That sounds like it’s your system, although not necessarily the Hardware.
Make sure to update your Drivers and OS. I don’t know of a Setting in Blender that can impact performance in such a way as you describe; maybe something in your OS (I don’t know how Macs work)? Do other programs perform poorly as well?
(Also, do not expect great things from a Laptop/Notebook, when it comes to Blender (or anything, actually 😉). But simple things like you describe should be fluent, even on a ‘crappy old laptop’.)
