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Google promises Chrome support for MacBook Pro with Retina Display

Google revealed on Wednesday that it is "committed to polishing" its Chrome browser to take advantage of Apple's new MacBook Pro with Retina Display.

Nico Weber, a Google Software Engineer and "Chief Apple Polisher," posted the promise to the company's official Chrome blog along with a screenshot of the "early results" of high-resolution support in Chrome.

"We have further to go over the next few weeks, but we’re off to the races to make Chrome as beautiful as it can be," he said.

In fact, Google has already begun testing the new polish the Canary developer version of Chrome. Anandtech's Anand Lal Shimpi said that text in Chrome Canary is "no longer ugly," compared to the "nasty result" from the current version of Chrome. According to Lal Shimpi, Chrome's results come because it uses Apple's text display API but renders to a Retina-unaware "offscreen canvas before scaling the text and displaying it on a web page."

Though Chrome Canary addresses the rendering issue, Lal Shimpi did note it still "renders text differently" from Apple's Safari.


Source: Google
Chrome vs Safari
Left: Chrome; Middle: Chrome Canary; Right: Safari | Source: Anandtech

Apple released the new MacBook Pro on Monday at the Worldwide Developers Conference. The 15-inch laptop's new Retina Display features a resolution of 2,880 by 1,800 pixels. Demand for the laptop is currently outstripping supply, as shipping estimates for it on Apple's Website are currently at three to four weeks.

Retina Display-optimized updates of Apple's own Mac software have begun steadily rolling out. For instance, Apple released new versions of Final Cut Pro X, Aperture, and iPhoto on Monday.