Is Chrome the New IE? (2023)

Just to (mostly) preempt this because the exact same discussion is had every time this sentiment comes up: Isn't safari the new IE?

Answer: They both are like IE, for different reasons:

Chrome: Pushes proprietary extensions onto the web, which due to their absolute dominance others are somewhat forced to adopt, people develop for it and don't test in any other browser, just like IE

Safari: is coupled to operating system version, lags behind on implementing new features, thus single handedly slowing down when everyone can use new features. Has weird quirks that other browsers don't, just like IE (though not nearly as bad as IE)

So which is like IE? It just depends on what you mean when you say "like IE", the label applies to both because IE was bad for more than one reason

If I understand - Chrome is like IE for pushing proprietary extensions, and Safari is like IE for not implementing those proprietary extensions?

Safari is like IE for not implementing standards everyone else has agreed on and implemented.

Did “everyone” agree on and implement them, or did Google implement them and force everyone else in the WHATWG to play catch-up since they’re dominant?

Maybe there are specific examples of that? But I can't think of any, and it certainly doesn't strike me as common. Random example:

https://caniuse.com/input-inputmode

Firefox: 2013

Chrome: 2017

Safari: Any decade now, I'm sure of it

Your own link says it’s supported on Safari for iOS, for years now. It’s obviously not supported on MacOS because that attribute only applies to onscreen keyboards.

What makes you think onscreen keyboards are not useful in macOS if at least for accessibility reasons?