Chrome 89 Is Faster and Uses Less Memory

Regardless of whether you use the Chrome browser on Windows, macOS, or Android, Chrome 89 is set to improve your browsing experience significantly due to some major memory savings.

Posting on the Chromium Blog, Google explains how it has upgraded Chrome 89 to use its advanced memory allocator, called PatitionAlloc, everywhere. PartitionAlloc allows memory to be allocated extremely efficiently without compromising security, and the benefits are clear. Google claims that the latest version of Chrome saves over 100MB of memory per tab.

The memory savings on Windows when using Chrome 89 are "up to 22% in the browser process, 8% in the renderer, and 3% in the GPU." On top of that, Google says responsiveness has been improved by up to 9% and some of the most popular websites we all visit now require 20% less memory in the browser.

For macOS users, Google has reduced memory use by 8%. Mac users also have access to an Apple Energy Impact score, which is used to show how much of an impact each app has on battery life. Google claims Chrome 89 allows for a 65% improvement to the browser's Energy Impact score, meaning your MacBook battery should last a bit longer while you browse.This improvement was gained through tab throttling, which stops tabs from waking up your CPU when they aren't actively being used.

Recommended by Our Editors

30 Years of Browsers: A Quick History

Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Opera, or Safari: Which Browser Is Best for 2024?

Xbox Users Can Now Beta Test Microsoft's Edge Browser

For Android users, Google managed "a 5% improvement in memory usage, 7.5% faster startup times, and up to 2% faster page loads." If you have a relatively new Android device running Android Q or later with 8GB or more of RAM, Google rebuilt the 64-bit version of Chrome which now loads pages 8.5% faster and scrolling is 28% smoother. The development team also implemented "Freeze-Dried Tabs" which "saves a lightweight version of your tabs that are similar in size to a screenshot, but support scrolling, zooming, and tapping on links." The end result is Chrome on Android starts 13% faster.