As always, with the launch of a new version of macOS, we, Mac users, have lots of questions about Sonoma that aren’t answered by Apple’s demos, presentations, and website descriptions. And in some cases, they’re not even answered by the beta versions that have been installed and run by thousands of enthusiastic users. One of those questions is, ‘Is macOS Sonoma faster than Ventura?’ One of the reasons there is no clear answer in any of the previews of Sonoma is that it’s, well, complicated. There is no easy answer. We’ll do our best to explain why and what you should expect from Sonoma on your Mac. Then, perhaps more importantly, we’ll explain how to make Sonoma run faster.
Is macOS Sonoma faster than Ventura?
Whether or not Sonoma is faster on your Mac may well be dependent on the Mac you have. Like all new versions of macOS, Sonoma is optimized for the latest Macs. In this case, that's those based on Apple’s M2 architecture. If you have a Mac with an M2 or even an M1, you may notice speed improvements in some areas. For example, Apple has been working hard on Metal, its hardware-accelerated graphics API for developers who make games and other graphics-intensive apps. So, games should run better under Sonoma if you have an M1 or M2.
On the other hand, Sonoma has more features that place heavy demands on the CPU, GPU, and memory, so older Macs may struggle to run it as quickly as they did under Ventura. That’s the reason why some older Macs that were supported to run Ventura are no longer supported in Sonoma.
However, whatever Mac you have and whichever version of macOS you install on it, there are some things that affect speed and performance significantly more than the version of the OS. These include:
- Whether your apps are up to date
- How many apps are running simultaneously
- How many browser tabs are open
- Your internet speed
- The amount of free memory your Mac has
How to improve macOS Sonoma vs Ventura performance
There are lots of things you can do to improve Sonoma’s performance on your Mac.
1. Make sure Sonoma is up to date
Apple regularly releases updates to its current OS, and you should always install them. Here’s a reminder of how to do it:
- Click on the Apple menu and choose System Settings.
- Go to General > Software Update. Wait for it to check for updates.
- If there is one available, follow the instructions on the screen to install it.
2. Make sure your apps are up to date
Most developers update their apps to optimize them for a new version of macOS and to take advantage of new features. So, it’s a good idea to check that your apps are up to date after installing Sonoma.
For apps downloaded from the App Store, open the App Store app and click Updates in the sidebar. Then, install any updates that are available.
For apps not installed from the App Store, open the app, click on the app name in the menu bar, and choose Check for Updates. If there is an update available, install it.
3. Clear out the junk
As you use your Mac, it accumulates junk files that can slow it down causing performance problems on your Mac. As well as that, they take up several gigabytes of space that you could use for something else. The junk files include temporary files, cache files, settings files for applications that are no longer on your Mac, and language files for languages you don’t use. You could clear out all these items manually by trawling through Library folders and dragging them to the Trash. However, that would be time-consuming and laborious. Thankfully, you don’t have to do it manually — the Cleanup feature in CleanMyMac scans your Mac looking for junk files and then allows you to get rid of them all.
Here’s how to use this smart tool:
- Download CleanMyMac for free here and install the app.
- From the sidebar, go to Cleanup.
- Click Scan, and wait for it to complete.
- Now, hit Clean. You can click Review All Junk to see what will be safely removed.
4. Close unused browser tabs
Browser tabs consume lots of system resources, especially RAM. A single browser tab can use 100MB or more RAM on its own. So, if you have dozens of tabs open simultaneously, that’s a lot of memory that could be freed up. On top of that, browser tabs update in the background, which uses internet bandwidth and CPU cycles. So, close browser tabs you’re not using, remembering to bookmark those you want to return to.
5. Turn off visual effects
Visual effects like animation and transparency also use system resources. Do you really need that genie effect when you minimize a window? Reducing visual effects and transparency can help speed up macOS Sonoma, especially on older Macs. Here’s how to do it:
- Click on the Apple menu and choose System Settings.
- Select Desktop & Dock.
- Set the Magnification slider to the far left and choose Scale Effect from the Minimize Windows Using menu.
- Next, choose Accessibility in the System Settings sidebar.
- Click on Display, then turn on Reduce Motion and Reduce Transparency.
6. Declutter your Desktop
Many of us have a Desktop littered with files that we planned to relocate but never did. Did you know that every file you keep on your Desktop consumes system resources? That’s because the file preview in the icon has to be drawn and redrawn every time you move a window. The ideal solution is to move the files somewhere else or put them in the Trash. But if you don’t want to do that, turning on Stacks in the Finder will make your Desktop less cluttered and use fewer resources.
- Right-click or Control-click anywhere on the Desktop.
- Select Use Stacks.
The answer to the question ‘Is macOS Sonoma faster than Ventura?’ is not a simple one because there are lots of factors that influence the speed of your Mac. However, no matter how fast your Mac is when running Sonoma, you can speed it up using the tips above.
