After writing a forum post about Time Machine and how it, well, simply worked for me when I needed it to, I’ve been noticing some downsides.

It’s slow at backing up over WiFi

I have a 500GB Time Capsule and a 2.2Ghz MacBook Pro. It takes forever to back up a couple gigs of data, and it slows my work down because it takes up processor and disk resources. I often do a Stop Backup from the menu. I tried a wired backup (ethernet) and found it to be perhaps 10x faster. But the layout of my home office these days is not conducive to a hardwired situation.

The interface is slow

And a little too dramatic… do we really need to fly through the Andromeda Galaxy when we need to get a document we accidentally deleted a week ago? I don’t know if that’s the speed crusher, but I can wait for a minute for the full complement of backup points to load. The interface is frozen while I wait.

It’s inflexible with backup frequency

You can choose any backup frequency you want, as long as it’s once every hour. This is too often for me (see my slowness complaint about backups over WiFi, above), but yet I’d still like an automatic backup. A week ago I switched it to manual, and I now go to the menu and select Back Up Now.

All in all I like it, but I’m crossing my fingers for fewer OS speed hits, better interface speed, and real choice with backup frequency. C’mon Apple, let’s do this.