VLC now works natively on M1 Macs

The latest open source media player update is available everywhere for VLC, and it comes with native support for Apple silicon Macs – new releases from MacBook Pro, The MacBook Air, And the Mac mini With Apple’s own M1 processor. VLC 3.0.12 also includes some visual tweaks to bring it in line with Big Sur, the latest version of macOS.

Mac apps strictly don’t require original updates to work with the M1 processor, since Apple silicon Macs include Rosetta 2, a translation layer that allows bundled software for x86 processors to work surprisingly well on new Arm-based hardware. But for an app like VLC, which many users rely on to play massive 4K or 8K video files, the improvements in performance and efficiency could be noticeable.

As noted before 9to5Mac, The new VLC is not a universal binary, meaning that improved arm code is not yet included by default. The regular VLC app should be updated to 3.0.12, then back to 3.0.12.1 on the Apple silicon Mac device to get the optimal version.

Version 3.0.12 also contains some minor features and tweaks to VLC on other platforms, including support for better Blu-ray tracks and fixes some bugs when using Direct3D 11 on Windows.