diff --git a/packages/launcher/index.ts b/packages/launcher/index.ts
index 2a98e6ff42f..bd18c4fefac 100644
--- a/packages/launcher/index.ts
+++ b/packages/launcher/index.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { detect, detectByPath } from './lib/detect'
 
-import { launch } from './lib/browsers'
+import { launch } from './lib/launch'
 
 export {
   detect,
diff --git a/packages/launcher/lib/browsers.ts b/packages/launcher/lib/browsers.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 3a53865e3ae..00000000000
--- a/packages/launcher/lib/browsers.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,54 +0,0 @@
-import Debug from 'debug'
-import type * as cp from 'child_process'
-import { utils } from './utils'
-import type { FoundBrowser } from '@packages/types'
-import type { Readable } from 'stream'
-
-export const debug = Debug('cypress:launcher:browsers')
-
-/** starts a found browser and opens URL if given one */
-export type LaunchedBrowser = cp.ChildProcessByStdio<null, Readable, Readable>
-
-// NOTE: For Firefox, geckodriver is used to launch the browser
-export function launch (
-  browser: FoundBrowser,
-  url: string,
-  debuggingPort: number,
-  args: string[] = [],
-  browserEnv = {},
-) {
-  debug('launching browser %o', { browser, url })
-
-  if (!browser.path) {
-    throw new Error(`Browser ${browser.name} is missing path`)
-  }
-
-  if (url) {
-    args = [url].concat(args)
-  }
-
-  const spawnOpts: cp.SpawnOptionsWithStdioTuple<cp.StdioNull, cp.StdioPipe, cp.StdioPipe> = {
-    stdio: ['ignore', 'pipe', 'pipe'],
-    // allow setting default env vars
-    // but only if it's not already set by the environment
-    env: { ...browserEnv, ...process.env },
-  }
-
-  debug('spawning browser with opts %o', { browser, url, spawnOpts })
-
-  const proc = utils.spawnWithArch(browser.path, args, spawnOpts)
-
-  proc.stdout.on('data', (buf) => {
-    debug('%s stdout: %s', browser.name, String(buf).trim())
-  })
-
-  proc.stderr.on('data', (buf) => {
-    debug('%s stderr: %s', browser.name, String(buf).trim())
-  })
-
-  proc.on('exit', (code, signal) => {
-    debug('%s exited: %o', browser.name, { code, signal })
-  })
-
-  return proc
-}
diff --git a/packages/launcher/lib/darwin/index.ts b/packages/launcher/lib/darwinHelpers/index.ts
similarity index 100%
rename from packages/launcher/lib/darwin/index.ts
rename to packages/launcher/lib/darwinHelpers/index.ts
diff --git a/packages/launcher/lib/darwin/util.ts b/packages/launcher/lib/darwinHelpers/util.ts
similarity index 100%
rename from packages/launcher/lib/darwin/util.ts
rename to packages/launcher/lib/darwinHelpers/util.ts
diff --git a/packages/launcher/lib/detect.ts b/packages/launcher/lib/detect.ts
index cba982d644f..734fd80b3d1 100644
--- a/packages/launcher/lib/detect.ts
+++ b/packages/launcher/lib/detect.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import _, { compact, extend, find } from 'lodash'
 import os from 'os'
 import { removeDuplicateBrowsers } from '@packages/data-context/src/sources/BrowserDataSource'
 import { knownBrowsers } from './known-browsers'
-import * as darwinHelper from './darwin'
+import * as darwinHelper from './darwinHelpers'
 import { notDetectedAtPathErr } from './errors'
 import * as linuxHelper from './linux'
 import Debug from 'debug'
diff --git a/packages/launcher/lib/launch.ts b/packages/launcher/lib/launch.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..3d4c33db97b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/launcher/lib/launch.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+import Debug from 'debug'
+import type * as cp from 'child_process'
+import type { FoundBrowser } from '@packages/types'
+import type { Readable } from 'stream'
+import { PlatformFactory } from './platforms/PlatformFactory'
+
+export const debug = Debug('cypress:launcher:browsers')
+
+/** starts a found browser and opens URL if given one */
+export type LaunchedBrowser = cp.ChildProcessByStdio<null, Readable, Readable>
+
+// NOTE: For Firefox, geckodriver is used to launch the browser
+export function launch (
+  browser: FoundBrowser,
+  url: string,
+  args: string[] = [],
+  browserEnv = {},
+) {
+  debug('launching browser %o', { browser, url })
+
+  // We shouldn't need to check this, because FoundBrowser.path is
+  // not optional.
+  if (!browser.path) {
+    throw new Error(`Browser ${browser.name} is missing path`)
+  }
+
+  return PlatformFactory.select().launch(browser, url, args, browserEnv)
+}
diff --git a/packages/launcher/lib/platforms/Darwin.ts b/packages/launcher/lib/platforms/Darwin.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..0e14f7a020d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/launcher/lib/platforms/Darwin.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+// this file is named XDarwin because intellisense gets confused with '../darwin/'
+import { ChildProcess, spawn } from 'child_process'
+import { Platform } from './Platform'
+import type { FoundBrowser } from '@packages/types'
+import os from 'os'
+
+export class Darwin extends Platform {
+  launch (browser: FoundBrowser, url: string, args: string[], env: Record<string, string> = {}): ChildProcess {
+    if (os.arch() === 'arm64') {
+      const proc = spawn(
+        'arch',
+        [browser.path, url, ...args], {
+          ...Platform.defaultSpawnOpts,
+          env: {
+            ARCHPREFERENCE: 'arm64,x86_64',
+            ...Platform.defaultSpawnOpts.env,
+            ...env,
+          },
+        },
+      )
+
+      this.addDebugListeners(proc, browser)
+
+      return proc
+    }
+
+    return super.launch(browser, url, args, env)
+  }
+}
diff --git a/packages/launcher/lib/platforms/Linux.ts b/packages/launcher/lib/platforms/Linux.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..c476837199e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/launcher/lib/platforms/Linux.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+import { Platform } from './Platform'
+
+export class Linux extends Platform {
+}
diff --git a/packages/launcher/lib/platforms/Platform.ts b/packages/launcher/lib/platforms/Platform.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..3e0bb77907c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/launcher/lib/platforms/Platform.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+import type { FoundBrowser } from '@packages/types'
+import { ChildProcess, spawn, SpawnOptions } from 'child_process'
+import Debug from 'debug'
+
+export const debug = Debug('cypress:launcher:browsers')
+
+export abstract class Platform {
+  launch (browser: FoundBrowser, url: string, args: string[], env: Record<string, string> = {}): ChildProcess {
+    debug('launching browser %o', { browser, url, args, env })
+
+    const proc = spawn(browser.path, [url, ...args], {
+      ...Platform.defaultSpawnOpts,
+      env: {
+        ...Platform.defaultSpawnOpts.env,
+        ...env,
+      },
+    })
+
+    this.addDebugListeners(proc, browser)
+
+    return proc
+  }
+
+  protected addDebugListeners (proc: ChildProcess, browser: FoundBrowser) {
+    proc.stdout?.on('data', (buf) => {
+      debug('%s stdout: %s', browser.name, String(buf).trim())
+    })
+
+    proc.stderr?.on('data', (buf) => {
+      debug('%s stderr: %s', browser.name, String(buf).trim())
+    })
+
+    proc.on('exit', (code, signal) => {
+      debug('%s exited: %o', browser.name, { code, signal })
+    })
+  }
+
+  static get defaultSpawnOpts (): SpawnOptions {
+    return {
+      stdio: ['ignore', 'pipe', 'pipe'],
+      env: {
+        ...process.env,
+      },
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/packages/launcher/lib/platforms/PlatformFactory.ts b/packages/launcher/lib/platforms/PlatformFactory.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..489717005b5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/launcher/lib/platforms/PlatformFactory.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+import os from 'os'
+import type { Platform } from './Platform'
+import { Darwin } from './Darwin'
+import { Linux } from './Linux'
+import { Windows } from './Windows'
+
+export class PlatformFactory {
+  static select (): Platform {
+    switch (os.platform()) {
+      case 'darwin':
+        return new Darwin()
+      case 'linux':
+        return new Linux()
+      case 'win32':
+        return new Windows()
+      default:
+        throw new Error(`Unsupported platform: ${os.platform()} ${os.arch()}`)
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/packages/launcher/lib/platforms/Windows.ts b/packages/launcher/lib/platforms/Windows.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..34e3511a413
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/launcher/lib/platforms/Windows.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+import { Platform } from './Platform'
+
+export class Windows extends Platform {
+}
diff --git a/packages/launcher/test/unit/darwin.spec.ts b/packages/launcher/test/unit/darwin.spec.ts
index 71d1467cd60..e117343f797 100644
--- a/packages/launcher/test/unit/darwin.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/launcher/test/unit/darwin.spec.ts
@@ -4,9 +4,9 @@ import cp from 'child_process'
 import fs from 'fs-extra'
 import { PassThrough } from 'stream'
 import { FoundBrowser } from '@packages/types'
-import * as darwinHelper from '../../lib/darwin'
+import * as darwinHelper from '../../lib/darwinHelpers'
 import * as linuxHelper from '../../lib/linux'
-import * as darwinUtil from '../../lib/darwin/util'
+import * as darwinUtil from '../../lib/darwinHelpers/util'
 import { launch } from '../../lib/browsers'
 import { knownBrowsers } from '../../lib/known-browsers'
 
diff --git a/packages/launcher/test/unit/detect.spec.ts b/packages/launcher/test/unit/detect.spec.ts
index 8ef8f44714c..bef8e77628c 100644
--- a/packages/launcher/test/unit/detect.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/launcher/test/unit/detect.spec.ts
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ import { goalBrowsers } from '../fixtures'
 import os from 'os'
 import { log } from '../log'
 import { detect as linuxDetect } from '../../lib/linux'
-import { detect as darwinDetect } from '../../lib/darwin'
+import { detect as darwinDetect } from '../../lib/darwinHelpers'
 import { detect as windowsDetect } from '../../lib/windows'
 import type { Browser } from '@packages/types'
 
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ vi.mock('../../lib/linux', async (importActual) => {
   }
 })
 
-vi.mock('../../lib/darwin', async (importActual) => {
+vi.mock('../../lib/darwinHelpers', async (importActual) => {
   const actual = await importActual()
 
   return {
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ describe('detect', () => {
     vi.resetAllMocks()
 
     const { detect: linuxDetectActual } = await vi.importActual<typeof import('../../lib/linux')>('../../lib/linux')
-    const { detect: darwinDetectActual } = await vi.importActual<typeof import('../../lib/darwin')>('../../lib/darwin')
+    const { detect: darwinDetectActual } = await vi.importActual<typeof import('../../lib/darwinHelpers')>('../../lib/darwinHelpers')
     const { detect: windowsDetectActual } = await vi.importActual<typeof import('../../lib/windows')>('../../lib/windows')
 
     vi.mocked(linuxDetect).mockImplementation(linuxDetectActual)
diff --git a/packages/launcher/test/unit/launch.spec.ts b/packages/launcher/test/unit/launch.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..938ee6ee4f7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/launcher/test/unit/launch.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,136 @@
+import { describe, it, expect, vi, Mocked } from 'vitest'
+import type { FoundBrowser } from '@packages/types'
+import { launch } from '../../lib/launch'
+import os from 'os'
+import { spawn, ChildProcess } from 'child_process'
+import EventEmitter from 'events'
+
+vi.mock('os', async (importActual) => {
+  const actual: typeof os = await importActual()
+
+  return {
+    default: {
+      ...actual,
+      platform: vi.fn(),
+      arch: vi.fn(),
+    },
+  }
+})
+
+vi.mock('child_process', async (importActual) => {
+  const actual = await importActual()
+
+  return {
+    // @ts-expect-error
+    ...actual,
+    spawn: vi.fn(),
+  }
+})
+
+describe('launch', () => {
+  let browser: FoundBrowser
+  let url: string
+  let args: string[]
+  let browserEnv: Record<string, string>
+  let launchedBrowser: Mocked<ChildProcess>
+
+  let arch: ReturnType<typeof os.arch>
+  let platform: ReturnType<typeof os.platform>
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    browser = {
+      name: 'chrome',
+      version: '100.0.0',
+      path: 'chrome',
+      family: 'chromium',
+      channel: 'stable',
+      displayName: 'Chrome',
+    }
+
+    url = 'https://www.somedomain.test'
+    args = ['--headless']
+    browserEnv = {}
+
+    launchedBrowser = {
+      on: vi.fn() as any,
+      // these are streams, but we don't need to test
+      // stream logic - they do need to implement event
+      // emission though, because of addDebugListeners
+      // @ts-expect-error
+      stdout: new EventEmitter(),
+      // @ts-expect-error
+      stderr: new EventEmitter(),
+      kill: vi.fn(),
+    }
+
+    vi.mocked(os.arch).mockImplementation(() => arch)
+    vi.mocked(os.platform).mockImplementation(() => platform)
+
+    vi.mocked(spawn).mockReturnValue(launchedBrowser)
+  })
+
+  afterEach(() => {
+    vi.clearAllMocks()
+  })
+
+  it('throws when browser.path is missing', () => {
+    browser.path = undefined
+
+    expect(() => launch(browser, url, args, browserEnv)).toThrow('Browser chrome is missing path')
+  })
+
+  describe('when darwin arm64', () => {
+    beforeEach(() => {
+      arch = 'arm64'
+      platform = 'darwin'
+    })
+
+    it('launches a browser', () => {
+      const proc = launch(browser, url, args, browserEnv)
+
+      expect(spawn).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+        'arch',
+        [browser.path, url, ...args],
+        expect.objectContaining({
+          stdio: ['ignore', 'pipe', 'pipe'],
+          env: expect.objectContaining({
+            ...browserEnv,
+            ARCHPREFERENCE: 'arm64,x86_64',
+          }),
+        }),
+      )
+
+      expect(proc).toBe(launchedBrowser)
+    })
+  })
+
+  for (const [testArch, testPlatform] of [
+    ['x64', 'darwin'],
+    ['x64', 'linux'],
+    ['arm64', 'linux'],
+    ['x64', 'win32'],
+    ['arm64', 'win32'],
+  ]) {
+    describe(`when ${testPlatform} ${testArch}`, () => {
+      beforeEach(() => {
+        arch = testArch as typeof arch
+        platform = testPlatform as typeof platform
+      })
+
+      it('launches a browser', () => {
+        const proc = launch(browser, url, args, browserEnv)
+
+        expect(spawn).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+          browser.path,
+          [url, ...args],
+          expect.objectContaining({
+            stdio: ['ignore', 'pipe', 'pipe'],
+            env: expect.any(Object),
+          }),
+        )
+
+        expect(proc).toBe(launchedBrowser)
+      })
+    })
+  }
+})
diff --git a/packages/server/lib/browsers/chrome.ts b/packages/server/lib/browsers/chrome.ts
index fcecf12596f..ce02145096f 100644
--- a/packages/server/lib/browsers/chrome.ts
+++ b/packages/server/lib/browsers/chrome.ts
@@ -634,7 +634,7 @@ export = {
     // first allows us to connect the remote interface,
     // start video recording and then
     // we will load the actual page
-    const launchedBrowser = await launch(browser, 'about:blank', port, args, launchOptions.env) as unknown as BrowserInstance & { browserCriClient: BrowserCriClient }
+    const launchedBrowser = await launch(browser, 'about:blank', args, launchOptions.env) as unknown as BrowserInstance & { browserCriClient: BrowserCriClient }
 
     la(launchedBrowser, 'did not get launched browser instance')
 
diff --git a/packages/server/lib/browsers/firefox.ts b/packages/server/lib/browsers/firefox.ts
index a3c665c6845..1fb4398b8b5 100644
--- a/packages/server/lib/browsers/firefox.ts
+++ b/packages/server/lib/browsers/firefox.ts
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ import Debug from 'debug'
 import getPort from 'get-port'
 import path from 'path'
 import urlUtil from 'url'
-import { debug as launcherDebug } from '@packages/launcher/lib/browsers'
+import { debug as launcherDebug } from '@packages/launcher/lib/launch'
 import { doubleEscape } from '@packages/launcher/lib/windows'
 import FirefoxProfile from 'firefox-profile'
 import * as errors from '../errors'
diff --git a/packages/types/src/browser.ts b/packages/types/src/browser.ts
index 7f73d5b1c01..7dcd40dd256 100644
--- a/packages/types/src/browser.ts
+++ b/packages/types/src/browser.ts
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ export type Browser = {
 /**
  * Represents a real browser that exists on the user's system.
  */
-export type FoundBrowser = Omit<Browser, 'versionRegex' | 'binary' | 'validator'> & {
+export interface FoundBrowser extends Omit<Browser, 'versionRegex' | 'binary' | 'validator'> {
   path: string
   version: string
   majorVersion?: string | null