Google has been putting in a lot of effort to increase the speed of its Chrome web browser. Google Chrome was the fastest web browser on Windows for a long time. Still, Google now claims that Chrome version 99 is quicker than Apple Safari on Mac, with significant performance improvements since Apple launched the first-ever non-Intel M1-based Macs in 2020.
Here’s how Google made their claim, how the testing was done, and how it beat Apple’s browser
Chrome outperforms Safari on macOS
Chrome 99 was launched at the beginning of the month, with the typical mix of speed enhancements and new APIs for web developers. However, Google claims that the current version provides a higher speed boost than average, and Google Chrome now seems to be the fastest web browser on macOS.
“We’re pleased to reveal that in M99, Chrome for Mac has scored the highest score to date of any browser – 300 – in Apple’s Speedometer test, which analyzes the responsiveness of a browser,” Google stated in a blog post on Monday. We enabled ThinLTO in M99, a development optimization strategy that emphasizes code focused on browser speed, based on several performance enhancements over the previous year. What’s the result? “An extra performance boost across the board, making Chrome 7 percent quicker than Safari.”
Since too much of the engine code in Chrome filters down to Chromium-based browsers like Microsoft Edge and Vivaldi, other browsers should see similar improvements once their codebases are updated. However, benchmarks aren’t everything — Due to web browsers tweaking their code to attain more extraordinary Octane results at the price of real-world speed, Google enforced the old Octane JavaScript test in 2017. For these findings, Google employs Speedometer 2.0, which was created by Apple’s WebKit (Safari) team and recreated basic web application operations in several popular frameworks.
According to Google, Chrome 99 on M1 Macs achieved 300 on Apple’s Speedometer browser responsiveness test, trying to make it the first-ever browser to achieve so. This changes the argument on Mac between Chrome and Safari. Furthermore, starting in late 2020, the browser has become 43 percent quicker on M1 Macs.
How Chrome 99 Outperforms Safari in Apple’s Benchmark
Google Chrome’s graphics performance is now around 15% quicker than Apple Safari, owing to the ThinLTO enhancements and extra decoders stated above. This is especially useful for picture and video editing online apps and sites containing 3D-rendered features, such as Google Earth.
In the last few months, the Chrome browser has undergone many updates. In February, Google introduced a ‘Journeys’ tool for categorizing the browser history, which debuted with Material You-themed widgets on Google Chrome for Android. A slightly redesigned Chrome icon is also in the making, which will appear somewhat different on each platform to match the design language of the operating system.
ThinLTO, a build-optimization approach that speeds up some parts of the codebase, has been activated in Google’s newest browser version. The company’s comprehensive overview of ThinLTO can be found on the Chromium blog. Performance improves by 7% as a result of the adjustment.
A midline V8 Spark Plug compiler that is more efficient than previously and brief built-in calls that assist minimize memory use are two additional key drivers behind the performance gain.
According to its publication on the Chromium blog, Google says it ran the test on a 14-inch MacBook Pro with a 10-core M1 Max CPU and 64GB RAM. While impressive, keep in mind that not all of these performance boosts are available on Intel-based Macs. They’re only compatible with Apple’s silicon-based Macs. On low-end hardware, though, the performance difference between Safari and Chrome may widen much further.
