Google has acknowledged that a graphic resource leak in its flagship Chrome browser is causing a critical kernel panic issue on new Apple MacBook Airs.
“We have identified a leak of graphics resources in the Chrome browser related to the drawing of plugins on Mac OS X. Work is proceeding to find and fix the root cause of the leak,” Google confirmed in an official statement to Gizmodo.
“The resource leak is causing a kernel panic on Mac hardware containing the Intel HD 4000 graphics chip. 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.”
Mountain View also said it was temporarily disabling some of Chrome’s GPU acceleration features on the affected hardware (new MacBook Airs) via an auto-updated release – until the issue is fully resolved.
“We anticipate further fixes in the coming days which will re-enable many or all of these features on this hardware,” the company stated.
Meanwhile, CNET’s Topher Kessler noted that while the graphic resource leak may be rooted in Google’s Chrome browser, it ultimately is an issue with Apple’s drivers that allows for the kernel panic to be triggered.
“So hopefully Apple will issue a software update in the near future that closes this hole,” he added.
