Google has announced several changes to its Chrome web browser that may increase battery life on MacBooks. They've optimized memory compression and JavaScript timers so MacBook users can now browse the web through Chrome and watch YouTube videos longer.
They have been carried out with tests carried out on a MacBook Pro 13 with a SoC M2 2022. They achieved 17 hours of web browsing and 18 hours of video playback on YouTube.
Chrome now consumes less battery, especially on MacBooks
Google did not provide figures on the battery life of the device before this update, so a direct comparison between before and after the changes could not be made. The Verge protal managed to drain the battery of the same MacBook in 16 hours and 30 minutes running various daily tasks. Some Google performance tests were done with Chrome version 110.0.5481.100, and they claim that the new power optimizations will also benefit older MacBook hardware. François Doray, Chrome software developer, has confirmed that these optimizations will also apply to Windows devices, Linux, and Android in upcoming versions of Chrome, so it won't be a one-time change for iOS users.
This has been achieved by tuning the garbage collection and memory compression of newly created iframes, so that reduce power consumption without affecting long-term memory usage. JavaScript timers have been tuned to wake up a device's CPU less frequently, thus completely removing stale timers. Lastly, Chrome now ignores unnecessary styling, layout, painting, raster, and GPU steps on websites, with a similar update applied to Chrome's UI as well. The idea is that most of these changes are not noticed by the user, beyond the battery.
Google also released a new power-saving mode for Chrome earlier this month that limits any unnecessary background activity, such as visual effects or smooth scrolling in animations or videos. This mode reported to give users 30 additional minutes of sailing time on the same MacBook Pro 13. It should be said that the additional time can vary, and depends on a lot of factors, among which is the age of the battery.
Source: The Verge
