Microsoft Releases Office for Mac Update With Full Apple Silicon Support in Excel

[MacRumors]

Microsoft has released a new version of its Office for Mac productivity suite that includes an updated Excel app with 100% native support for Apple silicon machines.

According to the release notes accompanying version 16.57, Excel will now run natively on Macs powered by Apple's M1-series processors without having to use the Rosetta 2 translation layer, which means anyone using a Mac with an M1, M1 Pro, or M1 Max processor can expect better performance and energy efficiency when working with Excel spreadsheets, particularly those that make use of the Power Query function.

Excel is fully supported on devices with Apple Silicon CPUs: Power Query in Excel for Mac is now natively supported on Apple Silicon processors. If you previously used Rosetta emulator to run Excel, you may now disable it and run Excel natively on your devices.

The latest update applies to Office 365, Office 2019 for Mac, Office LTSC 2021 for Mac, and Office 2021 for Mac, which are available as a one-time purchase from a retail store or through a volume licensing agreement. Users can get the new version from Microsoft AutoUpdate (MAU). To use Microsoft AutoUpdate, start an Office application, such as Word or Excel, and then choose Help -> Check for Updates.

Apple built its Rosetta 2 translation software so that Macs can run x86-64 code that's written for Intel Macs. In contrast to the original Rosetta – the version that allowed PowerPC apps to run on Intel-based Macs – code isn't interpreted in real-time. Instead, the Rosetta 2 translation process happens entirely on first launch, though there is a slight performance hit as the initial x86–64 translation of instructions takes place.

Apple says Rosetta 2 is a temporary solution for developers to make their existing Intel-based programs to run on Arm-based Macs, meaning they will eventually need to create native apps for ‌Apple Silicon‌ machines. Notably, Apple ended support for the original Rosetta three years after its release.

Article Link: Microsoft Releases Office for Mac Update With Full Apple Silicon Support in Excel

 

[DHagan4755]

It's kind of funny that Microsoft's first Mac app, Excel, and an application whose life began on the Mac, is finally native with Apple silicon.

 

[JLL]

"The latest update applies to Office 2019 for Mac, Office LTSC 2021 for Mac, and Office 2021 for Mac"

And Microsoft 365.

 

[contacos]

it wasn't already? who knew!

I personally just sign in to my Office 365 subscription from work since it can be installed on up to 5 machines. Free office for me!

 

[fwmireault]

Is there a difference between Excel you get on the Mac App Store and the Excel version provided by Office 365? The version on the App Store was M1 native for a few time now

 

[JLL]

It's kind of funny that Microsoft's first Mac app, Excel, and an application whose life began on the Mac, is finally native with Apple silicon.

It's been native for a while with the exception of Power Query.

 

[tridley68]

I'm sticking with my copy of office 2010 that I own I'm not paying every month for office 365.

 

[JLL]

I'm sticking with my copy of office 2010 that I own I'm not paying every month for office 365.

Office 2021 is a one time purchase. Only Microsoft 365 is a subscription.

 

[macintologist]

The writing is a little sloppy in this story. "OG Rosetta" is not the proper way to refer to the first version of Rosetta that shipped with OS X 10.4-10.6.

 

[Zdigital2015]

The writing is a little sloppy in this story. "OG Rosetta" is not the proper way to refer to the first version of Rosetta that shipped with Snow Leopard.

You mean MacOS X Tiger 10.4.1, right?

EDIT: But yes, to your original point, the use of OG is sophomoric and unprofessional. This is not Tiger Beat magazine.

 

[incepted]

Is there a difference between Excel you get on the Mac App Store and the Excel version provided by Office 365? The version on the App Store was M1 native for a few time now

I think other than the update mechanism, there is not.

 

[SW3029]

So are the other Office apps M1 native or not?

 

[headlessmike]

You mean MacOS X Tiger 10.4.1, right?

Just to nitpick, it was released with Tiger version 10.4.4.

 

[NBAasDOGG]

Excel? Eeeewwww.

Just use R, soo much better!

 

[TriApple]

Excel? Eeeewwww.

Just use R, soo much better!

Good luck pitching that to all the finance departments running their work on spreadsheets.

 

[dmylrea]

This headline and article is very misleading and confusing. It makes it sound as though Excel is finally Apple Silicon-native. The whole suite is already AS. I think it is just Power Query (whatever that is) that is now AS.

 

[abruisedapple]

Been using Excel on my M1 mini 16/256 for ages now, no problems with performance......but the real question for me happens to be when we will see a version of Teams for apple silicon? Anyone got intel?

 

[Will Tisdale 🎗]

The writing is a little sloppy in this story. "OG Rosetta" is not the proper way to refer to the first version of Rosetta that shipped with Snow Leopard.

Referring to anything as “OG” is as irritating as hell. ?

 

[Aggedor]

Did MacRumors actually read MS's release notes? Excel has been Apple Silicon native for a long time (along with the rest of Office, except OneDrive). The only thing that required Rosetta was Power Query, so now THAT has been updated to be Apple Silicon native, Excel now no longer requires Rosetta.

 

[MBAir2010]

why?

did the numbers change value?
did they add any new ones?
were the older ones upside down?

it was either this silly comment or a syne "Use Libre Office" comment.

enjoy your updates, everyone!

 

[Will Tisdale 🎗]

Did MacRumors actually read MS's release notes? Excel has been Apple Silicon native for a long time (along with the rest of Office, except OneDrive). The only thing that required Rosetta was Power Query, so now THAT has been updated to be Apple Silicon native, Excel now no longer requires Rosetta.

Oh course not. Release notes are factual, not rumours. 😉

 

[srbNYC]

I'm so confused by this. My Microsoft apps are all downloaded from Microsoft via my employer's O365 subscription. They are all listed as "Universal" (not "Apple Silicon") in System Information, even though they're all version 16.58

 

[dmylrea]

I'm sticking with my copy of office 2010 that I own I'm not paying every month for office 365.

Still rocking your AOL email account too, right? ?

 

[dmylrea]

I'm so confused by this. My Microsoft apps are all downloaded from Microsoft via my employer's O365 subscription. They are all listed as "Universal" (not "Apple Silicon") in System Information, even though they're all version 16.58

"Universal" contains both Intel and Apple Silicon versions of the app. Launch any of the Office apps and fire up Activity Monitor. You will see under the "kind" heading that it shows as "Apple" and not "Intel".

 

[DesertNomad]

The writing is a little sloppy in this story. "OG Rosetta" is not the proper way to refer to the first version of Rosetta that shipped with Snow Leopard.

I had to look up what OG meant. It's a bizarre choice of word usage.