from the App Store. Ensure you close all apps and restart your Mac before performing the test.

Use the following approach to perform a hard drive speed test on your MacBook:

1. Download BlackMagic Disk Speed Test.
2. Choose your target drive (if applicable) and press Start.

4. Check RAM performance on MacBook

Follow these steps to view the amount of system memory your Mac is consuming:

1. Open Finder and select Applications > Utilities > Activity Monitor.
2. Click on the Memory tab at the top.
3. Assess the apps and their memory consumption. Apps and processes consuming the most memory appear at the top of the list.

Important:

 

Not happy with your Mac’s memory consumption? Manage it with MacKeeper. Its Memory Cleaner helps you manage your Mac’s memory efficiently by showing you how much memory is available and allowing you to free up more.

 

Here’s how to clear your Mac’s memory with MacKeeper’s Memory Cleaner program:

1. Download MacKeeper on your Mac computer.
2. Click on Memory Cleaner from the sidebar and select Open > Clean Memory at the bottom of the page.

How to monitor your Mac performance

Now that you know how to check Mac performance, monitor it continuously to ensure it performs optimally. Perform tests at least once a month to keep an eye on your device’s performance and quickly catch emerging issues.

How to optimize MacBook performance

Optimize your Mac's performance to avoid issues such as a slow device or lagging apps. Here’s how:

• Close apps after using them
• Uninstall unused apps
• Quit background processes
• Manage disk space
• Update macOS to OS X Catalina or later
• Update Mac apps

Manage your MacBook’s performance efficiently

Managing your Mac’s performance forms a crucial part of your Mac maintenance. This will help you identify the status of your Mac’s performance, emerging issues, and areas of improvement. Use the tips in our guide to check, monitor, and optimize your Mac computer’s performance, so you can continue to enjoy your investment.

Remember: MacKeeper’s Memory Cleaner uses smart Mac maintenance technology that provides insight into your Mac’s memory and helps you clean it on the spot. Use it to keep track of your Mac’s memory usage so you can avoid stress and enjoy steady performance.