Google has made significant under-the-hood improvements to Chrome on MacBooks, which is aimed at providing better performance and extending battery life for users. The improvements include tweaking timers to reduce how often the CPU wakes up and fine-tuning memory compression. While a bit technical, all you need to know if you own a MacBook Pro 13-inch, M2, 2022 model running macOS Ventura which Google is claiming is that you can browse for up to 17 hours on a single charge with this update!
According to a recent blog post on the Keyword, these changes have resulted in significant improvements in battery life for the device tested (specified above). You could even watch up to 18 hours of YouTube on a single charge if that’s all you’re doing.
Google states that these improvements should also extend to older hardware, though it didn’t specify which devices. It’s important to note that this claim was made specifically regarding the M2 device running the specifications discussed. Battery tests are not usually indicative of real-world usage, but these updates are still a significant improvement to the browsing experience on Macbooks, where battery life has often been a concern.
In addition to these improvements, Google recently released Energy Saver and Memory Saver modes in the browser to further increase battery life and RAM. These modes can be accessed by clicking the three-dot menu in the top right corner of Chrome and selecting “Settings” > “Advanced” > “System.” Energy Saver mode reduces power consumption by pausing background tabs, disabling animations, and throttling JavaScript timers, while Memory Saver mode reduces memory usage by compressing images and automatically unloading tabs that have been dormant for a little while.
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