Google today announced that Chrome 99 is faster than Safari on Mac. The new browser is reportedly up to three times faster on some tasks, like loading web pages and scrolling through pages. “Chrome has always been a fast browser, but with Chrome 99 we’ve made it even faster,” said Google software engineer François Beaufort in a blog post. “We’ve also made it easier to use, with features like tabbed browsing and an improved search experience.” Safari has long been the default browser for Macs, but Chrome has been gaining ground in recent years. According to StatCounter, Chrome now accounts for about 25 percent of all web traffic on Macs. ..
Google released Chrome 99 recently, and while it’s not the most significant update the company has ever released, it does make some substantial speed improvements on Mac and Android, according to Google.
“We’re excited to announce that in M99, Chrome on Mac has achieved the highest score to date of any browser — 300 — in Apple’s Speedometer browser responsiveness benchmark,” said Google in a blog post.
Using Apple’s benchmarking test, Google claims that Chrome is 7% faster than current builds of Safari, which doesn’t sound like much, but when you’re trying to get things done, any speed improvement can make a huge difference. Additionally, Google said its tests found that Chrome’s graphics performance is 15% faster than Safari on Mac.
Finally, Google touted the speed gains Chrome has made over time. It said, “Chrome is now 43% faster than it was just 17 months ago.” That’s a sizable improvement and one that could get even better as more time goes on.
On Android, Google said, “Loading a page now takes 15% less time, thanks to prioritizing critical navigation moments on the browser user interface thread.”
As far as overall speed is concerned, Google said, “We know that benchmarks are just one of many ways of measuring the speed of a browser. At the end of the day, what matters most is that Chrome is actually faster and more efficient in everyday usage, so we’ll continue to invest in innovative performance improvements that push the envelope of what’s possible in modern computing.”
