In recent years, Apple has been making some excellent strides in an effort to provide a more reliable web browsing experience. Safari on the Mac is arguably the best it’s ever been, but there are still some clear improvements that could be made. Instead of taking the Microsoft Edge route and adopting Google’s Chromium source code, Apple has stuck with its in-house development of Safari, for good and for bad. But recent updates to Google’s browser might have you wondering if Chrome is faster than Safari on the Mac.
When it comes to the question of “is Chrome faster than Safari on Mac”, if you were you ask Google, the answer would easily be yes. In a recent blog post, Google explained the changes that continue to be made, leading up to the release of Chrome M99. And there’s actually a good reason why Chrome might just be the fastest browser, as Google also shares that it used Apple’s own Speedometer 2.0 benchmark application to achieve a score of over 300.
This marks the first time that any web browser has scored over 300, including Apple’s own built-in web browser, Safari. The score was achieved using an “M1 MacBook”, however, it’s unknown how much RAM was included on the machine and whether it was a MacBook Air or MacBook Pro. The model doesn’t play too much of a role in the final score, but having a more RAM could definitely influence the scenario.
The result of years of work has been an 83% improvement in Speedometer score, a dramatic improvement we are happy to deliver to our users. With Apple’s introduction of the M1 CPU, combined with Sparkplug and LTO+PGO, Chrome now scores over 300 – the highest score any browser has ever achieved \o/.
Google has been tracking the speed of Chrome over the past few years, ever since the first M1-based Mac was introduced in late 2020. In the blog post, Google also states that graphics performance is 15% faster than Safari, while Chrome is almost 50% faster than it was when the first M1-powered test was run. It’s really a rather impressive feat for a browser that continues to be the most popular in the world, across an array of devices.
Should You Switch?
If you’re already using Safari on your Mac, and are wondering whether you should make the switch, it’s not as clear-cut as Google makes it out to be. In various testing, we’ve seen the stable version of Safari reach scores between 280 and 290, bringing it pretty close to the 300 mark. And things get even closer if you were to try running the Speedometer 2.0 test with the Safari Technology Preview Release, which reaches around 295.
It is dependent (a bit) on the specs of your Mac, but you can actually run this test yourself. Speedometer is not part of a developer-only toolkit, as you just navigate to the landing page in your browser. All of this is to say that while it may seem like Chrome is the superior browser right now, the truth is that Safari is right behind it. And with WWDC ’22 looming, with a new version of macOS on the way, Safari could get the necessary boost to put it over the 300-point threshold.
For the time being, if you’re content with what Safari has to offer, then we would recommend that you just stick with what’s most comfortable. But it’s clear from these tests that Google is making some pretty big improvements to Chrome that could turn the tide and entice more users to its browser in the near future.
Andrew is a freelance writer based on the East Coast of the US.
He has written for a variety of sites over the years, including iMore, Android Central, Phandroid, and a few others. Now, he spends his days working for an HVAC company, while moonlighting as a freelance writer at night.
Anyone who talks security issues about browsers should realize how little Apple updates Safari. Yes, Chrome and its similar knockoffs are bigger targets but Google is patching its browser within 24Hr of a known security risk. I do not see Apple making that same effort consistently with Safari. Google has a far better commitment to keeping Chrome secure then I would claim Apple is doing for Safari
It would be positive for Safari if it could be a cross platform browser instead of just running on Mac OS and IOS. People today, use many different platforms with operating systems from different developers. Apple still thinks everyone should just use all Apple devices. Even Microsoft realized this with Edge which ironically even runs on Linux these days and rather well I might add. Safari is losing touch with the web and its users just as Firefox has. In many ways Safari is worse off then Firefox. With most web developers focused on Chromium browsers and not Gecko (Firefox) or WebKit (Safari). You tend to see more compatibility issues with Safari and Firefox. Apple has been ignoring Safari’s issues for awhile now and seems reluctant to address them. Maybe like Microsoft and IE they really don’t care that much about Safari anymore?
This is quite possibly the most misinformed thing I’ve read today. Chrome is NOT a security hazard at all. If anything, it’s one of the safest browsers out there, definitely safer than Safari. Also, Google does NOT sell your data to anyone. Stop with that bs already..
Anyone who talks security issues about browsers should realize how little Apple updates Safari. Yes, Chrome and its similar knockoffs are bigger targets but Google is patching its browser within 24Hr of a known security risk. I do not see Apple making that same effort consistently with Safari. Google has a far better commitment to keeping Chrome secure then I would claim Apple is doing for Safari
It would be positive for Safari if it could be a cross platform browser instead of just running on Mac OS and IOS. People today, use many different platforms with operating systems from different developers. Apple still thinks everyone should just use all Apple devices. Even Microsoft realized this with Edge which ironically even runs on Linux these days and rather well I might add. Safari is losing touch with the web and its users just as Firefox has. In many ways Safari is worse off then Firefox. With most web developers focused on Chromium browsers and not Gecko (Firefox) or WebKit (Safari). You tend to see more compatibility issues with Safari and Firefox. Apple has been ignoring Safari’s issues for awhile now and seems reluctant to address them. Maybe like Microsoft and IE they really don’t care that much about Safari anymore?
They are so close in speed that I will stay with Safari as Google has proven to be a serious security hazard, not to mention Google sells your info.
This is quite possibly the most misinformed thing I’ve read today. Chrome is NOT a security hazard at all. If anything, it’s one of the safest browsers out there, definitely safer than Safari. Also, Google does NOT sell your data to anyone. Stop with that bs already..