New update to Chrome adds native support for Apple silicon Macs

Update, November 17 (8:20 pm ET): Google has halted the update but says it will be available tomorrow.

Reported by 9to5Google, Google has released a new version of Chrome for the Mac that is optimized for Apple silicon and the M1 chip currently powering Apple's new MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and Mac mini.

According to the report, Mac users with an M1-powered Mac will see a new "Mac with Apple chip" option when downloading Chrome.

To download, visit google.com/chrome and click the blue "Download" button. If you're using an M1 computer, you should be given the option to select between "Mac with Intel chip" — which is labeled as being "most common" — and "Mac with Apple chip."

Some M1 Mac users, however, are reporting that Chrome is automatically updating to the Apple silicon version of the browser.

Meanwhile, some users report that the Intel version of Chrome for Mac is automatically updating to the Apple Silicon variant. Since the latest release of Chrome launched later in the afternoon, some new Mac owners already downloaded the previous release this morning. You can visit chrome://settings/help to manually initiate the update process.

Chrome was already running on the new Macs but using Apple's Rosetta 2 x86 to Apple silicon converter to do so. Native support should bring additional improvements to performance and power efficiency.

Meanwhile, some users report that the Intel version of Chrome for Mac is automatically updating to the Apple Silicon variant. Since the latest release of Chrome launched later in the afternoon, some new Mac owners already downloaded the previous release this morning. You can visit chrome://settings/help to manually initiate the update process.

Chrome 87, in addition to adding native support for Apple silicon, brings a 5X reduction to CPU usage, a 1.25-hour increase to battery life, and 25% faster speed when opening the browser. It also brings a new app icon to macOS that has been designed for Big Sur.