Methods to Install Python on Mac

Python’s popularity is increasing exponentially day by day due to its extensive uses in all the departments of the world. For instance, Python is extensively used in AI, ML, web development, and data science algorithms. Many popular brands like Facebook and Instagram use Python for their business logic and backend development.

Python is available for all operating systems, including Windows, macOS, Linux, etc. As a result of the high demand from developers worldwide, it is evolving rapidly. However, to use Python’s services/features, firstly, you need to install it on your system.

In this particular guide, multiple methods are discussed to install Python on Mac. The content is as follows:

So let’s get started!

Methods 1: Using Homebrew to Install Python on Mac

The easiest and simplest way to install Python on the mac operating system is by using the “Homebrew” package manager. It is an open-source package installer mostly used in mac and Linux. Let’s proceed to the following steps to install Python on Mac:

Step 1: Install Homebrew

If your system does not have Homebrew installed, then use the below-stated command to install it first before updating Python:

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install.sh)"

The above shows that the “Homebrew” package manager will install after putting the admin password.

Step 2: Update Brew

It is recommended to update to the latest version of “Brew” with the help of this command.

brew update

In the above snippet, after executing the command “brew update,” the terminal shows that the “Homebrew” package is already up to date.

Step 3: Install Python via Brew

If Python3 is not installed on your system, use the below-mentioned command to get Python on Mac:

brew install python3

In the above snippet, we use “brew install python3” to install the latest version of Python using the brew package manager.

Step 4: Check the Python version

After the installation, check the version via the command provided below:

python3 --version

The above snippet shows that the latest version of Python has been installed on our system.

Method 2: Install Python on Mac

Another very convenient method to install the latest version on macOS is using the official Python installer. The following steps will show the installation procedure of Python on macOS:

Step 1: Open the Python Website

Visit the official website of Python (https://www.python.org/) in the browser:

Step 2: Download Python Installer

After opening the official website of Python, hover over the “Downloads” tab and navigate to the “macOS” which will show the latest Python version available. Click on the “Installer” file to start the download:

Step 3: Install Python

After downloading, open the path of your download folder and Double-click on the file of the Python installer:

Read the introduction and click on the “Continue” button:

Agree to all the “terms and conditions” and “license agreement” provided by the Python installer:

Choose the destination to install Python. After that, a new installation window will appear. Click on “Install” to proceed further. The Python installer will take “154.8MB” of space on your computer, so make sure you have enough space in your system:

Provide the admin password to proceed further with the installation:

The installation may take several minutes:

The installation will take a few seconds to write all Python files on your computer:

After the installation is completed, close the Installation dialog box.

Step 3: Verify the Latest Python

Check the availability of the latest Python version via the following command:

python3.10 --version

That’s all from this guide! Python has been successfully installed on Mac.

Conclusion

To install Python on the Mac operating system, the “Homebrew” package installer and the official “Python Installer” are used. The “Homebrew” package installer is open source and can be used to install any package with a simple “brew” command. Package installers are preferred because we can do manual configurations that will help us make different changes during the installation. This post has explained various methods to install Python on macOS via practical demonstration.