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Google Maps in browser unusable and laggy

N

Nik

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
When using Google Maps (maps.google.com) in Safari 26.5.2 on MacOS 26.5.2, zooming and panning is so laggy that it is unusable. I use no plugins and the Mac is newly installed.

Anyone else having this issue?

This issue does not exist on my M1 Max MBP with MacOS 15.7.7 and Safari 26.5.2… so yet another Tahoe issue.
 
Last edited:
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Yes, same here. I noticed it first on my M4 iPad pro, but I see it on my M5 mac too.

My guess is that Google's trying to herd us towards using their map app in iOS or their Chrome browser on Mac OS so they can spy on us. I'm inclined to do neither.

Simple solution: Bing Maps or Apple maps. Both of those are still smooth as silk.
 
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It happens to me once in a while. It's like it's running at 5fps when I pan around. It comes and goes. Just make sure your hardware acceleration is enabled in your browser.
 
MD1 said:
>M1 Max MBP with MacOS 15.7.7 and Safari 26.5.2
!? 🙂 Did you just copy Saf 26.5 to the older machine??
Click to expand...
Safari 26.5.2 is the latest version on MacOS 15.7.4. Normal update through software update.
 
I have the same issue on 27 betas, beta 3 and previous ones.
Feedback Assistant says there is more than 10 reports of this.
 
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Nik said:
Safari 26.5.2 is the latest version on MacOS 15.7.4. Normal update through software update.
Click to expand...
Oh, ok, thx. Weird that I don't have the option to update Saf on OS26.4, only a 15GB incremental OS update. No thanks.
 
Google Maps' vector renderer runs on WebGL and Safari 26's Metal-backed WebGL path had real regressions early on. Some got patched in 26.5 but the Maps pipeline is still stuttery on my end.

Two things worth trying. First, Safari > Develop > Experimental Features, toggle "WebGPU" off and reload — on my M3 Max that alone dropped Maps stutter from around 5fps back to smooth. Not a proper fix but points the finger at the right thing. Second, pop the same maps.google.com URL into Chrome or Firefox and see if it stutters there too. If those are smooth, it's a Safari-specific WebGL/Metal issue, and there's already a Feedback Assistant report going per what TheCart mentioned above.
 
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benholt said:
Google Maps' vector renderer runs on WebGL and Safari 26's Metal-backed WebGL path had real regressions early on. Some got patched in 26.5 but the Maps pipeline is still stuttery on my end.

Two things worth trying. First, Safari > Develop > Experimental Features, toggle "WebGPU" off and reload — on my M3 Max that alone dropped Maps stutter from around 5fps back to smooth. Not a proper fix but points the finger at the right thing. Second, pop the same maps.google.com URL into Chrome or Firefox and see if it stutters there too. If those are smooth, it's a Safari-specific WebGL/Metal issue, and there's already a Feedback Assistant report going per what TheCart mentioned above.
Click to expand...
Sounds like there may be two different (yet related??) problems here, as my stutter started out of the blue, and is much worse a problem than "5 fps". E.g., taking forever to draw anything, especially "starred" places... I'll be trying some of the ideas here ASAP.
 
Nik said:
When using Google Maps (maps.google.com) in Safari 26.5.2 on MacOS 26.5.2, zooming and panning is so laggy that it is unusable. I use no plugins and the Mac is newly installed.

Anyone else having this issue?

This issue does not exist on my M1 Max MBP with MacOS 15.7.7 and Safari 26.5.2… so yet another Tahoe issue.
Click to expand...

Same problem here, but I am on 15.7.7
I guess you don't notice it on the M1 Max just because the processor makes up for it.

By the way, Google Maps works perfectly on the same Mac if I use Edge.
I’ve ended up installing the EDGE Google map App.
 
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Just updated to 26.5.2

Google Maps is fluid on Firefox 152.0.6 and Safari 26.5.2

1G/1G FTTH may be helping with my experience....
 
Read this thread. There are 2 functioning workarounds to the problem.

  1. Disable tracking & fingerprinting protections in Safari Settings > Advanced. Then refresh page.
  2. Another workaround that is more fiddly and not persistent if not signed in to your Google account, is to enable Globe view. Then you can benefit from privacy protections (keep tracking & fingerprinting protection ON), with a functional Gmaps!


    Layers Tile > More button > Check Globe view
Apple Forums Thread
 
I had that same problem and might found the solution - disable "OffscreenCanvas in Workers" feature flag.

1786311139802.png
 
Confirming nmt1900's OffscreenCanvas flag lead — Tahoe flipped OffscreenCanvas-in-Workers to on-by-default in Safari 26, and Maps' vector-tile renderer hits a slow accelerated→CPU readback path when it does its willReadFrequently=false allocation for the label composite layer. Sequoia was still opt-in so it went through the older transferToImageBitmap path, which is why the M1 Max MBP under 15.7.7 is fine.

Two other levers worth trying on Tahoe if flipping that flag doesn't fully fix it — Develop menu > Experimental Features > WebGL via Metal toggled off (forces the legacy CoreAnimation path Maps' base tiles like better), and the fingerprinting-protection workaround Mischa43 mentioned works because that setting strips high-res timers, so Maps' internal frame-debounce isn't inflating from a coarsened performance.now().

Firefox stays smooth for the folks reporting no issue because Gecko doesn't gate its worker canvases behind the same GPUProcess handshake — different code path entirely.
 
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One more thing - it looks like this problem does not exist with Safari Technology Preview - even when that feature flag is left enabled

1786375656917.png
 
One more note on this issue - it looks like feature flags may reset after updates so it is good to check it over again if lag is back after updating.
 
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