Safari 17.2.1 on Sonoma 14..2.1 very slow and almost unusable

I've had the same issue for a few weeks but it's not just on one Mac. I have the same painfully slow loading on both my Mac Mini M1 and my 16" Macbook Pro. Youtube is the worst for me. Sometimes it just sits there and doesn't load for about five seconds or more. Sometimes you click on something and it doesn't work at all and sometimes just loading a website like BBC News just loads a blank page. I get it on Amazon.co.uk as well... Sometimes just a blank page. I have Firefox installed on both and it has no such issues whatsoever. If it was happening just on one of my computers then I could probably fix it but the issue started on both computers after updating to Sonoma 14.2.1 at the same time. Maybe it has something to do with an extension which is clashing for some reason. I can't seem to isolate the problem to any particular extension. Boring...

Safari is slow on Sonoma on MacBook pro; no issue with safari on iPad; i can transfer safari from iPad to MacBook pro and it works. the issue is with sonoma. BTW the iPad is running Nord VPN.

Fix Sonoma.

By far the easiest way to cause poor performance, instability, overheating and crashing is to install ANY third-party speeder-uppers, Cleaners, Optimizers, or Virus scanners. or a VPN that you installed yourself. The main reason is that they are relentless in scanning your files, non-stop, looking for things virus-like patterns in Everything. When completed, they do it all again.

The idea that a third party, with no special knowledge of the inner workings of MacOS, can somehow find a simple way to protect your computer — that is not already being done by MacOS itself — suggests that the MacOS developers are somehow "holding out on you". That is absurd.

You should remove any and all (other than Apple built-in) virus scanners, speeder uppers, optimizers, cleaners, App deleters or VPN packages you installed yourself, or anything of that ilk.

Third-party file Sync-ers such as DropBox, BackBlaze, OneDrive, or GoogleDrive can ruin performance, but are not inherently dangerous.

Effective defenses against malware and ot… - Apple Community

To determine whether added software is the problem, run in Safe Mode, where no third-party items are loaded.

"Works in Safe Mode, Fails in regular mode" implies, "it's something you added."

Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support

Your modern Mac is not subject to spontaneous attack by malware including Viruses, because there is nowhere to hide and they can not become executable.

About the read-only system volume in macOS Catalina or later - Apple Support

About the read-only system volume in macOS Catalina or later - Apple Support

What is a signed system volume? - Apple Support

What is a signed system volume? - Apple Support

Signed system volume security in iOS, iPadOS, and macOS - Apple Support

Signed system volume security in iOS, iPadOS, and macOS - Apple Support

please try to restart in Safe Mode, and see if the same problem occurs in Safe Mode.

Ddownload and run this little 'discovery' utility, Etrecheck, and run it. When it completes its report, if you faithfully follow the directions to SHARE the report to the system Clipboard, it can be PASTED to an 'Additional Text' reply window on the forums:

Use Etrecheck Pro for free

.

An unusual extension will show up in an Etrecheck report, along with a few quick test for drive speed, drive fullness, processor utilization, memory utilization, and a digest of recent problems. I urge you to post yours as well, but consider starting a new disuccu=ion to do so, the get the individual attention you deserve.

The text file saved for YOU has your un-obscured drive-names and a little more personally-identifiable information, so it can not be posted back here.

The program has a feature, described in detail in its directions, to allow a Sanitized version to be SHARED (look fo the 'Share' icon) to the system clipboard, then you can start a reply on the forums, use the Additional Text icon in the reply footer, and PASTE the system clipboard into the additional text window.

Minor Issues:

 [...]

  More than one antivirus app - This computer has multiple antivirus apps installed.

 Antivirus software: Apple, Surfshark, and AdGuard

 VPNs:

    Surfshark. WireGuard - /Applications/Surfshark.app

    Surfshark. OpenVPN - /Applications/Surfshark.app

Yep. Adguard is reportedly an ad blocking program and makes no mention of any AV duties. Always worked fine and i've never felt that it has caused any issues but maybe there is a conflict somewhere now. I've turned all of this off anyway, the VPN is easy to quit and I can physically turn off Adguard. Surfshark comes with an AV (I think I paid extra) but it's defeated and doesn't affect any other browser.

mrbill68--

if your purpose in posting was to gripe, consider it done.

Other Users are not experiencing that you are experiencing, but you have not included enough information to help you debug this.

if you want someone to work with you to restore system speed, please start a NEW Discussion with a TITLE that will attract the Readers you want to reach, and post your specific Mac model-year, model, and exact macOS version.

>> one additional note: the main reason VPN software is a problem on Macs (and not so much on iPad etc) is that the wildly extraneous additional Virus Scanning and "Protection" Fru Fru added by many self-installed Mac VPN packages is completely blocked on an iPad.

Okay. This is from my clipboard. Hopefully the original poster will do the same.. All the other browsers work normally and without issue. Def something weird with Safari

Many thanks. I did a report but it just saved a file to my desktop that open Etrecheck. No text file as such. Not sure what to do with it..