Microsoft released an optimized version of its Edge browser for the new Macs powered by Apple’s M1 silicon back in December last year. But so far, that build has been limited to the experimental Canary channel targeted at developers. Now, the company has finally pushed the ARM64 version of Edge browser that runs natively on the M1 Macs to the beta channel

Compared to the Canary and Dev channels, the Beta is the most stable build

With Edge going native on the M1 Macs, you can expect some performance improvements and a better overall experience compared to its non-native version that ran on top of the Rosetta 2 emulation layer. And compared to the Canary and Dev channels, the Beta version of Microsoft’s browser on the Insiders channel is much more stable. In Microsoft’s own words, ‘the Beta Channel is the most stable Microsoft Edge preview experience.’

https://twitter.com/MSEdgeDev/status/1350205277660995585?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

But this is still a beta build after all, so there are chances you might come across a few bugs. In my experience running a beta build of Microsoft’s in-house browser for a few months, the whole process has been usable for the most part. And with Microsoft rolling out a beta build, it is quite likely that a stable build of Edge that runs natively on the M1 Macs will be released sooner than later. For now, if you have a Mac with the M1 silicon and don’t have any reservations against running beta software, you can download the beta ARM64 macOS build of Edge browser here.

Don’t like Edge? Chrome and Firefox run natively on M1 Macs

However, if Edge doesn’t cut it for you, there are other options on the table as well. Google has already released an ARM64 version of Chrome for macOS, and you also have the Mozilla Firefox browser that gained native M1 Mac support with its version 84 that was released a while ago. In case you want a more privacy-centric browser, a macOS ARM64 version of Brave browser was released a few weeks ago as well. It is worth noting that both Edge and Brave browsers run on the Chromium engine, which means you can migrate data such as extensions from Chrome without having to think twice about compatibility hassles.