Under what’s seen as normal and lightweight web browsing, it now seems that Google Chrome utilizes about 10x more when it comes to RAM compared to Safari on the macOS Big Sur. This is according to a test that was conducted by the Flotato creator known as Morten Just.

The conducted test, again, comes from Morten Just, creator of Flotato, according to iMore. In a recent blog post, Just has recently outlined that he put both of the browsers to the test in just two scenarios on the macOS’ latest version. The initial test was started on a certain virtual machine, and the second happened on a 2019 16-inch Apple MacBook Pro along with 32GB of RAM.

Which is better Safari or Google Chrome?

In the testings initial rounds, Just simulated a normal browser pattern of first opening up Twitter, trying to scroll around, then opening up a brand new tab with Gmail and proceeding to compose an email. Under the said test, Just had found that Google Chrome particularly uses over 24x RAM per tab in comparison to Safari!

According to the story by MacRumors, with over 54 tabs open, it was found that Chrome actually uses 24x the RAM that Safari does. Both of the browsers, according to Just, were still free of any type of extensions, and this particularly specific test was also conducted on his reported MacBook Pro instead of a virtual machine. His findings then showed that Chrome chunked away 290MB of RAM on a single tab, while Safari only utilized 12MB of RAM every tab.

Is Safari slower than Chrome?

While the particular results are stark, Just actually does say that Google Chrome is most likely going out of its own way in order to manage its memory usage across different tabs. It was noted that this was done in efforts to be able to keep the current tab both “fast and responsive.” In his said tests, Just finds out that his very own application known as Flotato, a particularly lightweight alternative to Chrome that actually creates apps that are based on webpages, just used significantly less RAM than both Chrome and Safari.

With the macOS Big Sur, Safari has received some significant updates that have seen it further outpace the famed Google Chrome. Apple then notes that Safari over on the macOS Big Sur runs 50% faster on average while loading some frequently visited websites compared to Chrome.

TechVisibility Viewpoint

For those stuck on low RAM PCs, it might be time to think about upgrading your unit to say a 16GB unit that also runs on SSD to make things a bit faster. However, for those that would rather choose Apple, the M1 MacBook Pro could be a better choice since it maximizes the 8GB RAM that it has.

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