Lag test -- safari browsing on Apple's web page

headcase · May 10, 2015

Some say that simple browsing is fine on the MacBook with Safari, among other browsers. I'm curious to know how many others are experiencing serious lag when scrolling this web page, on Apple's own website, no less:
http://www.apple.com/imac-with-retina/

kingofwale · May 10, 2015

lags for me, on both safari and firefox.

I also have a non-hd mkv file playing. (shouldn't be a huge issue giving this is 2015)

headcase · May 10, 2015

Interesting that some of us aren't experiencing any lag. I wonder if we're still dealing with varying QA issues per device from Apple.

Kiwi 99 · May 10, 2015

No lag for me. The page does have a few animations and things that might make it look a bit laggy?
Anyway it scrolls smoothly (same as a rMBP 15" 2012) for me.

Jetcat3 · May 10, 2015

I've found that by reducing transparency in System Preferences-Accessibility-Reduce Transparency has taken all apparent lag away. It's super smooth and fast now!

headcase · May 10, 2015

Jetcat3 said:
I've found that by reducing transparency in System Preferences-Accessibility-Reduce Transparency has taken all apparent lag away. It's super smooth and fast now!

I've had Transparency turned off since the day I picked mine up. I think the issue is independent of that.

Kiwi 99 · May 11, 2015

so, Headcase, what exactly do you mean by "serious lag"?

I've been playing around with trying to reproduce some lag by running lots of other intensive stuff, and I still see no lag.

It seems like roughly 80/20 on the vote, and that's what the other threads seem to be showing too...

A video of what you mean might be helpful. Especially if it has the Activity Monitor CPU Usage Meter showing on the video too

And/or, what else is running at the time... what's the % load on the CPU before you start, etc...

And, has the machine had time to "settle down" over the first few days of it's life....has it finished all its syncing and indexing and stuff...

I dunno, I'm just trying to think of options. As you say, is it QA on some of the devices? It is strange that 20% seem to be having issues

(And as a comparison, how about the simple un-animated iPod page on the Apple site, does that scroll fine? And if it does, how is the iMac one different?)

seong · May 11, 2015

I have yet to receive my rMB, but it lags like hell on my rMBP 15"... I'm curious as to why some people are experiencing lag (including myself.)

tom vilsack · May 11, 2015

Yikes! I'm using a $200 Chromebox and that page is getting ZERO lag.

How can a $1500 MacBook show lag whereas my cheap chromebox has none?

Kiwi 99 · May 11, 2015

I'm trying, but I just can't reproduce this "lag".

Can someone describe what they mean? Which (if any) of these:

(a) when I scroll the screen doesn't instantly respond
(b) the motion on the screen doesn't match my scrolling
(c) the stuff on the screen freezes momentarily mid-stream
(d) the motion of the stuff on the screen is jumpy
(e) anything else?
(I don't see any of those, and that's all I can think of)

I do notice when playing with that page, that depending on which side of the screen you're scrolling on, the 2 sides can move at different speeds to each other. Maybe that gives an impression of lag?

And anyone who does see lag, do you also see any lag on this simple page?
http://www.apple.com/ipod-touch/

Pathfinder3 · May 11, 2015

I've tried this both on Chrome Canary and Safari. I can't reproduce any lag on my machine.

theSeb · May 11, 2015

headcase said:
Interesting that some of us aren't experiencing any lag. I wonder if we're still dealing with varying QA issues per device from Apple.

More likely we are dealing with variances in personal perception and an extremely objective "test".

----------

tom vilsack said:
Yikes! I'm using a $200 Chromebox and that page is getting ZERO lag.

How can a $1500 MacBook show lag whereas my cheap chromebox has none?

Because it doesn't.

usernames.taken · May 11, 2015

The word lag doesn't even make sense. No one knows what these people are even talking about? Delay opening a window or web site? Delay closing a tab? Delay with javascript rendering resizing of elements in Facebook? Delay with the web browser re-rendering a table when you resize the window? No idea what this guy is talking about.

mattopotamus · May 11, 2015

No lag on my current rMB, but two previous ones did lag on this page.

melb00m · May 11, 2015

It's not butter smooth for me on the rMB, but better than Chrome on my Windows 8.1 Lenovo Ultrabook which has a much faster i5 processor built in.

I'll try my 2011 iMac when I get home from work.

headcase · May 11, 2015

For those unsure about what represents lag / hesitation, let me keep this simple: when scrolling, you shouldn't experience any delays / stutter -- the page should scroll buttery smooth. Most websites scroll fine for me (buttery smooth like here on MacRumors), but some pages like the iMac 5K page from Apple seems to push the limits of the rMB that I currently am testing out. Ironic that the problem occurs on an Apple computer, using and Apple-developed browser, to view an Apple product (iMac 5K in this instance). In my opinion, usability problems like this shouldn't happen.

What this poll is possibly starting to reveal, is either a variance of hardware QC for this specific model, or its software related. However, I'm discounting the software probability, given I had two rMBs with clean 10.10.3 installs, one which had exhibited some apparent graphic lagging, and the other was running fine. I'm testing out this third one now on a clean 10.10.3, with what appears to possess graphic-related issues.

sakabaro · May 11, 2015

Lagging on my rMBP 15" mid-2012.

I remember trying the same page on a rMB at an apple store and was disappointed over this.

I don't get why anyone get fired, it seems just someone sucks somewhere at their job. And I would say it's the Apple web developers.

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Yeah, we speak lagging in term of scrolling. When you scroll, the page sutters because the images are so heavy, shouldn't happen, I agree with OP.

headcase · May 11, 2015

sakabaro said:
Lagging on my rMBP 15" mid-2012.

I remember trying the same page on a rMB at an apple store and was disappointed over this.

I don't get why anyone get fired, it seems just someone sucks somewhere at their job. And I would say it's the Apple web developers.

----------

Yeah, we speak lagging in term of scrolling. When you scroll, the page sutters because the images are so heavy, shouldn't happen, I agree with OP.

As this page scrolls fine on my MBA, I'm still thinking its not the fault of the web developers, per se. I just hope its not something applicable to all the rMBs, as that would mean its a matter of us finding a solution (outside of waiting/hoping for a software update to remedy) vs. waiting until the next-gen rMB comes out.

ksmith80209 · May 11, 2015

No lag. Transparency off on a 1.2 rMB.

fatefulwhisper · May 11, 2015

Here's a video of scrolling through the iMac Retina page (Safari): https://vid.me/uo2i

1.2GHz/512, I DO NOT have transparency reduced (I want the full lag experience please).

Started a brand new session of Safari in private mode (cleared cache, etc.), first time, I scrolled down in equal, even amounts (you can see this by looking at the scroll bar on the far right). Scrolled back up normally.

Then I tried scrolling down then up a second time as quickly and as rapidly as I could.

I'm not a good enough judge to determine if it's laggy enough or not. Maybe I'm not scrolling properly either. Someone tell me how to scroll?

bibyfok · May 12, 2015

fatefulwhisper said:
Here's a video of scrolling through the iMac Retina page (Safari): https://vid.me/uo2i

1.2GHz/512, I DO NOT have transparency reduced (I want the full lag experience please).

Started a brand new session of Safari in private mode (cleared cache, etc.), first time, I scrolled down in equal, even amounts (you can see this by looking at the scroll bar on the far right). Scrolled back up normally.

Then I tried scrolling down then up a second time as quickly and as rapidly as I could.

I'm not a good enough judge to determine if it's laggy enough or not. Maybe I'm not scrolling properly either. Someone tell me how to scroll?

I have the same experience, with the same configuration. I voted Laggy

Significant1 · May 12, 2015

fatefulwhisper said:
Here's a video of scrolling through the iMac Retina page (Safari): https://vid.me/uo2i

1.2GHz/512, I DO NOT have transparency reduced (I want the full lag experience please).

Started a brand new session of Safari in private mode (cleared cache, etc.), first time, I scrolled down in equal, even amounts (you can see this by looking at the scroll bar on the far right). Scrolled back up normally.

Then I tried scrolling down then up a second time as quickly and as rapidly as I could.

I'm not a good enough judge to determine if it's laggy enough or not. Maybe I'm not scrolling properly either. Someone tell me how to scroll?

Compared to safari on my 2009 27" iMac (2560x1440) it is laggy, but just as "bad" as Chrome.

In other words, on my iMac, that page is laggy in chrome, but smooooth in Safari..

headcase · May 12, 2015

To keep all things equal, I'm hoping people focus their test on Safari. And given this is a webpage owned by Apple, you'd think it would be optimized to run well on their own browser, for goodness sake.

Either way, still interesting how some folks say its smooth scrolling on their rMB, while others like myself are seeing some real hesitation on the graphics. Either a difference in QC of the units, or some people are less sensitive to the lag. But as I said earlier in the thread, I noticed a difference between units before I returned one, so I'm still thinking its QC related. We shall see.

11fajado · May 12, 2015

loooooool anyone who says that their rMB scrolls admirably on that page is kidding themselves.

Theophil1971 · May 12, 2015

fatefulwhisper said:
Here's a video of scrolling through the iMac Retina page (Safari): https://vid.me/uo2i

1.2GHz/512, I DO NOT have transparency reduced (I want the full lag experience please).

Started a brand new session of Safari in private mode (cleared cache, etc.), first time, I scrolled down in equal, even amounts (you can see this by looking at the scroll bar on the far right). Scrolled back up normally.

Then I tried scrolling down then up a second time as quickly and as rapidly as I could.

I'm not a good enough judge to determine if it's laggy enough or not. Maybe I'm not scrolling properly either. Someone tell me how to scroll?

That's exactly how mine looks scrolling that page. 1.2,512 rMB here. I voted "laggy" on the poll. It's choppy. Not buttery. Doesn't matter too much, as the webpage is still usable and does scroll functionally. But not perfectly beautifully. This is what people mean by "lag" on the rMB. We mean a choppy, stuttering look and feel.
I personally believe all rMBs do it, but not all users notice it. I don't really think that some are buttery, glassy smooth in all scrolling and animations, while others have more objective choppiness. I think it's all completely subjective, with some users being more sensitive to the choppiness than others.

Lag test -- safari browsing on Apple's web page

Does your rMB struggle scrolling this Apple webpage on Safari?

This page scrolls with lag / hesitation on my rMB

The is page scrolls smoothly on my rMB

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