Why I ditched Safari and Mail and switched to Microsoft Edge and Outlook on my Mac

I’ve been an Apple user for more than half of my life. Besides owning different iPhone, iPod, iPad, and Mac models, I have always preferred using the company’s apps and services. For example, the day Apple launched Apple Music, I deleted my entire iTunes library and started paying for the streaming service – which I never considered doing with Spotify.

That said, using Safari and Mail has always been part of my routine. But over these past few years, I noted that they were lacking features that I could find in some other apps. And even though I keep waiting for major updates, they seem never to be available.

Despite my preference, I decided to give a chance to Outlook for iOS and, more recently, its Mac app counterpart. In addition, I recently moved to Microsoft Edge on the Mac, and whenever I think about switching back to Safari, I just can’t anymore. Here’s why.

My issues with Apple’s Safari and Mail apps for Mac

Let’s start with the complaints. For Safari, the problems began around the macOS Big Sur beta. Although I was a fan of the redesign, the app would continually display duplicated tabs even after a stable version was available. Once I clicked on one, the other duplicated tab would become a blank page.

While, eventually, this problem was fixed, it took Apple more than enough time to finally release a stable version of Safari on macOS Big Sur. In addition, it was with this operating system update that it became more frequently those pop-up warnings that a page was draining my MacBook’s battery.

This could have been solved if Apple was blocking all those ads and trackers it promised to. But not only was this not happening, but I was also seeing those annoying pop-ups followed by pages becoming slower.

Around macOS Ventura, I switched from a 2019 16-inch MacBook Pro to the 2021 M1 Pro MacBook Pro, but it was also not enough. A few Safari tabs opened, and everything slowed down. With that, I decided to switch to Microsoft Edge – and although I’ll explain what I like about this app below, the changes were noticeable.

Now that I’m using a 2023 Mac Studio with M2 Max and 32GB of RAM, I decided to give Safari another go. However, impressively, the browser still slows everything down with a longer article – whether it is on BGR’s WordPress or even if I’m reading about politics in other newspapers.

For Mail, I miss Face ID/Touch ID authentication to open the app. I still haven’t recovered from the messed up Notification Center in the early days of macOS Ventura, which I couldn’t see if a new message was available. In addition, using the Mail app on a larger display makes the application empty – but not in a clean way that I can see what I wish. Outlook also does it better.

Who would have thought that Microsoft Edge and Outlook apps were your Mac’s best friends?

Image source: Microsoft

For years, Apple claimed that Safari was the fastest browser available, but in my experience, it’s definitely Edge. To take advantage of this app, you need a good 20 minutes of turning off annoying Microsoft experiences that will be used to track your activity online. But once you do that, life looks completely different.

After importing my Safari history and passwords, everything runs smoothly, pages open faster, and I don’t get any pop-up saying a journalist’s Mac with 16GB or 32GB of RAM consumes too much power from surfacing the web.

Regarding Outlook, I love how it integrates Focus Filters by adding different profiles from each moment of your day, so you can completely ignore other mailboxes you might have.

I also find it easier to see upcoming events and my different mailboxes, and the app is better at providing useful information.

I still hope Microsoft adds these macOS Sonoma features to its apps

Image source: Apple Inc.

Even though I’m better off the other side, I’ll still miss upcoming macOS Sonoma features, such as removing URL trackers when copying a link – a feature I hope Edge adds. Outlook, on its way, could also support 2FA integration so that I can add those 2FA codes from my e-mail to the browser in a blink of an eye.

That said, I think I’ll continue being a converted Edge user for a long time – or at least until Apple fixes these issues with Safari. Regarding Mail, it’s fine, but using Outlook makes me prefer this option better.

In addition, making this change makes me more open to future options. I’ve been using DuckDuckGo here and there, and I know many amazing mail apps also care about my privacy and continually add new features for their users.