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
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.
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
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.
Comments
Presently, the new iPad Maps application looks much better than maps.google.com looks in Safari on the retina MBP. Hopefully Google updates its web maps with retina support.
is there any way to run applications without the pixel doubling if they are not updated? Because some applications run fine in high dpi scenarios...
Quote:
Originally Posted by dbakerstl
is there any way to run applications without the pixel doubling if they are not updated? Because some applications run fine in high dpi scenarios...
Assuming it's anything like the way the retina display is handled in iOS, no.
What apps would work well when shrunk 40% or so?
Quote:
Originally Posted by dbakerstl
is there any way to run applications without the pixel doubling if they are not updated? Because some applications run fine in high dpi scenarios...
You can choose 1680 x 1050 or 1920 x 1080 also.
Quote:
Originally Posted by malax
Assuming it's anything like the way the retina display is handled in iOS, no.
What apps would work well when shrunk 40% or so?
Yep there is the press release and then the reality. What I still am waiting to find out is how the web developers are going to address the issues. I really don't want my websites displaying at 50% of the size I designed them. On iOS you can pinch zoom not so much on a regular notebook.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mstone
Yep there is the press release and then the reality. What I still am waiting to find out is how the web developers are going to address the issues. I really don't want my websites displaying at 50% of the size I designed them. On iOS you can pinch zoom not so much on a regular notebook.
Actually you CAN pinch to zoom on the MacBooks, it's the exact same gesture, just on the trackpad. You can also smart zoom with a two-finger double-tap!
They do this so they can ask their boss to buy new shiny MBPs.
Polishing the chrome. I see what they did there.
Quote:
Originally Posted by fuwafuwa
They do this so they can ask their boss to buy new shiny MBPs.
hah yeah "Sergey, I needs the pixels, man!"
Quote:
Originally Posted by FreeRange
Fk google!
Yes, I am a free range pixel farmer too. Live Google free. It's possible. Firefox will push out Retina support within the next several weeks, I suspect. Safari and Firefox, what else do ya need? Maybe Opera, but that's it.
Say no to Chrome. Say no to Flash. Say no to Google.
Quote:
Originally Posted by akf2000
hah yeah "Sergey, I needs the pixels, man!"
Yeah, those are hormone-ridden antibiotic-injected caged pixels. Free the pixels!
Quote:
Originally Posted by malax
Assuming it's anything like the way the retina display is handled in iOS, no.
What apps would work well when shrunk 40% or so?
I think he means let the OS generate a mixed retina/pixel-doubled result. Things like windows, buttons, text, etc are all drawn by the OS frameworks, so there's no inherent reason why this couldn't be done. Only custom views and raster images would end up doubled. Unfortunately for Chrome, it's entirely a custom view. I sincerely hope this is how it's implemented, since Apple has been pushing resolution-independence for years now. The developer documentation is littered with statements like "one point is not necessarily one pixel". In pre-Lion versions, you could use the built-in resolution independence to scale up the display by setting a hidden flag, although at the time it was glitchy and incomplete.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hittrj01
Actually you CAN pinch to zoom on the MacBooks, it's the exact same gesture, just on the trackpad. You can also smart zoom with a two-finger double-tap!
You're right. I almost never use my trackpad. I always need a mouse to do graphics so I just plug it in automatically as soon as I unpack my MBP.