Google has made the efficiency improvements it has made with Chrome 89, the latest version of its browser, which was released earlier this month. Depending on whether you use the browser on Windows, macOS or Android, Google says that the browser should use fewer resources, start faster, and respond more to usage. There is no question of improvements specifically for users on iOS.
The exact benefits vary according to the operating system. Across platforms, Google says Chrome is able to recover as much as 100MiB (or more than 20 percent on some sites) by using foreground memory more efficiently, and on MacOS it saves up to 8 percent of its memory usage , based on how it handles the background. tabs (something Chrome already does on other platforms). Google says that these improvements on macOS have boosted the browser’s energy impact rating by as much as 65 percent, “to keep your Mac cooler and its fans quiet.”
On Windows and Android, the browser also uses a more advanced memory allocator in more areas to further reduce memory consumption and increase the browser’s response. On Windows, Google says that they see ‘significant memory’ savings of up to 22 percent in the ‘browser process’, 8 percent in the version, 3 percent in the GPU, and that the overall response to the browser is improved by up to 9 percent.
There are also a number of improvements specifically for Android, which, according to Google, lead to 5 percent less memory consumption, fewer crashes, 7.5 percent faster startup, 2 percent faster page loads, and 13 percent faster startup. High-quality Android devices running on Android 10 and later with at least 8GB of RAM should also load pages 8.5 percent faster and 28 percent smoother to use.
Google has made similar promises over previous Chrome releases. For example, Chrome 87, released late last year, was said to be “the biggest gain in Chrome performance in years”. Performance improvements under the hood have been said to improve everything from CPU usage, power efficiency and startup times.