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Extremely Poor Safari Performance?

w00t951

w00t951

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jan 6, 2009
1,834
53
Pittsburgh, PA
I've been using Safari happily up till now, but I've been encountering problems. Websites which are smoothly handled by Android 4.1's browser and IE9 are completely laggy and frustrating on Safari.

Why is this happening? I'm used to 60FPS scrolling while browsing, and this problem occurs on both the Intel HD3000 and the AMD 6750M.

Some websites include Ars Technica and The Verge.

Will Google Chrome improve my browsing experience? Does Chrome still switch to the dedicated card?

By the way, I'm on OS X 10.8 with all the latest updates installed. My extensions include AdBlock and Facebook Cleaner.

Thanks.
 
Prime85

Prime85

macrumors 6502a
Mar 1, 2012
652
0
w00t951 said:
I've been using Safari happily up till now, but I've been encountering problems. Websites which are smoothly handled by Android 4.1's browser and IE9 are completely laggy and frustrating on Safari.

Why is this happening? I'm used to 60FPS scrolling while browsing, and this problem occurs on both the Intel HD3000 and the AMD 6750M.

Some websites include Ars Technica and The Verge.

Will Google Chrome improve my browsing experience? Does Chrome still switch to the dedicated card?

By the way, I'm on OS X 10.8 with all the latest updates installed. My extensions include AdBlock and Facebook Cleaner.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

That is strange since i am running OSX 10.8 as well and safari is running perfectly. It might be an issue with your install since i am having other problems with OSX 10.8 that i am sure is a problem with installing it over lion. Once the general release comes out i will do a fresh install, you should try the same, that might fix your problem. You can always try Chrome till then, Chrome works fine i just don't use it because of iCloud integration with my iphone Safari.
 
Nermal

Nermal

Moderator
Staff member
Dec 7, 2002
20,640
4,039
New Zealand
I'm on an "Early 2011" MBP running 10.8 (12A256) and both of those sites are fine on battery power, with the HD 3000. I haven't tested the Radeon but I can't imagine that there would be any issues there either. I also have AdBlock.
 
X

xsdeus

macrumors regular
May 24, 2012
152
68
San Diego, CA
the OP could probably notice a bit of lag because Safari supports retina-enabled scaling. More pixels to display = longer to load/scroll through pages
 
w00t951

w00t951

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jan 6, 2009
1,834
53
Pittsburgh, PA
Thanks for the responses. As for the guys who are having no problems at all, do you have Flash Player installed and up to date? Javascript enabled? Do you notice any lag at all?

I doubt it's because of scaling, because I have an early 2011 MacBook Pro.

Safari 6 is nice and all, but since I frequent the aforementioned sites, it's quickly becoming a nuisance.

When I scroll quickly through The Verge or Ars Technica, I get the Safari Web Content process using up to 79% CPU, which is absolutely ridiculous. Can anyone else replicate this?

It may be worth mentioning that the 6750M cuts down on lag considerably.
 
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w00t951

w00t951

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jan 6, 2009
1,834
53
Pittsburgh, PA
kettlecorn said:
Always had a bad experience with Safari. Use chrome!
Click to expand...

Does Chrome still feel odd when scrolling with the trackpad? I use Safari because it's the most "Apple" in feel and function. Well, Chrome must be better than Firefox, which is absolutely horrible on OS X.

Does anyone know if Chrome still forces the discrete graphics? It's really one of the things that drove me away from Chrome.

Edit: Yes, Chrome really does force discrete graphics. Still. That's slightly pathetic.
 
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ixodes

ixodes

macrumors 601
Jan 11, 2012
4,429
3
Pacific Coast, USA
No browser is perfect. Everything is a compromise.

Safari is not bad, it's just that for my use Chrome is faster, has the best extensions & is the most responsive when using the trackpad.

One year ago that wasn't true. Currently no one but Google is updating & improving their browser as fast & frequently.
 
w00t951

w00t951

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jan 6, 2009
1,834
53
Pittsburgh, PA
ixodes said:
No browser is perfect. Everything is a compromise.

Safari is not bad, it's just that for my use Chrome is faster, has the best extensions & is the most responsive when using the trackpad.

One year ago that wasn't true. Currently no one but Google is updating & improving their browser as fast & frequently.
Click to expand...

Well I'm on Chrome right now, and it seems very responsive. The page loading performance is insanely fast.
 
C

CapnJackGig

macrumors 6502a
Jul 17, 2011
572
0
Safari is just a bad browser, not just on the Retina. It will eat all of your memory and then devour your hard drive if you let it. Switch to Chrome.
 
K

kettlecorn

macrumors 6502
Jan 21, 2011
284
0
w00t951 said:
Does Chrome still feel odd when scrolling with the trackpad? I use Safari because it's the most "Apple" in feel and function. Well, Chrome must be better than Firefox, which is absolutely horrible on OS X.

Does anyone know if Chrome still forces the discrete graphics? It's really one of the things that drove me away from Chrome.

Edit: Yes, Chrome really does force discrete graphics. Still. That's slightly pathetic.
Click to expand...

Feel odd when scrolling? Hm i never had that issue. Do you mean the 2 finger swipe to the left and right? In that case, you have to be more deliberate than in Safari but it's gotten much better after they updated Chrome from whenever OSX Lion first came out. I absolutely despise everything about firefox.

Not sure about the discrete graphics cause I didn't get to use it on a 15" or 17" MBP though.
Chrome isn't perfect though but considering the syncing is amazing, and the really simple UI and bookmarks, it's my preference over the others. Wish one browser was perfect. But never will happen lol
 
w00t951

w00t951

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jan 6, 2009
1,834
53
Pittsburgh, PA
Since uninstalling stuff on Mac OS X is still a PITA, I'm very particular about what I install.

A few months ago, I came back to Chrome. I experienced poor scrolling performance, insufficient gesture support, and forced discrete graphics. I uninstalled and reminded myself to come back to Chrome once those issues were fixed.
 
Nermal

Nermal

Moderator
Staff member
Dec 7, 2002
20,640
4,039
New Zealand
w00t951 said:
Thanks for the responses. As for the guys who are having no problems at all, do you have Flash Player installed and up to date? Javascript enabled? Do you notice any lag at all?
Click to expand...

I left my computer at home today, but it almost certainly has Flash installed (unless the 10.8 upgrade removed it). Whether it's up to date is another question entirely :)

Edit: "You have version 11,3,300,257 installed"
 
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