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Microsoft Teams is finally optimized to run natively on Apple Silicon

Over two years since Apple announced the transition from Intel to Apple Silicon for the Mac, Microsoft Teams is finally being updated to run natively on those Macs. The company announced this rollout in a blog post, saying it is “committed to innovation and committed to the Mac.”

Somewhat shockingly, even two years late, Microsoft says this update will roll out to customers “in increments” over the coming months. So even if you have Microsoft Teams running on an Apple Silicon Mac, you won’t necessarily receive this update anytime soon.

Once the update hits your Microsoft Teams app, however, the company says you can expect a “significant boost in performance” as well as improvements to efficiency. Microsoft wrote the following in a blog post published today:

We are rolling out a production grade universal binary version of Teams, which means it will run natively on the entire Mac lineup, including those with Apple silicon. For Mac users, this means a significant boost in performance, ensuring efficient use of device resources and an optimized Teams experience even when using multiple high-resolution monitors during calls or meetings.

Microsoft is committed to innovation and committed to the Mac, so we’re excited to bring this to our Mac users. All Mac users will be automatically upgraded with their most recent update to Teams. The generally available (GA) version of the native Teams app on Mac with Apple silicon is being rolled out to customers in increments over the coming months.

Microsoft started beta testing a version of Teams optimized for Apple Silicon back in April. As a refresher, Macs powered by Apple Silicon can run three different types of applications: 

  • iPhone and iPad apps on the Mac through the Mac App Store
  • Apps that run through Rosetta 2 translation, which allows users to run apps made for Intel Macs on Apple Silicon, with apps sometimes performing better in Rosetta with M1 than they did with Intel, Apple says
  • Universal apps are apps built for Apple Silicon and Intel processors and are downloadable from the Mac App Store or from the web.

Once fully available, this new version of Microsoft Teams will be a “universal” binary, meaning the same version can run natively on Apple Silicon-powered Macs as well as Intel machines. You might just have to wait a few months for it to hit your devices.

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Avatar for Chance Miller Chance Miller

Chance is an editor for the entire 9to5 network and covers the latest Apple news for 9to5Mac.

Tips, questions, typos to chance@9to5mac.com

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