Google Chrome for M1 Mac Is Blazingly Fast as Compared to Rosetta 2 Version

BY Mahit Huilgol

Published 20 Nov 2020

Earlier this month, Apple unveiled M1 Chip Macs touting significant performance improvement. Last week Google released a Chrome browser for Macs powered by M1 Chip. New MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and Mac mini users have to download a different Chrome version. The best part is that this version of Chrome runs faster than the one on Rosetta 2.

Arstechnica has put the new M1 Chrome version to test that includes a series of benchmarks like Speedometer 2.0, JetStream2, and Motion Mark 1.1. The M1 Chrome has aced in all the benchmarks and is faster than the x86 version running on Rosetta 2.

Talking numbers, the M1 version Chrome performed nearly 66-85 percent better than the Rosetta 2 version. The M1 Chrome scored 210 in the Speedometer 2.0 test, while the Standard Chrome scored just 116. Meanwhile, the M1 Chrome scored 156 on Jetstream 2 test while the standard Chrome scored 93.1. The M1 Chrome once again maintained the lead in Motion Mark 1.1 test. It managed to score 726.4, while the standard Chrome could only score 435.7.

The benchmarks simulate real-life scenarios and help us draw a parallel between the two. Unsurprisingly Safari browser was relatively faster than the M1 Chrome. Benchmarks like Jetstream 2 simulate situations like opening a spreadsheet, while MotionMark 1.1 is based on graphic animation.

On the Chrome website, the M1 version is marked as “Mac with Apple Chip,” and you need to download the same. Rosetta 2 is a simulation environment that helps developers transition from Intel processors to the M1. Rosetta debuted in 2006 and is used to emulate the previous platform in the newer one. The first version of Rosetta allowed PowerPC applications to run on an Intel-based Mac without any modifications.

[via ArsTechnica]