Setting up a new Mac? Whether you have a MacBook or Mac mini, here are some apps you should install right away.
Sure, Safari and other Apple default apps are good enough in a pinch, but there's no better way to get a Mac up and running right out of the box than having all the apps and tools you use every day installed on your Mac.
As part of the Tom's Guide Computing team, I regularly review Macs and MacBooks, so I've had plenty of time to refine the list, and one of the first things I do whenever I take a new Apple computer out of the box is install all of the software on this list.
(Of course, turn on dark mode first!)
I, too, have a list of seven apps that I install on every Windows 11 PC I bring in for review, and I like to use a service called Ninite to create a custom installer package that bundles all of those apps into one handy file. Unfortunately, Ninite isn't supported on Macs, so you may need to visit each app's website and download it the old-fashioned way.
You should also try macapps.link, another one-stop shop for Mac apps. Just click the ones you want from a big list, and macapps will package them all into one easy-to-download installer. It's a pretty good selection, with some of the best Mac apps we recommend, including everything on this list.
The site does display a fair number of ads if you don't use an ad blocker, which may seem a little dodgy, but I've used it a lot myself and have never had an issue.
Whether you want to try out Mac apps yourself or click through all of them before downloading, here are five apps we recommend installing first on your new Mac.
discord
I didn't pay much attention to Discord when it was released in 2015, but now it's one of the tools I use most to stay in touch with old friends and colleagues from all over the world, so much so that it's one of the first things I install on any new Mac.
While Twitter used to feel like the best place to keep in touch with people, these days I prefer to hang out more comfortably in a Discord server with my friends. The service has evolved a lot over the years, and can now be used for cross-platform voice chat, so all of your friends on Mac, PC, and even PS5 can join the same voice channel to catch up after work.
The browser version of Discord works fine, but I prefer to download the app because I feel that broadcasting using the app results in better audio quality than the browser version, though this is entirely subjective and your experience may vary.
Gimp
Working as a journalist, I regularly need to edit images, but the Photos app just doesn't cut it. Whenever I buy a new MacBook, I make sure to download GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) because it's feature-rich, quick to download, and best of all, it's free.
I've been using it for years, so I know how to use this image editor better than Photoshop could ever understand. There are plenty of great free image editors out there, including some that you can access directly from your browser, but I prefer to download an app to my Mac's hard drive so I can work on images when I'm on the go or don't have a stable Internet connection.
Sure, the name is a bit odd and the interface could use some improvement, but for the asking price, it's hard to beat GIMP.
Google Chrome
As I said at the beginning, Safari is fine — in fact, with the macOS Sequoia upgrade, it's better than ever — but I still prefer to use Chrome on my Mac.
Sure, some of it is just laziness and habit. I have both work and personal Google accounts, so having Chrome helps me keep track of both in the browser logged into each account.
But I also love Chrome because, while it's demanding, it feels faster and more responsive than Safari. I also love that it supports all the websites and web services I need. Plus, it has great cross-platform support, so I can open a link on my phone using Chrome for iOS and then push a button to send it to my desktop Chrome instance running on my MacBook for easy reading when I'm back at my desk.
steam
Thanks to Apple helping game developers make their games run flawlessly on the company's M-series chips, the Mac is a better gaming platform than ever before, which is why Steam is a must-have.
Games are available from the Mac App Store, Epic Games Store, and a few other places, but Steam is the first (and often only) game store I download from because it has more games than anywhere else. And with the power of Apple's top-of-the-line chips in premium Macs like the MacBook Pro 16-inch M3 Max, you can enjoy the best Mac games (including my favorite, Baldur's Gate 3) at killer frame rates.
This isn't just about games, as I also keep in touch with a few friends who are on my Steam friends list, so it's useful to have it installed and running on my PC to keep track of who's playing what.
VLC
Sometimes you need to watch .wmv (Windows Media Video) on your Mac and QuickTime Player just can't do it, then you need to install a better alternative like VLC media player.
I install this media player on almost every laptop I review because I watch a lot of video while testing and researching display quality, and I don't want to be limited by the limitations of Apple's default software. I recommend VLC because it's lightweight and easy to download, yet supports a wide variety of file formats and codecs.
And it's free!
Conclusion
Every Mac I get has these apps installed as soon as possible, because browsing the web in Safari or editing images in Photos is too much of a pain, and then when I'm done working, I'm ready to fire up Discord or Steam and hang out with friends.
I wish Ninite supported Macs, but I already have macapps.link since I use it all the time for my Windows 11 PC software. I've been using it for a while on my new MacBook, and as long as it remains useful as it is, I think it's a great way to get all of these apps in one go.
Of course, you don't have to stick to my suggestions – macapps offers a wide range of free software, so feel free to explore and discover new things.