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Indeed, I use Safari because it seems neither Firefox nor Chrome are optimized at all for battery usage. Chrome is a huge power hog. I wonder if it's the same

Indeed, I use Safari because it seems neither Firefox nor Chrome are optimized at all for battery usage. Chrome is a huge power hog. I wonder if it's the same on the Windows side; has Microsoft optimized IE (or the new browser, whatever it's called) for power usage?

allcentury 11y ago
If I'm traveling I also use Safari but prefer Chrome when doing web dev.
freehunter 11y ago
That's why I use Safari as well. The difference in power usage is enormous between Safari and Firefox. I have Windows on Bootcamp but I don't know if Microsoft breaks down power usage like Apple does. I could compare Firefox to Edge, otherwise.
- Caprinicus 11y ago
  It's almost purely a function of CPU usage especially if you have an SSD. I don't think the mac power usage thing takes into account GPU usage but for that you'd probably want to download something third party to check the watt usage itself.
  - stcredzero 11y ago
    In the early days of SSDs, power draw of an SSD was usually around the same as for a spinning platter. Has this changed?
    - milankragujevic 11y ago
      According to OCZ's marketing material (http://ocz.com/consumer/ssd-guide/ssd-vs-hdd http://ocz.com/consumer/ssd-guide/ssd-vs-hdd), SSDs use 2-4 watts vs 7 watts for HDDs.
- chrisper 11y ago
  It does in Windows 10
  - runjake 11y ago
    Where in Windows 10?
    - chrisper 11y ago
      Sorry. I did not see your comment first. Open the (new) Settings app, then click on Network & Internet and then usage details.
digi_owl 11y ago
What is the chance that MS and Apple access certain APIs that others can't? This either because they are not documented, or because of the amount of special case code that would be required.
- coldtea 11y ago
  None. For one, Safari's rendering engine has been open source from the beginning. You can compile webkit from scratch, note the similar battery efficiency AND check it's code. What's it with Apple that brings out the conspiracy theorists in people? (other pet peeves: "they purposefully remove ports to sell more adapters", "they purposefully cripple mobile web apps", etc).
  - WildUtah 11y ago
    Apple really does do nasty things to drive short term profits while hurting user experience. Why does Apple charge $130 for a $5 LTE antenna on iPads or $100 for a $3 64GB SSD chip on iPhones? Why do they cripple entry level iPhones with only 16GB? Why do they have a long history (recently ameliorated) of selling Macs with far too little RAM to be useful and charging ten times the market price for upgrades? Just because they aren't guilty here doesn't mean Apple hasn't behaved badly at some point. And when a company prizes short term profits from loyal customers over long term profits and gains of market share, that isn't a conspiracy -- it's a strategy.
    - coldtea 11y ago
      >Apple really does do nasty things to drive short term profits while hurting user experience. Why does Apple charge $130 for a $5 LTE antenna on iPads or $100 for a $3 64GB SSD chip on iPhones? Why do they cripple entry level iPhones with only 16GB? Because market segmentation. It's a concept in sales as old as Adam Smith.
      - scholia 11y ago
        You can do market segmentation without abusing your customers.
kevingadd 11y ago
Edge is very power efficient on Windows 10, assuming your drivers allow it to do full hardware acceleration. Their rendering stack and JS engine are very competitive.
tim333 11y ago
I find Chrome with uBlock origin and Ghostery installed is pretty low power. It seems to run at about 1% of CPU if I don't watch video. Without the extensions it uses way more.
- plaguuuuuu 11y ago
  99% of the effort is executing 50 tracking/analytics sites' JS, with most sites also including invisible flash applets somewhere on the page
  - tim333 11y ago
    yeah - I'd forgotten I have flashblock too. That probably helps also.
kilroy123 11y ago
Hell yes. That's why I use the Chrome extension, the great suspender: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/the-great-suspender/klbibkeccnjlkjkiokjodocebajanakg?hl=en https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/the-great-suspende...
- bostonvaulter2 11y ago
  It bugs me that nearly all chrome extensions require "Read and change all your data on the websites you visit". No thanks.
  - chongli 11y ago
    Blame Google for a lack of granularity in their permissions.
  - JonathonW 11y ago
    That's because Chrome's permission model isn't very granular. If you're doing something that needs to be able to interact with any website (like that tab suspender thing), you get that scary warning, regardless of whether or not it's actually reading or changing data on all websites, because the permission indicates that it can, and there's not a less granular option available to declare. The other option for extensions is to specify certain sites that they work with (this is the "read and change all data on 'x.com'" permission prompt). That only works for site-specific extensions (like Reddit Enhancement Suite, or Camel Camel Camel).
  - seoguru 11y ago
    you can get the source and check it out yourself: https://github.com/deanoemcke/thegreatsuspender https://github.com/deanoemcke/thegreatsuspender

allcentury 11y ago

If I'm traveling I also use Safari but prefer Chrome when doing web dev.

freehunter 11y ago

That's why I use Safari as well. The difference in power usage is enormous between Safari and Firefox. I have Windows on Bootcamp but I don't know if Microsoft breaks down power usage like Apple does. I could compare Firefox to Edge, otherwise.

Caprinicus 11y ago
It's almost purely a function of CPU usage especially if you have an SSD. I don't think the mac power usage thing takes into account GPU usage but for that you'd probably want to download something third party to check the watt usage itself.
- stcredzero 11y ago
  In the early days of SSDs, power draw of an SSD was usually around the same as for a spinning platter. Has this changed?
  - milankragujevic 11y ago
    According to OCZ's marketing material (http://ocz.com/consumer/ssd-guide/ssd-vs-hdd http://ocz.com/consumer/ssd-guide/ssd-vs-hdd), SSDs use 2-4 watts vs 7 watts for HDDs.
chrisper 11y ago
It does in Windows 10
- runjake 11y ago
  Where in Windows 10?
  - chrisper 11y ago
    Sorry. I did not see your comment first. Open the (new) Settings app, then click on Network & Internet and then usage details.

digi_owl 11y ago

What is the chance that MS and Apple access certain APIs that others can't? This either because they are not documented, or because of the amount of special case code that would be required.

coldtea 11y ago
None. For one, Safari's rendering engine has been open source from the beginning. You can compile webkit from scratch, note the similar battery efficiency AND check it's code. What's it with Apple that brings out the conspiracy theorists in people? (other pet peeves: "they purposefully remove ports to sell more adapters", "they purposefully cripple mobile web apps", etc).
- WildUtah 11y ago
  Apple really does do nasty things to drive short term profits while hurting user experience. Why does Apple charge $130 for a $5 LTE antenna on iPads or $100 for a $3 64GB SSD chip on iPhones? Why do they cripple entry level iPhones with only 16GB? Why do they have a long history (recently ameliorated) of selling Macs with far too little RAM to be useful and charging ten times the market price for upgrades? Just because they aren't guilty here doesn't mean Apple hasn't behaved badly at some point. And when a company prizes short term profits from loyal customers over long term profits and gains of market share, that isn't a conspiracy -- it's a strategy.
  - coldtea 11y ago
    >Apple really does do nasty things to drive short term profits while hurting user experience. Why does Apple charge $130 for a $5 LTE antenna on iPads or $100 for a $3 64GB SSD chip on iPhones? Why do they cripple entry level iPhones with only 16GB? Because market segmentation. It's a concept in sales as old as Adam Smith.
    - scholia 11y ago
      You can do market segmentation without abusing your customers.

kevingadd 11y ago

Edge is very power efficient on Windows 10, assuming your drivers allow it to do full hardware acceleration. Their rendering stack and JS engine are very competitive.

tim333 11y ago

I find Chrome with uBlock origin and Ghostery installed is pretty low power. It seems to run at about 1% of CPU if I don't watch video. Without the extensions it uses way more.

plaguuuuuu 11y ago
99% of the effort is executing 50 tracking/analytics sites' JS, with most sites also including invisible flash applets somewhere on the page
- tim333 11y ago
  yeah - I'd forgotten I have flashblock too. That probably helps also.

kilroy123 11y ago

Hell yes. That's why I use the Chrome extension, the great suspender: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/the-great-suspender/klbibkeccnjlkjkiokjodocebajanakg?hl=en https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/the-great-suspende...

bostonvaulter2 11y ago
It bugs me that nearly all chrome extensions require "Read and change all your data on the websites you visit". No thanks.
- chongli 11y ago
  Blame Google for a lack of granularity in their permissions.
- JonathonW 11y ago
  That's because Chrome's permission model isn't very granular. If you're doing something that needs to be able to interact with any website (like that tab suspender thing), you get that scary warning, regardless of whether or not it's actually reading or changing data on all websites, because the permission indicates that it can, and there's not a less granular option available to declare. The other option for extensions is to specify certain sites that they work with (this is the "read and change all data on 'x.com'" permission prompt). That only works for site-specific extensions (like Reddit Enhancement Suite, or Camel Camel Camel).
- seoguru 11y ago
  you can get the source and check it out yourself: https://github.com/deanoemcke/thegreatsuspender https://github.com/deanoemcke/thegreatsuspender