How is Chrome on the M series macs?

[DavidChoux]

Before I get the inevitable "why are you using Chrome?" I'd like to say I have to because of work.

On my 2016 13" MBP it likes to make the CPU work hard. TBH that's mostly that's because of Youtube. One video is fine, but open another and it can go up to 80C and the battery obviously suffers. If I don't use youtube, like now, no issues, 44C, fans off and good battery life. How are the new macs in this regard? Is Chrome still a battery hog?

Thanks.

 

[Sheepish-Lord]

I think Chrome works great on Apple silicon and in some use cases utilizes less resources than Safari. Safari is still overall faster if you compare them without any extensions, etc but I use Chrome for the extensions.

 

[rmgbenschop]

Yeah Chrome works great on Apple silicon.
It is fast and not a big power consumer.

Compared to Safari it does use more resources and thus more energy but the difference is smaller than with earlier versions of Chrome.

 

[Citizen45]

The Silicon version of Chrome runs beautifully.

Safari may be slightly faster but Chrome is my preferred browser due to all the extensions.

In comparison to my 2021 i7 XPS 13, Chrome runs noticeably faster.

 

[evertjr]

its a memory rog but it runs fast and smooth. I need it for work so I use an extension called auto tab discard to discard unused tabs and release ram for other apps.

 

[DavidChoux]

Thanks everyone! Good to know.

 

[MacCheetah3]

Seems fine. I have not paid close attention on resources or comparisons. However, while playing three YouTube videos concurrently:


Only a couple of additional extensions. Latest versions: Chrome 103.0.5060.114 (arm64), macOS 12.4 (21F79).

My guess, Safari’s high power usage is due to having 11 MR forums tabs open. 😉😆

 

[jenelemond]

Without any doubt, I also work on it! works so fast to me! There are many options out there, even for those who are trapped in Google's ecosystem.

 

[mi7chy]

Chrome is probably the best piece of software on my M1 MBA. Make sure to add extensions like uBlock Origin, Twitch Purple Ads Blocker, etc.

 

[livmatus]

Well for me Chrome was abusing the SSD when watching YouTube or any other streaming service.

So I migrated to Safari also to be able to use Apple Pay and fully fall into "the ecosystem" ... I got used to it but it freezes from time to time ... especially when watching Youtube

 

[jav6454]

I have used it for work and it is on par with Safari and at times more responsive on certain tasks.

 

[southerndoc]

It's very fast for me. I don't use Safari so I can't comment on if it's faster than Safari, uses more resources, etc. However, I can say I'm extremely happy with it. I can do things with Chrome that I can't do with Safari. Mainly, I have a business/work profile and a personal profile to separate bookmarks and other things. LastPass also has two different accounts to store passwords separately.

The only thing that doesn't work with Chrome is SMS text codes autopopulating and ApplePay.

 

[ceevee]

How is the battery usage on Apple Silicon for Chrome vs Safari?

 

[southerndoc]

How is the battery usage on Apple Silicon for Chrome vs Safari?

I don't use Safari, but my M1 MBA lasts for >10 hours using Chrome. I didn't charge it last night after using it for about 3 hours. Have used it for about 4-5 hours today. Battery is at 55%. Also running Outlook, Mail, Teams, Banktivity, Messages, and Discord at the same time.