iOS 6 Safari still beats the competition with HTML5 rendering

When Microsoft announced Windows Phone 8, they showed off Internet Explorer (IE) 10 for mobile, and highlighted that their still-in-beta browser scored better on SunSpider JavaScript rendering speed tests than Apple's still-in-beta browser, Safari for iOS 6. Now Daniel Rubino over at our Mobile Nations sibling site, wpcentral, have put together some more information on the Windows Phone vs. iOS beta browser battles, and painted a fuller picture.

When it came to JavaScript, Internet Explorer 10 did a lot better than both Safari under iOS 6 beta (likely an older beta, not the just-released iOS 6 beta 4), and the older Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, which predates the recent 4.1 Jelly Bean.

While SunSpider may show Windows Phone 8 pulling ahead for JavaScript, Safari under iOS 6 bested both Windows Phone 8 IE and Ice Cream Sandwich when it came to HTML5 rendering. Windows Phone 8 came in at a total score of 300 plus 6 bonus points while Android 4.0 managed a 280 plus 3 bonus points. Safari under iOS 6 came in with a total of 360 points plus 9 bonus points.

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Interestingly, our other sibling site, CrackBerry.com pointed out that RIM's still-in-beta browser, Torch on BlackBerry 10, pulls off a staggering 447 points plus 10 bonus points. So the bar for everyone is clearly still being raised.

Given Jelly Bean wasn't even used yet, and Windows Phone 8, BlackBerry 10, and iOS 6 are all still in beta, none of this means too much yet. Other than, you know, geeks love numbers.

The truth is, browser rendering speed battles are a little like megapixel races in cameras. They're all so good now it doesn't really make much of a difference to humans, but they're also good enough now that raw speed can start giving way to better quality and functionality. As JavaScript and HTML5 rendering starts hitting the red line, what we'll all be able to do with mobile browsers -- which only a few years ago were limited to WAP! -- will be amazing, regardless of platform.

We'll keep having fun running the tests though. Because, again, geeks love numbers!

Source: wpcentral, CrackBerry.com