Matlab R2016b very slow on Mac OS 10.12.3

I am running Matlab via the GUI on an iMac (late 2015 model — 3.2 Ghz Intel Core i5, 32 GB RAM). I have found that Matlab runs unbearably slowly for many tasks. If I run simple commands (e.g. printing the value in a cell array — '>> x{33}') several times repeatedly in the command window, Matlab will print the result quickly the first few times, but then take several seconds for the next few attempts. The %CPU used spikes up dramatically (110%) when I do this. It also similarly seizes up when I try to manipulate figures by zooming or panning.

I have source control turned off (as suggested in other discussions), but the problems persist.

My bench results were: 0.1805 0.1231 0.0600 0.0857 1.6188 0.9599

[Walter Roberson]

I have not observed this in running Sierra in a virtual machine on my El Capitan MacBook Pro.

Answer 1

[Sindhu Priya]

Hi Avinash,

There could be multiple causes for the same. Please consider the following workarounds :

1. Git™ integration in MATLAB tracks the status of every file under the Git project root location. This includes the .git folder, which maintains the revision history of the repository. A performance degradation occurs when the file/folder structure under the root is very large. If you are not using source control features within MATLAB, you can disable source control integration.

1. On the Home tab, in the Environment section, click Preferences.
2. In the Preferences dialog box, in the MATLAB > General > Source Control pane, select None.

2. Check if the Current Folder window is open in MATLAB. This should show up along the right side of the MATLAB window and should show the files contained in the current folder you are working from. If the Current Folder window is open, try closing it. You can do this by either right-clicking the top of that window and selecting Close, or by selecting the down arrow on its right side and selecting the Close option at the bottom. Then restart MATLAB and see if you still encounter these slow speeds and lag.

3.Disable auto-refresh in the Current Folder browser settings from the preferences window. To do this, select the Home tab from the tool strip at the top of the MATLAB window, and select the Preferences button in the Environment section towards the right. With the preferences window open, select the drop-down button next to MATLAB and go the Current Folder selection. Under the Refresh section, there should be a "Auto-refresh view from file system" option with a check box. If the box is currently checked, click on it to uncheck it. Then restart MATLAB and see if this helps with the issue any.

4. Ensure that there are no network directories on your path. Make sure that all the folders and directories that you are working with on your path are local to you machine and are not network directories.

Hope this resolves the issue you are facing.

Regards,

Sindhu

[Avinash Vaidya]

I'd like to belatedly thank you for your reply!

I already had source control turned off. However either disabling the auto-refresh or closing the current folder window solved my problem. I am no longer experiencing the long delays like before.

Best, Avinash

Answer 2

[Teerth Brahmbhatt]

I was also struggling with this issue on Mac High Sierra with a 2018 version of Matlab, I think disabling the source control integration was the most useful step, my Matlab is running a lot quicker.