Safari’s “Feature” Quietly Cuts Frame Rate on M1 Macs
John James Jacoby recently investigated stuttering animations in Safari on his 2020 M1 MacBook Air. The culprit wasn’t a rendering bug but a deliberate power-saving behavior.
Not a Bug, a Battery Saver
Monterey’s default Low Power Mode activates on battery and deactivates when plugged into a Power Adapter. Safari interprets that setting as a cue to throttle its screen painting frequency, cutting refresh from 60fps to 30fps on Jacoby’s machine.
“This wasn’t a bug. This was a feature,” he notes.
This trade-off prioritizes battery longevity over visual smoothness, meaning users on battery power may see noticeably choppier web animations without any explicit Safari-level toggle.
