On November 10, 2020, Apple announced the availability of new Mac devices based on a custom architecture known as Apple silicon. This article outlines the support of Microsoft 365, Office 2021, and Office 2019 on Apple silicon devices.
The Microsoft Office release starting with version 16.55.1107.0 (and later) provides native support for both Apple silicon including the newly released M2, and Intel-based Macs. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote are supplied as a Universal macOS binary, where the Mac operating system will dynamically load the most optimal app components for your device. This release of Microsoft 365 includes the latest optimizations for macOS Big Sur, which is the first operating system to support Apple silicon.
Note: Office 2021 requires a minimum build of 16.53.
Common questions
Do I need to download and install a separate package if I'm using a Mac with an M1 processor?
No. The Microsoft 365 installation and update packages contain the optimized code for both Apple silicon and Intel-based devices. This is true regardless of whether you obtain Microsoft 365 from the Mac App Store, or office.com - which uses the Microsoft Content Delivery Network (CDN).
Is there any reason to run Microsoft 365 under Rosetta 2 translation?
For the best experience, we recommend that you let the operating system decide how it should load the Microsoft 365 apps. There are a small number of scenarios where you may need to tell macOS to prefer using Rosetta 2. Once such scenario is if your app workflows rely on a third-party plug-in that have not been updated to include native support for Apple silicon.
For instructions on how to use Microsoft 365 apps with Rosetta 2, see Use Office for Mac with Rosetta and Apple silicon. In the case of a third-party plug-in, contact your vendor to see if they have an update available.
