Between Safari and Chrome on Mac, Safari is the clear winner. Here’s why you should avoid using Google Chrome on Mac. Discover Safari or Chrome for Mac: 9 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Use Chrome
The overwhelming popularity of Google Chrome on macOS is quite a feat for a non-default browser, but it makes sense. In its early days, Chrome had a reputation for being light and fast. It was better than Safari and Firefox, people said. It may have been true then, but it isn’t anymore.
In fact, Safari beats Chrome on Mac because it saves more power, protects your privacy better, and works seamlessly with the Apple ecosystem. Here are all the reasons why you should avoid using Google Chrome on your Mac.
Safari or Chrome for Mac: 9 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Use Chrome
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1. Chrome consumes more power than Safari
On a MacBook, you can click the battery icon in the menu bar to see which apps are using a significant amount of power. If you have Chrome running, it will often appear here.
Chrome is notorious for hogging RAM and draining battery life on laptops. This issue is especially prominent when comparing Chrome to Safari, which is optimized to run efficiently on Mac hardware.
Google has been working on this issue and has made significant progress (in some of our tests, Chrome performed better than Safari), but most of the time you’ll get better Mac performance with Safari.
And you don’t have to take my word for it: open the activity tracker on your Mac, then go to the section CPUs , Memory either Energy . Open some tabs in Chrome and the same in another browser; Chrome will almost always use more power for the same job.
2. Chrome works your way
Unlike Safari, many of Chrome’s features are rooted in ChromeOS, unlike macOS. This leads to a less than ideal experience on a Mac because it means Chrome works differently than other macOS apps.
For example, most Mac apps close instantly when you press Cmd + Q ; Chrome, by default, makes you hold down the combo for a few seconds before it closes (although you can disable that feature). Similarly, most Mac applications have their own preferences window; Chrome uses a website in a tab for that.
Chrome is also slower to catch up with new macOS features than Safari. For example, macOS Mojave introduced dark mode in September 2018, which Safari supported from the start. But Chrome didn’t honor this feature until March 2019, half a year later.
The old notification system was also a mess. Chrome used its own notification settings that didn’t integrate with Notification Center on a Mac. Thankfully, this isn’t the case anymore, but it was a huge pain for far too long.
Obviously, it’s not ideal to force a user to learn a completely separate workflow and user interface when they’re already used to it. Safari uses the same buttons and symbols as the rest of macOS, leading to a smoother experience.
3. Chrome extensions come at a price
Admittedly, in the Chrome vs. Safari head-to-head matchup, Chrome is the clear winner when it comes to extensions. Still, such a large extension library comes at a price.
Extensions can present privacy issues as many of them need extensive access to your browsing. Although there aren’t as many extensions to choose from with Safari, rest assured that what’s available has been scrutinized more closely than what you’ll find for Google Chrome.
And Safari has a lot of great extensions anyway. Sure, there aren’t as many as you get with Google Chrome, but what’s available covers all the major features you’d need.
4. Google is watching you
While the interests of Google and Apple may appear to overlap, the companies are structured quite differently. Google’s revenue is mostly based on ads, which means that as a user, you’re not really the customer, you’re the product. Google only makes money if it can somehow acquire information about you to sell.
While you can tweak Chrome to protect your privacy to some extent, you’ll never be completely safe with a company whose business model is based on getting your data.
If that sounds Orwellian to you, Chrome on Mac probably isn’t for you.
5. Apple looks at you less
Rather, Apple’s business model is based on selling you, the user, its hardware. Apple software is often free and only valuable to the extent that it makes Apple hardware more attractive to the customer. The company has a more direct incentive to offer you a browser that works well with other Apple products.
As a sign of this good faith, Apple introduced a comprehensive set of privacy protection measures in macOS Mojave. Intelligent Tracking Prevention 2 (ITP 2) is an update to a feature introduced in High Sierra that tries to combat cross-site tracking, making it harder for websites to follow you around the web. It also tries to remove fingerprints, making it difficult for websites to identify you in the future.
You can also view a Privacy Report from the Safari toolbar that shows you which apps have tried to track you the most and which trackers they’re trying to use.
6. No support for Chrome under Yosemite
Chrome system requirements remove any Mac running macOS Yosemite or earlier. Sure, you can upgrade your Mac for free, but many people don’t want to or can’t upgrade for a variety of reasons. This includes people on older computers that aren’t compatible with the latest version of macOS.
Safari, on the other hand, is available for any version of macOS because it’s built into the operating system. Sure, you may not get all the latest features, but Apple is still offering security updates for several years and you’ll still get all the basic features of a browser no matter how old your operating system is.
7. Safari is really good
For a long time, the collective response to the points above was “Sure, but no browser is better than Chrome.” However, recent versions of Safari are faster and more elegant than Chrome.
Seriously, if you haven’t tried this browser in a while, you don’t know what you’re missing. Even the extension ecosystem has come a long way; the most common tools are already waiting for you. It will be an adjustment, but you will never look back. Try some essential Safari tips and tricks to reacquaint yourself.
Safari regularly outperforms Chrome in Jetstream browser speed tests and now offers many features that used to be reserved for Chrome users: website translation, tab groups, and weather updates right from the search bar.
8. Reading modeyouura from safari is great
Have you ever tried to read an article, but couldn’t get past the ads? Safari Reader mode removes all bad formatting, extraneous fonts, and ad display pages to deliver what you’re looking for: pure, optimized text. Images, videos, and links are included, all in an easy-to-read format. You can adjust the font size, background color, and even download articles for offline reading.
Google offers a similar experimental feature, but since removing ads would cut into Google’s profit margins, it’s unlikely we’ll see the full feature in Chrome any time soon.
9. Safari integrates better with the Apple ecosystem
If you’re all-in on Apple’s platform, Safari is easily the best option. All the little things just fit together better: your passwords, for example, are managed by Apple’s system-wide tool and synced using iCloud. The same goes for your bookmarks. Continuity with iOS also only works with Safari.
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If you’re using an iPhone or iPad, Handoff lets you go to a site in Safari on your mobile device, grab your Mac, and immediately go to the same site.
These may seem like minor additions, but they add up to a powerful experience that makes using your various devices that much more enjoyable.
Although the Chrome vs. Safari debate includes the two heavyweights of the Mac browser battle, there are other options to consider as well. If you don’t like both browsers, you can always check out our list of the best alternative browsers for Mac users. Why not check out some of Opera’s coolest features and give a lesser-known browser a try?
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