Firefox Updated With Native Support for M1 Macs, Mozilla Touts 'Dramatic Performance Improvements'

Mozilla today released Firefox version 84 with native support for Apple Silicon Macs with the M1 chip, touting "dramatic performance improvements" over the previous, unoptimized version of the web browser.

mozilla firefox banner
Specifically, Firefox now launches over 2.5 times faster and web apps are now twice as responsive, according to Mozilla.

If you are using a Mac with the M1 chip, Mozilla says you will need to fully exit and restart Firefox after upgrading to version 84 in order for the browser to run natively on Apple Silicon. Mozilla promises not only faster performance, but also better battery life.

Firefox 84 is also the final version to support Adobe Flash.

Apple recently shared a list of popular apps optimized for M1 Macs that are available in the Mac App Store, such as Pixelmator Pro, Adobe Lightroom, Affinity Designer, Darkroom, Fantastical, OmniFocus, BBEdit, Instapaper, and Twitter. Apple boasted that apps optimized for the M1 chip deliver "game-changing speed and capabilities."

Last month, Apple released its first Macs with the M1 chip, including a new 13-inch MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and Mac mini.

Popular Stories

apple store down feature

Here's Why the Apple Store is Going Down

Thursday November 27, 2025 1:01 pm PST by
Apple's online store is going down for a few hours on a rolling country-by-country basis right now, but do not get your hopes up for new products. Apple takes its online store down for a few hours ahead of Black Friday every year to tease/prepare for its annual gift card offer with the purchase of select products. The store already went down and came back online in Australia and New Zealand, ...
iPhone Pocket Short

iPhone Pocket is Now Completely Sold Out Worldwide

Tuesday November 25, 2025 7:16 am PST by
Apple recently teamed up with Japanese fashion brand ISSEY MIYAKE to create the iPhone Pocket, a limited-edition knitted accessory designed to carry an iPhone. However, it is now completely sold out in all countries where it was released. iPhone Pocket became available to order on Apple's online store starting Friday, November 14, in the United States, France, China, Italy, Japan, Singapore, ...
New Intel Logo

Apple and Intel Rumored to Partner on Mac Chips Again in a New Way

Friday November 28, 2025 7:33 am PST by
While all Macs are now powered by Apple's custom-designed chips, a new rumor claims that Apple may rekindle its partnership with Intel, albeit in a new and limited way. Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo today said Intel is expected to begin shipping Apple's lowest-end M-series chip as early as mid-2027. Kuo said Apple plans to utilize Intel's 18A process, which is the "earliest...
streaming black friday 2025

Best Black Friday Streaming Deals - Save Big on Apple TV, Disney+, Hulu, and More

Thursday November 27, 2025 1:14 pm PST by
We've been focusing on deals on physical products over the past few weeks, but Black Friday is also a great time of year to purchase a streaming membership. Some of the biggest services have great discounts for new and select returning members this week, including Apple TV, Disney+, Hulu, Paramount+, Peacock, and more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When...
Apple Foldable Thumb

Foldable iPhone to Debut These Three Breakthrough Features

Tuesday November 25, 2025 7:09 am PST by
Apple's first foldable iPhone is expected to launch alongside the iPhone 18 Pro models in fall 2026, and it's shaping up to include three standout features that could set it apart from the competition. The book-style foldable will reportedly feature an industry-first 24-megapixel under-display camera built into the inner display, according to a recent JP Morgan equity research report. That...
iphone air camera

iPhone Air Flop Sparks Industry Retreat From Ultra-Thin Phones

Thursday November 27, 2025 3:14 am PST by
Apple's disappointing iPhone Air sales are causing major Chinese mobile vendors to scrap or freeze their own ultra-thin phone projects, according to reports coming out of Asia. Since the ‌iPhone Air‌ launched in September, there have been reports of poor sales and manufacturing cuts, while Apple's supply chain has scaled back shipments and production. Apple supplier Foxconn has...
iphone black friday gold

The Best Black Friday iPhone Deals Still Available

Friday November 28, 2025 6:24 am PST by
Cellular carriers have always offered big savings on the newest iPhone models during the holidays, and Black Friday 2025 sales have kicked off at AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and more. Right now we're tracking notable offers on the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air. For even more savings, keep an eye on older models during the holiday shopping season. Note: MacRumors is...

Top Rated Comments

parth Avatar
65 months ago
uninstalling google chrome, installing Firefox. :)
Score: 30 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macsplusmacs Avatar
65 months ago
Quite the jump.

Congrats team firefox.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ikir Avatar
65 months ago
My main browser is Safari but I’m also using Firefox for few problematic website. I trust Mozilla, instead Google is evil we know: https://chromeisbad.com/

Thanks for M1 build!!
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Konigi Avatar
65 months ago
We haven't discussed the most important thing yet: Firefox still hasn't updated its icon for Big Sur. Very disappointing.
(Apart from that it's extremely fast, reliable, doesn't use a lot of memory, but that's all second to the icon.)
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MRrainer Avatar
65 months ago
I really wonder what kind of rabbits Intel will be able to pull out of their fab-hats.
If in two years Apple has a system to replace the MacPro, that would mean there are server-class chips in the horizon.
If Microsoft ported over stuff like SQL Server to that, it could mean tremendous cost savings for power and cooling.

That in turn could be the end of Intel as we know it.

But even the hardware available now is just too good for devs to ignore, so I expect full support from most Open Source software within a year.
And I expect most Microsoft employees regardless of which division they work for have now taken a look at it and asked themselves, once again, „Why can’t we do this?“.

This might be a „MacOS X Tiger“ moment again, where Apple has delivered on all the promises that Microsoft made.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Apple_Robert Avatar
65 months ago
Good work, Mozilla. When I get my M1, I will definitely give the app a test.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)