Safari is a great browser. I know there are alternatives, like Firefox and Chrome, but I like Safari.
Recently I noticed a lag of about 3-5 seconds when opening a new tab. I use tabs often, so this started to get in my way. Because I did not feel like switching browsers, I did some digging around to see if I could get this problem fixed.
Doing a quick Google search (after waiting a few seconds for that new tab), there was one quick suggestion:
Disable iCloud for Safari
Alright, let’s try. No change. Still lag. This was the other common tip:
Set ‘New tab opens with’ to ‘Empty Page’
Ok, done. Still lag.
I went digging further in Safari’s settings and on a hunch I disabled “Include search engine suggestions”. The magic button. This makes opening new tabs fast again.
The reason why this fixes the issue is beyond me, unless the new tab automatically starts searching for suggestions even though it’s showing an empty page.