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How to fix Google Chrome "scrolling lag" problem on MacBook Pro with Retina Display

dbyway

dbyway

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 26, 2012
87
0
Utah
So with all the fuss recently about Java being dangerous on your computer right now, I disabled Java on my computer and the lag has completely gone away! It's such a better experience now.

To disable Java in Chrome type "chrome://plugins" into your address bar. This will open a new tab. Find the item on the list that reads "Java" and click below it where it says "Disable" in blue. After that you should restart Chrome.
 
duervo

duervo

macrumors 68020
Feb 5, 2011
2,475
1,246
All software is prone to bugs at one point or another. For example, last summer, the current Chrome version out at that time caused kernel panics in OS X. I'd personally rather deal with some scroll lag in my web browser, instead of worrying about if my system is going to crash.
 
N

noiseordinance

macrumors regular
Sep 12, 2012
249
8
Krauser said:
Use WebKit.

You're welcome.
Click to expand...

The issues I'm reporting are not related to scroll lag in Safari. In fact, I've never had scroll lag in Safari. My issues with Safari can be seen in photos here https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4145775?start=90&tstart=0 and https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4145775?start=75&tstart=0 (scroll down the page a bit).

There are some nasty CSS / other bugs in Safari for retina users that break websites across the board. The issues occur right out of the box for a few retina laptops I've used. They are temporarily resolved by reseting Safari, but return within an hour's usage. They are NOT resolved by using the Webkit.

The solution? Use Chrome, and deal with the Chrome scroll lag until a) Apple gets its act together, or b) Google fixes the scroll lag in Chrome. Either way, it's a frustrating situation.

You're welcome.
 
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K

Krauser

macrumors regular
Jan 19, 2009
185
0
M5RahuL said:
That's true, but we're talking about this : http://nightly.webkit.org/
Click to expand...
Precisely. Running the nightly builds of safari WebKit have solved all my scrolling issues, most notably on image heavy sites like the verge and Facebook's feed. That said, I've also never had the java issues you've mentioned running WebKit like you've noticed in chrome. This is a huge shame because chrome is by far my favorite browser but its nice to know that a fix shouldn't be that difficult as it is clearly an optimization issue.
 
nontroppo

nontroppo

macrumors 6502
Mar 11, 2009
430
22
Why not use the nightly build of Chrome -- Chromium[1]. Both Webkit nightly and Chromium both fold in fixes into the core renderer as they're made (i.e. lots of fixes in webkit also are in chromium). See the header here:

http://build.webkit.org/console

Do note that although the HTML rendering engine is the same, the graphical sub-system, the javascript engine, sandbox, plugin interface and several other core parts of the browser is different between (safari|webkit) & (chrome|chromium)

----
[1] I use the following script to keep me updated with the newest nightly automagically: https://github.com/iandol/dotfiles/blob/master/bin/getchromium
 
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K

Krauser

macrumors regular
Jan 19, 2009
185
0
nontroppo said:
Why not use the nightly build of Chrome -- Chromium[1]. Both Webkit nightly and Chromium both fold in fixes into the core renderer as they're made (i.e. lots of fixes in webkit also are in chromium). See the header here:

http://build.webkit.org/console

Do note that although the HTML rendering engine is the same, the graphical sub-system, the javascript engine, sandbox, plugin interface and several other core parts of the browser is different between (safari|webkit) & (chrome|chromium)

----
[1] I use the following script to keep me updated with the newest nightly automagically: https://github.com/iandol/dotfiles/blob/master/bin/getchromium
Click to expand...
I don't have my rMBP anymore (it had problems and I returned it for a refund and have yet to buy a new machine. Will probably wait for Haswell and let my current 08 model continue to chug along :p ), but all I had the chance to use was the WebKit build for Safari. I don't know if Chromium would be any better and I can't really test that because I don't have my machine anymore, but it's worth a shot, especially if it lets you use a stable and quick version of Chrome as opposed to Safari.
 
N

noiseordinance

macrumors regular
Sep 12, 2012
249
8
Tested Chromium, just as slow as Chrome. Noticing slight speed improvement in Chrome Canary, however. This might have to be my go-to until Apple figures out how to make Safari usable on retina machines, at least for the 15" models.
 
K

Krauser

macrumors regular
Jan 19, 2009
185
0
noiseordinance said:
Tested Chromium, just as slow as Chrome. Noticing slight speed improvement in Chrome Canary, however. This might have to be my go-to until Apple figures out how to make Safari usable on retina machines, at least for the 15" models.
Click to expand...
You'd be better off just using the nightly builds of this. Don't bother with Chrome Canary right now as WebKit has been providing the best performance experience, at least as of right now and to my knowledge.

http://www.webkit.org/
 
N

noiseordinance

macrumors regular
Sep 12, 2012
249
8
Krauser said:
You'd be better off just using the nightly builds of this. Don't bother with Chrome Canary right now as WebKit has been providing the best performance experience, at least as of right now and to my knowledge.

http://www.webkit.org/
Click to expand...

Safari and Webkit are riddled with major issues for retina users. I will stick with Chrome, or Canary (as Canary seems to be slightly faster for me than Chrome). Safari and Webkit are both currently garbage for my casual internet browsing needs.
 
K

KevinMHC

macrumors member
Nov 5, 2012
66
65
I'm using firefox and so far its the smoothest out of the all the released browsers version. Other than the webkit ofcourse.
 
T

tivoboy

macrumors 601
May 15, 2005
4,041
842
Honestly, the only thing that worked for me was disabling the spring loading scrolling in accessibility/mouse-trackpad. Now, we're back to smooth as butta'
 
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