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Macbook air M1 chrome stuttering

S

seeyou

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 13, 2010
28
2
Hello .

I recently bought a macbook air m1 and I'm very happy with it. It works perfectly with one exception: chrome. I downloaded the M1 version and it's fast, doesn't seem to be too hard on the battery, but I have a problem with video playback: youtube, twitch or other, I have regular stuttering , but no drop frames. Do you also see this problem? . everything works with safari .

I am new to the mac world, I love it but I admit I am a bit lost.

everything is up to date

Thank you in advance for your answer
 
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thank you for your answer. I wonder if I missed something or if maybe something with my chrome is not working properly. I don't see where I can start looking for the problem.
 
Make sure you install the M1 version of Chrome. No issue here and works better than Safari.
 
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Here is my version of chrome, I think it's the one for the M1.

Is it maybe because I have 8gb of ram and not 16 on this model?
 

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seeyou said:
Here is my version of chrome, I think it's the one for the M1.

Is it maybe because I have 8gb of ram and not 16 on this model?
Click to expand...

That's the right version. Have no issue playing YouTube and Twitch at the same time with CPU utilization about 11% but I have 16GB RAM. Big Sur is memory hungry so you really want 16GB minimum.
 
Maybe disable all extensions and test how the performance is. If the problem is solved, then enable your extensions one by one and always test before enabling the next extension.
 
mi7chy said:
That's the right version. Have no issue playing YouTube and Twitch at the same time with CPU utilization about 11% but I have 16GB RAM. Big Sur is memory hungry so you really want 16GB minimum.
Click to expand...
Very occasional poster here: interesting point about big sur being memory hungry- I use a 2009 Mac mini still running snow leapord for quite a lot of work - and as long as i don’t try to do too much with it simultaneously - it’s absolutely fine. I’m guessing snow leopard is distinctly not memory hungry by comparison?
 
petvas said:
Maybe disable all extensions and test how the performance is. If the problem is solved, then enable your extensions one by one and always test before enabling the next extension.
Click to expand...
I tried but it doesn't change anything, that said I notice that if I play the video in full screen it works much better than if I am in " theater " mode
 
mi7chy said:
That's the right version. Have no issue playing YouTube and Twitch at the same time with CPU utilization about 11% but I have 16GB RAM. Big Sur is memory hungry so you really want 16GB minimum.
Click to expand...
I only use 5.08 gb of ram with chrome open and a video running in 4k60. I doubt that the 8gb is the problem on my side.
 
seeyou said:
I only use 5.08 gb of ram with chrome open and a video running in 4k60. I doubt that the 8gb is the problem on my side.
Click to expand...

Show a screenshot of your Activity Monitor RAM and CPU usage when playing YouTube and/or Twitch. Besides less RAM I wonder if single-channel memory (8GB) or dual-channel memory (16GB) is also a factor.
 
mi7chy said:
Show a screenshot of your Activity Monitor RAM and CPU usage when playing YouTube and/or Twitch. Besides less RAM I wonder if single-channel memory (8GB) or dual-channel memory (16GB) is also a factor.
Click to expand...
Where did you read 8GB M1 is single channel? It could be 2 GB and still be dual-channel
 
mi7chy said:
Show a screenshot of your Activity Monitor RAM and CPU usage when playing YouTube and/or Twitch. Besides less RAM I wonder if single-channel memory (8GB) or dual-channel memory (16GB) is also a factor.
Click to expand...
Tell me if you want the complete window or if it is enough as references. I am currently watching a video in 4K60 during the screen capture

Btw sorry for the language i'm French :)
 

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Maconplasma said:
Out of curiosity, why are you using Chrome instead of Safari?
Click to expand...
I'm more used to it than to Safari and I must admit that I was curious to know if it worked on mac as well and if I could use it for the many extensions
 
seeyou said:
I'm more used to it than to Safari and I must admit that I was curious to know if it worked on mac as well and if I could use it for the many extensions
Click to expand...
Since you're new to Mac you really should give the native browser a chance first. ALL the extensions on Chrome are available on Big Sur Safari. There's no way Chrome is better on Mac than Safari. Since Big Sur there's no reason to use Chrome instead of Safari due to the extensions. There are so many exclusive features in Safari.
 
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seeyou said:
Tell me if you want the complete window or if it is enough as references. I am currently watching a video in 4K60 during the screen capture

Btw sorry for the language i'm French :)
Click to expand...

CPU utilization looks normal while RAM is nearly maxed out 5.76GB+1.91GB. Can you link the YouTube and Twitch videos?
 
Maconplasma said:
Since you're new to Mac you really should give the native browser a chance first. ALL the extensions on Chrome are available on Big Sur Safari. There's no way Chrome is better on Mac than Safari. Since Big Sur there's no reason to use Chrome instead of Safari due to the extensions. There are so many exclusive features in Safari.
Click to expand...
I will definitely get used to safari which seems to use the 8gb of ram much better than chrome (probably much better optimized which seems normal), thank you for the extensions I did not think I could use so many with safari! . more than 20 years of pc I still have reflexes to take :)
 
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mi7chy said:
CPU utilization looks normal while RAM is nearly maxed out 5.76GB+1.91GB. Can you link the YouTube and Twitch videos?
Click to expand...
I allow myself a question, I notice that the "cache memory" does not cease to increase and seems not to be emptied is this normal for mac? I end up reaching the 8gb inevitably what is undoubtedly at the origin of stuttering. If I watch the same video in 1080p60 instead of 4K60 it seems more fluid almost perfect only a few stuttering. Strangely this video
is more fluid or even perfect in 4k60 while it is HDR.
 
I'm not sure what to do about it. Safari works perfectly but chrome has regular micro stuttering which spoils the video for me. Maybe I'm more sensitive to it maybe my macbook has more trouble with 8gb I don't know but I think I couldn't solve the problem other than with safari .
 
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