Lab – Google Chrome reduces the autonomy of Apple’s MacBook Pro 14 and 16

We are currently testing the MacBook Pro M1 Pro. During our autonomy tests, we got endless results. At trial, it turns out that Chrome did not cope with the liquid Retina XTR displays and Apple’s promotion option.

Both the MacBook Pro 14 and 16 have Liquid Retina XDR displays that are not affected by any defects. However, it seems that the Chrome browser does not handle HDR and ProMotion options (variable update rate) properly.

After our first battery life test, our MacBook Pro 14 lasted 4 hours and 40 minutes on our standard test protocol, which is set to 200 cd / m² and 50% volume under Chrome. Autonomy is more than disappointing and especially far from 17 hours in video playback announced by Apple.

After verification, Chrome only moderately appreciates the default functionality of HDR and ProMotion. Differently, this browser still does not know how to handle ProMotion and our experimental Netflix series (House of cards) Not in HDR format. However, after disabling these options, the autonomy of the MacBook Pro 14 reaches 13 hours and 40 minutes, which is close to Apple’s promises.

Through Safari, the Apple MacBook Pro 14 was able to express its full potential by achieving 17 hours and 30 minutes of autonomy. This can best be explained by the impact on the browser’s power consumption. With Safari, our Apple MacBook Pro 14M1 Pro takes up to 15W from the outlet. With Chrome, the device’s power consumption drops to 30 W, which is a significant difference. This event is not new, however, and Google has repeatedly confirmed that it will fix the problem. It is clear that there is still not enough pay for this work.