Microsoft introduces Apple Silicon support in beta build of Excel for Mac

Microsoft has updated a beta build of Office for Mac to support upcoming but unreleased Apple Silicon devices.

Although Apple has yet to release a consumer-facing Apple Silicon device, the company is expected to debut new models with first-party processors at its Nov. 10 "One more thing" event.

Ahead of that date, Microsoft appears to be introducing some Apple Silicon-compatible features in its Office Insider beta testing program. A new build released on Nov. 2 contains support for Apple-designed processors for SQL Server connectivity settings.

More specifically, the built-in SQL Open Data Connectivity (ODBC) provider in Excel for Mac now supports Apple Silicon devices. Microsoft also added support for the TLS v1.2 communication protocol.

"This feature provides support for SQL Server ODBC data connections to work properly on new devices that have Apple Silicon processors, as well as support for SQL Servers that require secure connections via the TLS v1.2 protocol," Microsoft wrote in its release notes.

The Excel feature is one that allows users to access data from SQL server databases using baked-in ODBC drivers. Since the feature is in beta testing, it may be a while before it arrives on Apple Silicon devices.

Apple's first Macs with its own processors are rumored to be a 13-inch MacBook Pro, a 16-inch MacBook Pro, and a 13-inch MacBook Air.