Sluggish Safari on new MBP 16

[Espen Thuen Hansen]

I just bought the new MacBook Pro 16 base model with latest version of Catalina and im having an issue with Safari. When i scroll some Pages it stutters from time to time. A problem i never has with my 2017 MBP 13. Chrome is working flawlessly. When i compare CPU usage on both browsers i notise that Safari often spikes in the 100-130% range, while Chrome never does this.

ive tried to delete cache and logs. I also tried to make a new admin user without any luck.
So far browsing with Safari on the Macbook Pro 16 is simular to browsing on an old 2012 MBP. It works good most of the time with the occational stutter, which i know it shouldnt be like.

Anyone having similar issues or suggestions ?

 

[junkw]

same thing with betas?
https://developer.apple.com/safari/download/

 

[Espen Thuen Hansen]

i only find beta for sierra and Mojave there ?

 

[Espen Thuen Hansen]

Anyone ?

 

[tjedora]

Do you run any plugins for Safari and is Spotlight indexing finished?

 

[Espen Thuen Hansen]

I only run ublock. I have tried to turned it off without any improvement. How do i know if spotlight indexing is finished , and is there a way to turn it off temporarily?

 

[waquzy]

I only run ublock. I have tried to turned it off without any improvement. How do i know if spotlight indexing is finished , and is there a way to turn it off temporarily?

Try using Wipr instead of ublock, it’s loads better

 

[tjedora]

I only run ublock. I have tried to turned it off without any improvement. How do i know if spotlight indexing is finished , and is there a way to turn it off temporarily?

If it still running you should find a spotlight process in the activity monitor.

 

[Espen Thuen Hansen]

looks like spotlight indexing is finished so its not that. Gmail is one of the sites that eats up resources. It micro stutters the first 2 seconds when loading up the site. When scrolling up and down the cpu ussage instantly go up to 120. Doing the same thing on Chrome it hover around 40.

 

[Donnation]

OP, did you set up your 16" from a backup of your 13"?

 

[MacBookGamer]

Safari has been a mess for me ever since the Catalina update.

 

[ascender]

No issues here, even during spotlight and photos indexing.

SMC reset time? I was also going to ask if you restored from a backup...

 

[Espen Thuen Hansen]

no backup from previous macbooks. Can you guys check and see if you get similar cpu usage on Gmail inbox screen when scrolling up and down ?

The stutter is not that noticeable, and I bet many won't even bother, but scrolling on a MacBook Pro has always been butter smooth up to this point, and this take away from the good quality feeling this laptop gives me on everything else.

 

[tjedora]

no backup from previous macbooks. Can you guys check and see if you get similar cpu usage on Gmail inbox screen when scrolling up and down ?

The stutter is not that noticeable, and I bet many won't even bother, but scrolling on a MacBook Pro has always been butter smooth up to this point, and this take away from the good quality feeling this laptop gives me on everything else.

I can check this later today. (in 3-4 hours)

 

[Espen Thuen Hansen]

Great

 

[Donnation]

no backup from previous macbooks. Can you guys check and see if you get similar cpu usage on Gmail inbox screen when scrolling up and down ?

The stutter is not that noticeable, and I bet many won't even bother, but scrolling on a MacBook Pro has always been butter smooth up to this point, and this take away from the good quality feeling this laptop gives me on everything else.

Weird. Safari is buttery smooth on my 16”. Not sure what the issue is.

 

[Espen Thuen Hansen]

Most sites is here as well, but some are slightly lagging/stuttering like Gmail. Could you check the inbox screen there as well if you have gmail that is ?

 

[Espen Thuen Hansen]

Did you get the same results tjedora ?

 

[tjedora]

Did you get the same results tjedora ?

I just tried it and while the gmail page is initially laggy while scrolling through inbox, the CPU stays below 10%. Gmail being slow here is probably a problem of the page itself in Safari. Scrolling through Steam for example (the app) is also feeling like 2005.

 

[Espen Thuen Hansen]

Are you talking about overall cpu usage or cpu usage for gmail shown in the task list ?

For me the overall Cpu hovers around 10% while cpu usage for gmail is peaking around 113% which I assume is 100% for 1 core and 13% for the second ?

 

[junkw]

do you have the same problem with the Safari Technology Preview?
Safari Technology Preview for macOS Catalina

 

[tjedora]

Are you talking about overall cpu usage or cpu usage for gmail shown in the task list ?

For me the overall Cpu hovers around 10% while cpu usage for gmail is peaking around 113% which I assume is 100% for 1 core and 13% for the second ?

Oh yeah - that's the same here. 108% but I wouldn't mind too much about it imho. I also have a 13" model but from 2016 and there it also feels a tad faster but that is due to the higher base clock of the dual core CPUs in the 13" models.

 

[Espen Thuen Hansen]

do you have the same problem with the Safari Technology Preview?
Safari Technology Preview for macOS Catalina

Hi yeah same issue. I guess its just some sites that its not optimized for Safari.

 

[junkw]

maybe there are some known bugs: https://bugs.webkit.org/query.cgi?format=specific&product=WebKit

 

[Camoxide]

I had to switch to Chrome after the Mojave/Safari 12 update, couldn't get the lag to stop...