Trusted tools for downloading macOS

Mist, Mr. Macintosh, softwareupdate and Apple's own pages: safe places to get macOS installers.

These are the trusted, free tools and resources we recommend. Each one gets installers from Apple's own servers.

Mist (Mac app)

Mist is a free, open-source Mac app that lists every macOS installer and Apple silicon firmware Apple currently offers. It can download them and build installer apps, disk images and bootable ISOs. It's the best choice if you want a graphical app.

Mr. Macintosh full installer database

Mr. Macintosh keeps long-running databases of every macOS build, with direct links to Apple-hosted InstallAssistant.pkg files, including betas and older point releases.

softwareupdate (built into macOS)

From Catalina onward, Terminal can download full installers with no extra software. See our Terminal guide.

Apple's own pages

• How to download and install macOS: Apple's official list of App Store and disk image links
• Find out which macOS your Mac is using: includes the latest build of every version
• Create a bootable installer for macOS

A word of caution

Avoid sites that offer macOS as torrents, “pre-activated” ISOs or files from unknown file-hosting services. Installers from anywhere other than Apple's servers can be modified. If a download isn't coming from an apple.com domain, don't run it.