Your web browser may be the Mac application you run the most, so it makes sense to choose the one that best suits your needs. See what the most popular options have to offer.
1 Safari: a native, energy-efficient default
Every Mac comes with Safari, so it’s the default favorite. There are many good reasons to use Safari, including its native look and privacy features that prevent sites from tracking your behavior.
Since Safari is developed by Apple, it is the most natural solution for macOS. You’ll benefit from tight integration with the macOS GUI and very efficient power usage, as the app leverages all the performance tricks of Apple’s APIs.
In my testing, Safari came out on top in web application performance, according to the Speedometer 3.0 benchmarking tool. The results were close, but if you’re a heavy user of web applications, it can make a world of difference in your daily work.
Navigator |
Version |
Score |
---|---|---|
Safari |
17.4.1 |
32.7 |
Firefox |
125.0.1 |
32.2 |
Chromium |
124.0.6367.62 |
30.9 |
Opera |
109.0.5097.45 |
30.1 |
Edge |
123.0.2420.97 |
28.5 |
All testing referenced in this article was performed on a Mac mini 2023 M2 with 8GB of RAM.
2 Chrome: a rich ecosystem of extensions
Google’s Chrome is, by far, the most popular browser across all platforms. Its global market share was 65% in March 2024, as reported by statcounter.
This popularity also helps fuel a rich ecosystem of extensions. You can install any of them to add features to the default browser, from improving your reading experience to speeding up browsing.
Each of these browsers offers a library of extensions (sometimes called “add-ons”) but their sizes vary considerably. While Edge offers around 11,191 (according to the Microsoft directory) and Firefox 38,000 (according to the Firefox directory), Chrome has a huge library of 130,445 extensions (source: Backlinko).
Size isn’t everything, but you’re more likely to find niche features by extending Chrome than with any other browser. Chrome is also popular with web developers because of its powerful developer tools feature that lets you design and debug directly in the browser.
Download: Chrome for Mac (free)
3 Edge: A decent all-rounder with excellent office features
A Microsoft browser might not seem like the most relevant choice for Mac users, but Edge offers a range of great features for everyone from office workers to gamers browsing the internet.
The browser handles Office files and PDFs natively. If you regularly work on Windows as well as macOS, or need to collaborate with others who do, Edge may provide a smoother experience. It’s also quite fast and reasonably light, without being quite the leader in either area.
Edge will direct you to Microsoft’s search engine, Bing, and you might be concerned about some of its telemetry features, although you can turn off several of them. Overall, Edge is a good choice, but it’s probably only worth it if you need to keep tabs on the Microsoft ecosystem.
Download: Microsoft Edge for Mac (free)
4 Firefox: safe and customizable, but a little memory intensive
Once the brave open source competitor, Firefox has fallen far behind. The browser fought a valiant battle against Microsoft’s Internet Explorer when it launched in 2004; this has helped create a more compatible and open web.
Today, the browser is much less popular but still offers a free, open source, and highly customizable experience. Right out of the box, its homepage is an optimized Google search page, complete with your favorite sites, recent pages, and news feeds.
However, in my testing, Firefox was by far the biggest memory user:
This may not be a big deal in practice – you can only really judge this by your own personal usage – but alternative browsers start from a more promising baseline.
Download: Mozilla Firefox for Mac (free)
5 Opera: full of features, but quite obscure
It’s safe to say that you probably won’t upgrade to Opera unless you’re already a fan. That’s a shame because it has a lot to offer: built-in ad blocking, powerful tab management, and even AI integration.
Opera has always been a niche browser, and its interface feels decidedly out of place on macOS. The default UI goes so far as to display the familiar traffic light window icons, but vertically!
Download: Opera for Mac (free)