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Guide
Do Macs need antivirus in 2025?
The confusion
'Macs don't get viruses' was repeated often enough that it became received wisdom. Apple's own security update notes now regularly reference 'actively exploited' vulnerabilities. Both things can be true — Macs face fewer widespread threats than Windows — while the complete version of the claim is no longer accurate.
macOS ships with Gatekeeper, XProtect, and Notarization — Apple's layered built-in security model. Security researchers publish new Mac malware findings monthly. The question is how much of the real threat landscape Apple's built-in layer actually covers, and where it doesn't.
Mac antivirus recommendations split between 'you don't need it, Apple handles it' and 'Mac malware is rising, you're exposed.' Each side is citing real data — they're just describing different parts of the threat picture.
What most people assume
Most people assume 'Macs don't get viruses' still holds in any meaningful sense. What's more accurate: traditional self-propagating viruses are uncommon on macOS. Adware, PUPs, bundled browser hijackers, and increasingly sophisticated info-stealers targeting macOS are not uncommon. The threat category that was rare (viruses) and the threat categories that are real (adware, credential stealers) are often conflated.
Most people assume Gatekeeper and XProtect provide complete protection equivalent to a dedicated AV. XProtect is signature-based and updated by Apple — it catches known threats, but its definitions lag active campaigns by design. Gatekeeper checks that software is from an identified developer and hasn't been tampered with — it doesn't monitor what software does after installation. The built-in layer is meaningful but not comprehensive.
Most people assume third-party antivirus products for Mac are the same as Windows versions with a different icon. The quality varies significantly — some Mac AV products are essentially adware themselves, some are Windows-focused engines that scan poorly for Mac-specific threats. The product category requires more scrutiny on macOS than on Windows.
What's actually true
For an Apple Silicon Mac primarily running App Store software and verified downloads, with a user who doesn't install packages from terminal or click through installation prompts without reading them — the built-in protection layer may genuinely be sufficient. Apple Silicon's security architecture reduces the attack surface meaningfully compared to Intel Macs.
The case for dedicated protection is stronger in specific configurations: Intel Macs (broader legacy attack surface), machines where packages are regularly installed via Homebrew, npm, pip, or other sources outside the App Store, machines used by less careful users, or machines used for work where a compromise has consequences beyond the device itself. In those configurations, products like Malwarebytes for Mac or ESET's Mac product address the categories XProtect lags on.
Where you might be
If you're on an Apple Silicon Mac, you install apps through the App Store or directly from verified developer sites, and you don't install terminal packages or extensions from unknown sources — Apple's built-in layer covers your actual exposure reasonably well.
See what a minimal protection setup looks like →If you're on an Intel Mac, or if you regularly install packages through Homebrew, npm, pip, or other sources outside the standard Mac distribution channels — the attack surface is broader and the built-in layer's lag on newer adware families becomes relevant.
See which products are worth considering for Mac →
If the Mac is shared with family members or used regularly by someone who approves installation prompts without reading them — the threat model is different from a single careful user, and the built-in layer alone becomes a thinner margin.
See the shared-device decision path →If the machine is already behaving strangely — unexpected popups, browser settings changed, apps you didn't install — the question of which protection to run is secondary to what's already there.
See the cleanup path first →What no tool solves
No antivirus — built-in or third-party — prevents you from approving a malicious installation yourself. Gatekeeper presents a prompt; you click through it. That decision is outside the protection layer entirely.
macOS doesn't have the same application isolation model as iOS. Installed apps have broader access to the filesystem and other processes than iOS apps do. The 'Apple devices are secure' intuition is stronger for iPhone than it is for Mac.
Apple's built-in layer improves with system updates — XProtect definitions are updated silently and independently of macOS updates. But a Mac that hasn't been updated in months has a meaningfully wider exposure window than one running current software, regardless of what third-party protection is installed.
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