Microsoft began testing the native version of its OneDrive sync app for the M1 Mac computer as early as June 2021 and is expected to release a stable version by the end of last year. Although Microsoft missed the deadline, the M1 native version of OneDrive is now available to everyone.
We’re excited to announce that OneDrive for macOS will now run natively on Apple Silicon, Microsoft announced in a community post on Monday. This means OneDrive will take full advantage of the performance improvements of Apple’s silicon.
We know this is an expectation that has been A long-standing, highly requested feature that we are excited to offer to start with version 22.022.
OneDrive can now run on Mac computers equipped with Apple’s M1 chipset without the Rosetta 2 compatibility layer, and it should have better performance and energy efficiency.
In the public preview channel, Microsoft is also testing support for folder backup on the Mac, which allows the system’s Desktop and Documents folders to be synced through OneDrive just like normal OneDrive folders.
Microsoft says this is especially useful for businesses, as they can give employees new computers and have all their files ready quickly, a feature currently only available on macOS Monterey 12.1.