Microsoft Teams is now optimized for Apple Silicon Macs. Microsoft announced today that the new native Teams client will start rolling out to users with M1 or M2 Macs, and it will bring performance improvements compared to the emulated version for Intel-based Macs.

“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 said today.

Microsoft’s Office suite has been optimized for Apple Silicon Macs since November 2020, but a native version of Microsoft Teams has been a top-requested feature since then. A beta version of the app previously leaked back in April, but Microsoft recommended users not to download it at the time.

Despite Microsoft doing some work to make Teams more power efficient (especially during meetings), the app is a notorious resource hog on the desktop. Microsoft Teams still uses the Electron framework under the hood, and Microsoft’s plan to deliver the faster “Teams 2.0” architecture that’s already available for consumers to business users has yet to materialize.

If you can’t wait to try this new native Teams client on your Apple Silicon Mac, it looks like you can’t download it manually as of this writing. “The generally available version of the native Teams app on Mac with Apple silicon is being rolled out to customers in increments over the coming months,” the company said today.

Tagged with Apple, Apple Silicon, Microsoft Teams