Mozilla has released the latest update to Firefox, bringing full compatibility with Apple’s M1 Macs, as well as significant performance improvements.
The M1 chip is Apple’s custom silicon, based on the same ARM designs Apple uses in its iPhone and iPad. While M1-based Macs can run software designed for Intel chips, and run it well, the best performance is obtained by recompiling an app so it runs natively on the M1.
Microsoft just made headlines with its announcement that Microsoft 365 has been updated to run on the M1 natively, and now Firefox has made the jump as well. The company outlined the benefits in its release notes:
Native support for macOS devices built with Apple Silicon CPUs brings dramatic performance improvements over the non-native build that was shipped in Firefox 83: Firefox launches over 2.5 times faster and web apps are now twice as responsive (per the SpeedoMeter 2.0 test). If you are on a new Apple device, follow these steps to upgrade to the latest Firefox.
As one of the most privacy-focused browsers on the market, it’s good to see Firefox updated for Apple’s new chip.