Most Power Efficient Web Browser

[captainamerica]

Hello,

Ever since browsers have adopted gpu acceleration, I have noticed that my battery life while browsing the internet has been cut in half. My MBP automatically switches between an integrated intel chip and an nvidia 330m.

Back before browsers had graphics acceleration, the integrated intel chip would handle rendering the display while browsing the internet. Now, with GPU acceleration, my laptop activates the 330m, even whilst on battery, when I open up a modern browser, such as the latest chrome or firefox.

My battery is in excellent condition and still holds 99% of it's original full capacity charge, so it's not an issue with my battery.

So, which browser available today is the most power efficient for battery use? I have temporarily reverted back to Firefox 3.6 since it doesn't have gpu acceleration, and my battery life is back to normal. Are there any other alternatives to Firefox I may have overlooked?

 

[GGJstudios]

Hello,

Ever since browsers have adopted gpu acceleration, I have noticed that my battery life while browsing the internet has been cut in half. My MBP automatically switches between an integrated intel chip and an nvidia 330m.

If you're using a MacBook Pro with both integrated and discrete graphics cards, you can install gfxCardStatus to manually select your integrated GPU, which will help reduce power demands and give you more life on a battery charge.

This should answer most, if not all, of your battery questions:

Apple Notebook Battery FAQ​

 

[Manacit]

Use gfxcardstatus and force intel, problem solved!

Sent from my Nexus One using Tapatalk

 

[Philflow]

Then set Firefox cache to RAM and save even more power.

 

[jkpark78]

Mid 2010 15" macbook pro here. I have used safari, chrome, and firefox. For chrome and firefox, I had to use the gfxcardstatus to force intel. Then i used the istat pro to monitor the amperage of power it's draining while doing my normal daily routine.

Best battery life IMHO:
1) Safari - rarely see it higher drain than 1200-1300mA - even at default gfxcardstatus mode, it doesn't switch over to nvidia - even more powersaving if you have "clicktoflash" enabled.

2 and 3) firefox and chrome - even forcing it at intel setting, still getting more power drainage: 1400-1600mA - figure about 30 minutes of run time lost compared to safari.

I used to dislike safari for their tab behavior compared to chrome, but since 5.1 on OSX Lion, they fixed lot of little annoyances.. So i'm back to safari.