Google Chrome sees up to 2x performance boost on Apple silicon

Chrome Download
Chrome Download (Image credit: Google)

What you need to know

  • Google Chrome with native Apple silicon support is now available.
  • Benchmarks are showing upwards of 2x performance boosts compared to the x86 version.

Reported by Ars Technica, Google has released a version of Chrome that natively supports Apple silicon and, according to benchmarks, achieves impressive speeds compared to the translated version running through Rosetta 2.

When Apple originally released its new M1 MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and Mac mini, Google Chrome did not natively support the new M1 processor and ran through Rosetta 2, Apple's translation software, in order to operate on the new Macs. While many have said even this version ran quite smoothly on the new Macs, the new Apple silicon-supported version of Chrome absolutely smokes it.

Ars Technica ran the Speedometer speed test and found that the Apple Silicon version of Chrome received an almost 2x performance boost when compared to the x86 version running through Rosetta 2.

The first benchmark ... Speedometer, is the most prosaic—the only thing it does is populate lists of menu items, over and over, using a different Web-application framework each time. This is probably the most relevant benchmark of the three for "regular webpage," if such a thing exists. Speedometer shows a massive advantage for M1 silicon running natively, whether Safari or Chrome; Chrome x86_64 run through Rosetta2 is inconsequentially slower than Chrome running on a brand-new HP EliteBook with Ryzen 7 Pro 4750U CPU.

Ars Technica Chrome Apple Silicon Speedometer Benchmark

Ars Technica Chrome Apple Silicon Speedometer Benchmark (Image credit: Ars Technica)

For some, Chrome updated to the Apple silicon version automatically. However, if Chrome has not updated to the Apple silicon version, you can download it from the Google Chrome website. To check out all of the benchmarks run by Ars Technica, check out the rest of their report.

Joe Wituschek
Contributor

Joe Wituschek is a Contributor at iMore. With over ten years in the technology industry, one of them being at Apple, Joe now covers the company for the website. In addition to covering breaking news, Joe also writes editorials and reviews for a range of products. He fell in love with Apple products when he got an iPod nano for Christmas almost twenty years ago. Despite being considered a "heavy" user, he has always preferred the consumer-focused products like the MacBook Air, iPad mini, and iPhone 13 mini. He will fight to the death to keep a mini iPhone in the lineup. In his free time, Joe enjoys video games, movies, photography, running, and basically everything outdoors.

Latest in Apple
iMore Logo
One more thing… Goodbye from iMore
Apple Logo behind a waterfall
Apple loses $14bn Irish tax case against the EU
Apple Glowtime iPhone 16 event
How to re-watch Apple's iPhone 16, Apple Watch Series 10, and AirPods 4 event
Glowtime 2024
Every Apple product discontinued after the iPhone 16 event
Apple Glowtime iPhone 16 event
Listen to all of the music from Apple's 'It's Glowtime' September event
Apple logo with US dollar bills
Apple could get a major fine the day after the iPhone 16 reveal event
Latest in News
iMore Logo
One more thing… Goodbye from iMore
Jony Ive
Jony Ive’s OpenAI hardware device could be his next world-changing design
NEBULA Cosmos 4K SE with Apple TV
This new 4K projector is tempting me to replace my LG C2 TV, just so I can watch Slow Horses on a 200-inch display
VisionOS 2 app reorganization
visionOS 2 is the first major software update for Apple Vision Pro, and now it's available
macOS Sequoia
macOS Sequoia (version 15) is now available for your Mac with some big upgrades
watchOS 11
watchOS 11 is now rolling out to all Apple Watch users with the Series 6 or newer