Chrome Goes High-Res for MacBook Pro's Retina Display

Google GOOG may no longer be the provider of iOS maps, but Apple AAPL can't stop the Mountain View, California-based corporation from providing Mac users with the world's fastest-growing browser. In its current form, Google Chrome is a simple, straightforward, light-as-air browser that works just as well on the next-gen MacBook Pro as it does on any other MacBook. But it doesn't look as good as it could. That's because the new high-resolution Retina Display -- available exclusively on the next-gen MacBook Pro -- is too high for old-school Chrome. Thus, Google has promised to update the popular browser in the coming weeks. "We're committed to polishing Chrome until it shines on that machine," Nico Weber, Software Engineer and Chief Apple Polisher, wrote on the official Google Chrome blog. "The Chrome Canary channel already shows the early results of this work, bringing basic high-resolution support to 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." Chrome Canary is the developer version of Chrome, but anyone can download the browser to test out work-in-progress apps and upgrades. Google shares aren't likely to be traded on this news, though it represents an interesting development in the ongoing war against Apple. It's no secret that Apple considers Google to be an enemy; in addition to the endless patent lawsuits, the Mac maker officially ousted Google Maps from iOS. But Web browsing is a different beast. Apple could stand its ground and only allow Mac users to surf with Safari. But in doing so, it would inadvertently shut out a large part of the world. To this day, Microsoft's MSFT Internet Explorer browser is still the most popular in the world (by default, of course -- it comes packaged with every copy of Windows). But in terms of popularity and consumer appeal, Chrome and Firefox reign supreme. Over the past 30 days, Google shares have faced a steep decline, shifting from $628.93 on May 16 to $600.40 on May 18. After experiencing a minor increase, Google continued to decline, closing at $570.98 on June 1. Yesterday, June 13, Google closed at $561.09. Apple has fared better, rising from $530.38 on May 18 to $561.28 on May 21. Apple closed yesterday at $572.16. Follow me @LouisBedigianBZ