Chrome vs Safari: It Depends on Use

Where each one runs

Chrome says you can set Chrome as the default browser on Windows, Mac, iPhone, iPad, or Android. Google says the Chrome 139 stable release applies to Android, ChromeOS, Linux, macOS, and Windows. Apple describes Safari on Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch, with extensions for iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Apple's iCloud guide adds that bookmarks also sync to Windows if that PC has iCloud for Windows.

Tracking and cookies

Apple says Intelligent Tracking Prevention is on by default and hides your IP address from trackers. Fingerprinting defense is on by default. Private Browsing goes further: known trackers are prevented from loading, and link tracking protection removes tracking added to URLs. Apple says Safari blocks third-party cookies from tracking you by default. The chart there marks Chrome as No for the same row. Treat that Chrome cell as Apple's comparison.

Chrome says third-party cookies are blocked by default in Incognito, and that regular browsing is a choice between Allow and Block. It does not say regular browsing blocks them by default. Chrome describes Safe Browsing, a Privacy Guide, and Enhanced Safe Browsing that you turn on.

Sync

Apple says Safari bookmarks, Reading List, history, open tabs, Tab Groups, profiles, and settings stay updated on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. It also syncs which extensions are installed and whether each is on, and it says the extension is not installed automatically. Apple says iCloud Keychain stores user names, passkeys, passwords, and credit card numbers, and that Handoff can move the current Safari website to a nearby Apple device. Chrome says a Google Account can carry bookmarks, passwords, and more. Signing in to Chrome is optional. If you turn on Web & App Activity and sync Chrome history, Google says that history can personalize other Google products.

Extensions

Apple says extensions come from the App Store. Apple says you can limit an extension to one day, the current website, or always. Apple says you must turn the extension on and grant permission before it can read or change pages. Chrome says you add desktop extensions from the Chrome Web Store. Chrome's Manifest V3 doc says version 3 uses service workers, blocks remotely hosted code, and replaces the blocking webRequest API with declarativeNetRequest. Chrome's timeline, updated 9 September 2026, says Chrome 138 disabled Manifest V2 extensions on 24 July 2025, users cannot turn them back on, and those extensions stop working on Chrome 139 and later. On 31 August 2026 the remaining Manifest V2 extensions were removed from the Chrome Web Store.

Speed and battery, as Apple states them

Apple's Safari page calls Safari the world's fastest browser. Footnote 1 says that line refers to tests Apple ran in August 2026 with JetStream 3.0, MotionMark 1.3.2, and Speedometer 3.1, and that Safari scored higher on average than the other browsers in that test. Apple also says Safari was 35% faster on average at loading frequently visited websites than Chrome. Footnote 2 says Apple measured snapshot versions of 12 websites in August 2026 on a 15-inch MacBook Air with an M5 chip, prerelease Safari 27.0, and Chrome v151.0.7922.138. The battery lines in the same statement are up to 5 hours more streaming video than Chrome, and up to 18 hours of video streaming. Footnote 3 says Apple ran that in August 2026 on the same kind of Mac, streaming 1080p, against Chrome v151.0.7922.76. Those are Apple's tests. The benchmark multiples in Apple's charts are not repeated, and the tests were not re-run. Google's Chrome page names Energy Saver and Memory Saver. It does not publish an hour count.

Who should pick which

Pick Safari if your phones and computers are Apple's, and you want Intelligent Tracking Prevention on by default. Pick Chrome if you also browse on Windows, Linux, ChromeOS, or Android, or you want Chrome Web Store extensions and a Google Account for sync. The 2026 browser roundup is the wider list. Chrome vs Firefox and Firefox vs Safari are the other live browser head-to-heads. Brave vs Chrome is the Chromium privacy matchup.