Microsoft rolls out new Office apps for M1 chip-powered Macs

New Delhi: Microsoft has announced that its core flagship Office apps will now run faster and better on Apple Mac devices with the Silicon M1 chip – MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro and Mac mini.

The company said on Tuesday that it is releasing new versions of many of its Microsoft 365 for Mac apps that run natively on Macs with M1 – Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote.

“The new Office apps are Universal, so they will continue to run great on Macs with Intel processors. The apps have been redesigned to match the new look of macOS Big Sur,” said Bill Doll, Senior Product Marketing Manager for Microsoft 365.

Video collaboration app Teams, however, has not been included in the latest Microsoft update for Mac.

With more than 115M daily active users, Teams has become a critical part of the way many people are navigating the current situation.

Microsoft Teams is currently available in Rosetta emulation mode on Macs with M1 and the browser.

“We are working on universal app support for M1 Macs and will share more news as our work progresses,” Doll said.

The new Outlook for Mac comes with a redesign that matches the new look of macOS Big Sur, and an updated Office Start experience for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote for Mac that incorporates the Fluent UI design system.

Microsoft also announced support for iCloud accounts in the new Outlook for Mac.

“This will enable you to organise work and personal emails, contacts, and calendars together in one app so it is easier for you to stay connected to what matters,” Microsoft said.

“In addition, to help you check spelling, correct grammar, and get writing style suggestions, we will enable Microsoft Editor in Word for Mac”.

The company plans to make these updates available to customers with access to Microsoft 365 for Insiders in early 2021.