Office for Mac, which includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint and other productivity tools, is available in various different forms. Here, we help dispel the confusion with our complete guide to Office for Mac and Office 365, including a breakdown of exactly what you get with each Office option and how much it'll cost you.
When is Office 2019 for Mac coming out?
In an unusual move, Microsoft announced an update for both the Windows and Mac OS versions of Office simultaneously in late 2018.
The new features in Office 2019 largely consist of those that have been issued as updates to the Office 365 subscription version of the product since the last big Office release in 2016.
These new features include focus mode in Word, new learning and translation tools, accessibility improvements, new transitions in PowerPoint and lots more. You can find out more about them on Microsoft's blog.
Students get Office 365 Education for free, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Microsoft Teams, and classroom tools. Enter your school email address: Please enter your school email address (for example, [email protected]). Students and teachers are eligible for Office 365 Education, which includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and now Microsoft Teams, plus additional classroom tools. Educators can create collaborative classrooms, connect in professional learnings communities, and communicate.
In the past, Microsoft has focused on issuing new updates to the PC version of Office and hasn't been concerned with issuing a coinciding update to the Mac version, but 2019's release changes that.
How much does Office for Mac cost?
Office for Mac 2019 is available in two forms with a one-off payment: Home & Student or Home & Business. Buy either, and you've got Office for life, but you won't get updated to the next major Office release unless you pay another one-off payment for it.
This option is for those that don't like the idea of a monthly payment and have a bigger lump sum available to spend on Office now. It's also for those who aren't worried about upgrading to the newest version of Office for Mac when it comes out, or are willing to spend another chunk of cash in order to get it.
The alternative is Office 365, which uses a subscription service - more on that below.
Here are the two full Office for Mac versions, how much they cost and what they include.
Office Home & Student 2019 for Mac
Price: £119.99/US$149.99
Includes: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote
Install on: 1 Mac
OneDrive storage: 15GB
Skype: n/a
See now on the UK Microsoft Store | See now on the US Microsoft Store
Office Home & Business 2019 for Mac
Price: £249.99/US$249.99
Includes: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook
Install on: 1 Mac
OneDrive storage: 15GB
Skype: n/a
See now on the UK Microsoft Store | See now on the US Microsoft Store
How much does Office 365 cost?
You can buy Office for Mac as a one time purchase (as above) or as part of Microsoft's Office 365 subscription service. The subscription route will cost you less upfront, and is available on a month-by-month basis or a yearly basis. When Microsoft launches new versions of Office, you'll get them as part of your subscription. You are also able to install Office 365 on more devices, and you'll get some additional features as part of the package.
Office 365 Home
Includes: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Publisher (PC only), and Access (PC only)
Install on: 5 PCs or Macs, 5 tablets and 5 phones
OneDrive storage: 1TB per user for up to 5 users
Skype: 60 minutes calls to mobiles and landlines per month for 5 users
See now on the UK Microsoft Store | See now on the US Microsoft Store
Office 365 Personal
Includes: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Publisher (PC only), and Access (PC only)
Install on: 1 PC or Mac, 1 tablet and 1 phone
OneDrive storage: 1TB
Skype: 60 minutes calls to mobiles and landlines per month
See now on the UK Microsoft Store | See now on the US Microsoft Store
Office 365 University
Includes: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Publisher (PC only), and Access (PC only)
Install on: 2 PCs or Macs or tablets, 2 phones
OneDrive storage: 1TB
Skype: 60 minutes calls to mobiles and landlines per month
See now on the UK Microsoft Store | See now on the US Microsoft Store
Office 365 Business
Includes: Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, OneNote, Publisher (PC only) and OneDrive for business. (Upgrade to Business Premium for more Office 365 services including Skype, Exchange and SharePoint).
Install on: 5 PCs or Macs, 5 phones, 5 tablets per user.
OneDrive storage: 1TB
Will my Mac run Office for Mac 2019?
Office 2019 for Mac requires Mac OS X 10.12 Sierra or later, 4GB RAM and 10GB of available disk space.
The following Macs should therefore be able to run Office 2019 for Mac.
- iMac (Late 2009 or newer)
- MacBook (Late 2009 or newer)
- MacBook Pro (2010 or newer)
- MacBook Air (2010 or newer)
- Mac mini (2010 or newer)
- Mac Pro (2010 or newer)
There are also iOS versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook.
Microsoft Office Touch Bar features
New features added to Microsoft Office for Mac in 2017 included a number of new functions made possible by the Track Pad and Touch Bar on the MacBook Pro.
Touch Bar features in Word:
In Word, you can use the Touch Bar to insert photos, hyperlinks, or comments in your document.
The Word Focus Mode feature hides all ribbons and controls from the screen so that you could focus on writing in Word, while keeping the most relevant commands at your fingertips thanks to the Touch Bar.
Touch Bar features in PowerPoint:
In PowerPoint, the Touch Bar gets 'view-specific controls' to present a slideshow.
The Touch Bar integrates slide thumbnails so you can move through your presentation, and it also includes a timer to keep you on time.
Touch Bar features in Excel:
In Excel, pressing the equal sign launches the most recently used commands on the Touch Bar. From there you can tap to select a range and perform a specific function.
Touch Bar features in Outlook:
When composing an email, for example, the Touch Bar will surface recent files so that you can add an attachment with one tap.
In Outlook's Today view, you can use the Touch Bar to get a quick glimpse of your calendar events for the day, or quickly launch a Skype for Business call.
MacBook Pro users can access these features by going to Help > Check for updates in any of their Office for Mac apps.