Did Google Chrome really improve battery life on Apple Silicon?

[bearinthetown]

I heard there was an update of Google Chrome that fixes the battery drain on Apple Silicon MacBooks. Can someone confirm it? There are many articles about it, but I couldn't find the info if the battery life gain comes from the Energy Saver mode or is it a general improvement. Does anybody know and could confirm on Apple Silicon MacBooks, comparing Chrome to Safari?

I switched to Safari because of this on my Intel MacBook, but I don't like using Safari on mac to be honest. It feels less reliable than Google Chrome, but it's not the main reason. Most importantly, the dev tools in Chrome are much better and as a web developer I use them a lot.

 

[antiprotest]

It is available on my Chromebook, but it's not enabled on my M chip Mac yet.

If you want you can try it here:

chrome://flags/#battery-saver-mode-available

Gripe: Tech articles often refer to upcoming features and products as if they are available TODAY when they are only ANNOUNCED today. "Apple LAUNCHES iPhone 14" -- when they are only ANNOUNCED in the summer, set to be available in the fall. "Tesla RELEASES flying cars" -- when perhaps they only announced the INTENTION of researching flying cars for 30 years later.

 

[h.gilbert]

I'm still using Chrome on my 2016 base spec 13" MBP. I noticed last year it was a real battery hog, especially youtube. Even with just Chrome open with one youtube video, the video would take ages to open up in full screen mode and the device would regularly get into the 70 degC region just playing 1080p. However something changed a few months ago, some update or whatever, and now it's much better. Performs basically the same as Firefox and Edge now.

 

[Capeto]

I use Chrome for my work MBA (M1 base model) and I enabled the battery saving features @antiprotest mentioned a couple of weeks ago. Battery life definitely seems to be better (I don't have any concrete data to back this up), but scrolling through sites on Chrome is noticeably much more "jittery"– not laggy or slow, just not smooth.

Bear in mind I also have Low Power Mode enabled on it whenever I'm on battery power.

 

[Citizen45]

I use Chrome for my work MBA (M1 base model) and I enabled the battery saving features @antiprotest mentioned a couple of weeks ago. Battery life definitely seems to be better (I don't have any concrete data to back this up), but scrolling through sites on Chrome is noticeably much more "jittery"– not laggy or slow, just not smooth.

Bear in mind I also have Low Power Mode enabled on it whenever I'm on battery power.

The energy saver mode specifically disables “smooth scrolling” (among other things) so you’re not imagining things.

 

[Capeto]

The energy saver mode specifically disables “smooth scrolling” (among other things) so you’re not imagining things.

Yeah, I figured it was due to the energy saving features.