Microsoft beta build of Apple Silicon-compatible Office for Mac imminent

Microsoft plans to push an Apple Silicon-compatible Universal build of Office for Mac to its beta channel by the end of Wednesday.

Erik Schwiebert, the Principal Software Engineer for Apple products at Microsoft's Office division made the announcement on Twitter on Wednesday afternoon. Apple began accepting Universal app submissions on Tuesday.

Schwiebert said there's no official word on a public release date or Universal Office version for final release. Instead, the beta issuance is simply an "initial peek for customers to test on hardware they may be acquiring this week."

MSFT plans to push a Universal build of Mac Office 2019 to the Beta Channel (formerly "Insider Fast") by the end of today.

We don't have a public date or version for a final release; this is an initial peek for customers to test on hardware they may be acquiring this week... :)
— Erik Schwiebert (@Schwieb) November 11, 2020

Apple on Tuesday announced new MacBook Air, 13-inch Macbook Pro, and Mac mini models equipped with an M1 chipset, its first piece of Apple Silicon. All three devices are available to pre-order and will start shipping the week of Nov. 16.

Earlier in November, Microsoft issued a beta build of Excel that introduced Apple Silicon support for SQL Server connectivity settings.

20 Comments

melgross 21 Years · 33659 comments

About 4 years ago

In June, during the presentation for the DC, Apple clearly stated that Office would be available when the first new Macs came out, so this is a disappointment.

1 Like · 0 Dislikes

Xed 5 Years · 3034 comments

About 4 years ago

melgross said:

In June, during the presentation for the DC, Apple clearly stated that Office would be available when the first new Macs came out, so this is a disappointment.

What were your expectations v what Apple said? I haven't looked into the exact wording, but based on your post I think using Office for Mac via Rosetta 2 as well as the option for installing a universal build that is available before the release of the M1 Macs is keeping any general word about Office for Mac being available for ARM-based Macs.

1 Like · 0 Dislikes

ThinkmanDuv 5 Years · 22 comments

About 4 years ago

melgross said:

In June, during the presentation for the DC, Apple clearly stated that Office would be available when the first new Macs came out, so this is a disappointment.

But, I noticed that Microsoft wasn't mentioned during the M1 event. What was interesting is that Microsoft and Adobe (who was mentioned) were having a combined session at the same date and time as the Apple event yesterday. So, I hardly think this announcement should be a disappointment given only Lightroom will be available soon on the M1 Macs, with Photoshop scheduled for early 2021. Then there's the massive rest of the Adobe Suite that needs to be ported before I can think about the transition. That's fine since I'd likely be waiting for what I hope is a 30" small bezel, no-chin, iPad/Phone "language" designed iMac or iMac Pro. Wishful thinking……are you listening Apple?

1 Like · 0 Dislikes

cpsro 15 Years · 3264 comments

About 4 years ago

Maybe Apple or Microsoft will find it in their heart to tell us whether Rosetta 2 will run Office.

bobolicious 11 Years · 1189 comments

About 4 years ago

I'll be watching the free https://www.collaboraoffice.com/collabora-office-android-ios-release-notes/ and perhaps libreoffice to break away from proprietary software moving forward... I've had more issues with MS Office than just about any other software, including the orphaning upgrades every few years - I know some swear by it however I simply don't get it...?

2 Likes · 0 Dislikes