Microsoft releases Office 2019 with Apple M1 soc support

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Microsoft 365 and Office 2019 both have native support for Apple’s M1-soc with the December 2020 release. The macOS operating system now chooses whether the M1 version or the Intel version of Office 2019 should be started.

With the update, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote are Microsoft Universal apps, with the programs supporting both Intel processors and Apple’s own M1 socs. Microsoft recommends that users let macOS choose which version to boot, although the company says there are two situations in which the user can work better through the Rosetta 2 emulation. For example, Excel’s Get & Transform feature, also known as Power Query, does not work in the M1 version yet. In a support message, Microsoft does indicate that this support will come later. The second situation is when the user uses plugins that have not yet had an M1 support update.

The updated Office programs are faster on Apple computers with M1-soc, according to Microsoft, although they do not give details about the speed gain. The apps have also received external changes that should better match macOS Big Sur. The Outlook for Mac app will also get support for iCloud accounts in the coming weeks. Microsoft is also announcing that Teams is getting a Universal app.

Microsoft announced more than a month ago that it was working on the Universal builds of the Office apps and then released a test version. At the time, developer Erik Schwiebert indicated that the executable files would be 50 percent larger than before. The apps themselves were 12 percent larger, as was the installer. It is unclear whether the files will be larger again with the final version.

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