Google Chrome responsible for crashing new Macbook Air

A spokesperson from Google has confirmed that Chrome is to be blamed for crashing new MacBook Airs. The Search giant has issued a statement confirming this directly to Gizmodo. Google reveals that they have identified a leak of the graphics resource in the Chrome browser which is related to drawings of plug-ins on Mac OS X.  They are in the process to find and fix the root cause of the leak. 

Chrome responsible for crashing Macbooks....

The statement issued by the company reveals that the resource leak is causing a kernel panic on Mac hardware containing the Intel HD 4000 graphics chip (e.g. the new Macbook Airs). “Radar bug number 11762608 has been filed with Apple regarding the kernel panics, since it should not be possible for an application to trigger such behavior,” the statement reads. Google is also temporarily disabling some of Chrome's GPU acceleration features on the affected hardware via an auto-updated release to fix the root cause of the leak. This auto-update was released on June 28. It also plans some more fixes in the coming days which will further re-enable many or say all the features on the hardware.

Cnet reports that after using the system for a while, users notice random crash with a kernel panic. This leads to fading of the display and also shows a message saying the user needs to press the power button to restart the system. This message indicates that a core component of the system isn’t functioning properly. The core component could be a driver or hardware. Though these crashes seemed random earlier, they were later found to occur only when the user was accessing the Google Chrome browser. The crash logs generated also reveal the same and describe it as an issue with how Chrome is handling the Intel HD 4000 graphics processors on the new MacBook Air. Those using the new Macbook Air and facing the problem can just avoid using the Chrome browser till the problem is fixed, and opt for alternatives like Safari, Firefox or others. At WWDC 2012, Apple updated its Macbook line-up with faster processing speeds, USB 3.0 ports and FaceTime cameras. The highlight of the event was the thin Macbook Air with spruced up faster processing speed supported by a powerful spec sheet.

Google Chrome had been tweaked keeping in mind the increased resolution of the new MacBook Pros. The Chrome Canary Build, one of the early development builds for the browser has support for the new displays. The new Chrome browser for MacBook Pro uses  higher quality icons and font rendering. One of the issues with a higher resolution display, something as dense as the one on the new MacBook Pro is that fonts and text can look tiny. Apple will ensure that this doesn’t happen, but Google is also doing their part with the browser.