Microsoft Edge on macOS will soon get the same native update experience that Windows users have been enjoying since launch. The new update experience is already live in Edge Canary version 90.0.816.0 or newer, though it’s currently only available on Intel-based Macs and must be enabled via the edge://flags menu.
On macOS, Microsoft Edge updates currently go through the same Microsoft AutoUpdate app that the company uses to update the non-Mac App Store versions of Office for Mac. The Edge team has acknowledged that this process can be confusing and slow, especially as the edge://settings/help page was “not always consistent with Microsoft AutoUpdate in showing update availability.”
With this new Edge-native experience, Edge updates will be handled within the browser and be automatically installed in the background, just like it works on Windows. When an update is available, the pop up notifications from the Microsoft AutoUpdate app will be replaced by a badge over the app’s Ellipsis menu.
This new native update experience will need to go through Edge’s different Insider channels before it becomes generally available on macOS. It will also be coming soon to Macs with M1 chips, the Edge team said yesterday.
