Microsoft has provided technical evidence that Apple's long-standing WebKit requirement significantly bottlenecks browser performance on the iPhone. Using the new BrowserEngineKit framework—currently restricted to the European Union—Microsoft developed an experimental version of Edge that bypasses Safari's engine. In benchmarking tests using Speedometer 3.1, this non-WebKit version scored 49.2 points, outperforming Safari by approximately 28%.
The test highlights a significant performance gap that has existed for years due to Apple's ecosystem restrictions. While developers in the EU can now leverage alternative browser engines to provide faster web experiences, users in other regions remain locked into WebKit-based browsers. This data suggests that the performance limitations of third-party browsers on iOS are not a result of developer inefficiency, but rather a direct consequence of Apple's software constraints.
