Google Chrome it’s already faster than Safari on macOS with M1 processors. This is what the browser development team ensures in its latest version, the M99. They managed to break the record in speedometera tool to measure the speed of these applications developed by Apple.
According to Google, this makes Chrome the fastest browser on Macs with Apple Silicon processors. 7% faster than Safari in fact, getting a rating of 300. The tool was developed to simulate what it means to use a web app running under different technologies and understand how fast it reacts.
Chrome has managed to overcome Safari in speed thanks to several technologies that have been integrated and optimized in the latest version of the browser. On the one hand, a web compiler called ThinLTO which gets the 7% mentioned. Then, at the graphic level they have made improvements that achieve a better performance of up to 15% in that section.
Also the compiler for Javascript, V8 Spark Plug, executes routines faster by optimizing code placement in device memory and avoiding indirect jumps when calling functions. This results “in a substantial improvement on computers with Apple M1 processors,” they explained.
In addition, according to Google, Chrome on Macs using Apple Silicon processors becomes 43% faster today than 17 months ago, when they released the first version for the new chips from the Cupertino company. Certainly welcome news.
We never imagined seeing Google Chrome running faster than Safari, but does it really matter?
It’s true, we would never imagine seeing that Google Chrome run faster than Safarithe browser developed by Apple for its own operating system, which has always prided itself on its performance, but does it really matter?
It is certainly important that a browser has the best possible performance when it comes to speed, but the reality is that Chrome’s problem is the indiscriminate use of resources, especially RAM and battery use. It has been fast for a long time and that 7% difference is difficult to notice. Many Mac users end up using Safari to avoid just that.
Currently all browsers are quite fast when displaying and interacting with websites and web apps. But not everyone can do it without seizing all the power of the processor, all the RAM and therefore destroying the autonomy of the device.
For my part, I will continue to use Safari. Not only because of the speed, not only because of the good use of my computer’s resources, but also because I care about my privacy and the reality is that Chrome open the door to Google to track my behaviors.