Mac Developer Setup in 2026

A clean macOS setup saves hours during onboarding and reduces context switching between projects.

Core tooling

• Homebrew — Install CLI utilities and desktop apps reproducibly.
• Editor — VS Code, Cursor, or JetBrains — pick one primary IDE and sync settings.
• Terminal — Modern terminals with split panes and search speed up log inspection.

Install Homebrew

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

Follow the post-install PATH instructions shown in the terminal output (especially on Apple Silicon).

Performance hygiene

Disable purely cosmetic animations if you prefer snappier UI during compile-heavy work. Keep Time Machine or another backup strategy — disks fail.

Next steps

Script your baseline installs (Brewfile) so the next machine takes minutes, not days.