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How To Run MT4 on a Mac (inc. M1, M2, M3 & Sonoma)

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MT4 is one of the best forex trading platforms out there but the bad news for Mac users is that there is no native version of MT4 for Mac.

Fear not however as here we show a few ways to easily use MT4 on a Mac including on the latest M1, M2 and M3 Macs running macOS Sonoma.

Before You Go Any Further…

Before looking at any of the workarounds for using MetaTrader 4 on a Mac here, we strongly recommend taking a look at TradingView as a FREE alternative to MT4.

We found TradingView is even BETTER than MT4 for doing technical analysis of currency markets and day trading from your Mac desktop.

We also ranked it the best Forex trading platform for Macs due to its ease of use and powerful trading tools.

TradingView works in a browser so it works easily on both Intel and Apple Silicon M1, M2 and M3 Macs.

You can even link TradingView to your trading account so that you can trade directly without leaving the app.

You can start using TradingView for free now to test it for yourself.

Does MT4 Run on a Mac?

A native version of MT4 for Mac does not exist but if you search “MT4 for Mac” you can still download an an adapted version of MT4 from the developer MetaQuotes.

This is a modified version of MT4 which works on Macs using the Windows emulation software “Crossover” which is based on  the “Wine” emulation layer.

This version of MT4 only works on older Intel Macs running version of macOS earlier than macOS Catalina but not the latest Apple Silicon Macs with the M1, M2 or M3 chip or the most recent versions of macOS.

This is because MT4 is a 32-bit app and the latest versions of macOS and M-chip Macs do not support 32-bit apps anymore.

We therefore do not recommend running this adapted version of MT4 on a Mac for the following reasons:

  • Running MT4 on Intel Macs using MetaQuotes’ adapted download for Macs is very unstable. Even MetaQuotes states on its own website:

Note that Wine is not a fully stable application. Thus, some functions in the applications you start under it may work improperly or not work at all.

  • Many features do not work in the version of MT4 provided by MetaQuotes such as adding indicators and the MetaTrader market.
  • You’ll frequently be plagued by messages that “MetaTrader needs to be updated” which become increasingly annoying when you’re trading.

MetaQuotes does also provide an alternative to using Crossover to install MT4 on macOS Catalina and Apple Silicon Macs onwards by using the PlayOnMac emulator instead.

However like the Wine based Crossover version of MT4, in our experience this version is also subject to the same problems including instability, crashes and a lack of full functionality and we don’t recommend using the PlayOnMac version of MT4 either.

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With this in mind, here then are some far better ways to use MT4 on a Mac that give you full functionality, are stable and work on the latest versions of macOS plus Apple Silicon Macs.

1. Virtual Machine

In testing we found that by far the the best way to install the official Windows version of MT4 on a Mac is using a virtual machine.

A virtual machine allows you to install Windows on your Mac and then you can install the fully functional Windows version of MT4 on your Mac.

Running MetaTrader 4 on a Mac this way gives you all the benefits of the Windows version of MetaTrader, including adding indicators and other add-ons such as MetaTrader Market.

Virtual machines allow you to switch between macOS and Windows in just one click so you get the best of both worlds.

We found the best virtual machine to run MT4 on a Mac was Parallels which installs Windows 11 automatically on a Mac in minutes.

Parallels does require an annual subscription and there are other virtual machines available but none of them work as well as Parallels at running MT4 or make it as easy to install Windows.

Parallels is also the only way to run Windows on a Mac that is officially endorsed by Microsoft.

Just follow these instructions to install MT4 on a Mac.

  • Download Parallels for Mac and run the installer. You can use the free trial to try it first.
  • Double click on the Parallels download and when prompted by macOS click “Open” and then click “Accept” on the End User License Agreement.
  • Parallels will now download the installer and then prompt you for your Mac admin username and password to continue the setup.
  • Parallels will ask permissions to access your Mac Desktop, Downloads and Documents folders. Click on “Finish”.

parallels desktop permissions

  • Parallels will then automatically download and Install Windows 11 when you click Install Windows. If you’re using an Apple Silicon M1, M2 or M3 Mac it will download and install Windows 11 ARM.install windows 11 m1 & m2 Mac
  • Parallels will then start to download Windows 11 from Microsoft.

parallels downloading windows 11 on m1 and m2 mac

  • Once is has validated the install, Parallels will then start the Windows 11 installer on your Mac just as if it were installing Windows on a PC.

parallels windows installer

  • When this is completed, you’ll get an “Installation Complete” message.

windows 11 install complete m1 m2 mac

  • To finalize the setup, Parallels will prompt you for your Parallels username or password. You can setup an account if you don’t already have one or sign in with your Apple, Google or Facebook account too.

sign into parallels account

  • After you’ve signed-in, Parallels will give you access to a 14 day free trial but if you’ve purchased a Parallels license already, you can enter the license key next.
  • Parallels will then display the Windows 11 End User License Agreement which you must click on “Accept” before continuing. You’ll then have full access to Windows 11 on your Intel Mac or Windows 11 ARM on an Apple Silicon M-chip Mac.

windows 11 installed on apple silicon m1 and m2 mac parallels

  • Since you’re using a fresh install of Windows 11, the first thing you’ll need to do is install the latest updates for Windows 11 from Microsoft. To do this, go to the Windows Start Menu > Settings > System > Windows Update which is in the bottom left hand corner.
  • Windows 11 may prompt you to activate it at this point but you can simply click “Close”. Windows 11 is free to use and you only need to activate it with a key if you want advanced customization options such as changing the wallpaper or desktop theme.

windows 11 activation parallels

  • Click on “Check for updates” button in the top right corner of the Windows Update screen and then install the updates. This can take some time depending on the speed of your internet connection.

update windows 11 parallels mac

  • When you have installed all the updates, Windows 11 will then restart to apply them.
  • Once Windows has restarted, you can then configure Parallels to optimize how it uses resources on your Mac. To do this, go to your Windows 11 desktop and select “Actions” from the Menu bar across the top and then select “Configure” at the bottom of the Menu.
  • You’ll then see the Windows 11 Configuration Window in Parallels. The most important setting to change is the CPU & Memory allocation under the “Hardware” tab. You can leave the settings on “Automatic” if you want Parallels to manage it for you but we recommend increasing the Memory on Apple Silicon Macs. So for example, if you have an Apple Silicon MacBook Pro with 16GB of unified memory, you can allocate at least half of this to Parallels (i.e. 8GB). This makes it easier for your Mac to run Windows in Parallels smoothly at the same time as macOS.

windows 11 virtual machine configuration parallels

  • There are many other options you can configure in Parallels. If you click on the “Options” tab across the top for example and select “Sharing”, you can configure how macOS and Windows 11 share files and folders.

windows 11 on m1 mac - parallels sharing

  • You can then choose to either download the official version of MetaTrader 4 from MetaQuotes. Be careful to select the Windows version (as we’re installing the PC version on your Mac) and not the Mac version. Alternatively, you can also use a Windows MT4 download provided by your own forex broker such as Milton Prime or XM Markets.

download mt4 for windows

  • Run the installer and then MT4 will setup and run on Windows on your Mac.

mt4 on mac in parallels

Pros:

  • Easy to install and setup
  • Allows you to run MT4 in Windows and use macOS simultaneously
  • Allows you to use all MT4 features like Windows users
  • More stable that using the emulator version of MT4 provided by MetaQuotes

Cons:

  • After Parallels free trial requires an annual subscription

2. Boot Camp (Intel Macs Only)

install mt4 mac - boot camp

Boot Camp is a free utility in macOS that also allows you to install Windows or an older version of macOS on a separate partition on your Mac hard drive.

Like Parallels, once you’ve installed Windows using Boot Camp, you can install the Windows version of MT4 on your Mac.

This isn’t as convenient as using Parallels however as you can’t run Windows and macOS at the same time. You have to boot your Mac in either macOS or Windows to use it.

Boot Camp also is also not available for M1, M2 or M3 Macs so you can’t install MT4 on a Mac using Boot Camp on Apple Silicon Macs.

You can find full instructions on how to install Windows on a Mac using Boot Camp here.

Pros:

  • Boot Camp is free to use
  • Allows you to install Windows 11 in a separate partition
  • Allows you to run the Windows version of MT4

Cons:

  • Does not allow you to run macOS and Windows simultaneously
  • Not available for Apple Silicon Macs

3. MT4 WebTrader

mt4 for web

If you don’t need the MetaTrader 4 desktop client installed on your Mac, the easiest way to use MT4 on a Mac is via the MetaTrader 4 web platform which is the Cloud version of MetaTrader.

The web version gives you all the functionality of MetaTrader and it works instantly in any web browser including on Apple Silicon M1, M2 and M3 Macs.

MetaTrader 4 for the web allows you to do all the things you can do in the desktop version including placing any type of market and pending orders, trade currencies, stocks and futures.

You can also do in-depth market analysis with 30 technical indicators and 24 graphical objects to choose from.

You can choose to use a demo account or you can also link it to your broker account with a username and password.

mt4 web version setup

Other features of the web version of MetaTrader 4 include:

  • Real and demo accounts
  • Netting and hedging position accounting systems
  • Pending and stop orders
  • 3 chart types and 9 timeframes
  • Real-time quotes in Market Watch
  • Dark theme

There are also broker branded versions of the MT4 web trader platform which you can use too. These are exactly the same as MetaTrader for the web but connect directly to the broker and feature their design and branding.

Most Forex platforms offer their own custom web version of MT4 but some suggestions are:

Pros:

  • MT4 web version doesn’t require any installation
  • Works in any browser on any version of macOS
  • Works on Apple Silicon Macs
  • Links to broker accounts
  • Allows you to trade with a demo account

Cons:

  • Can’t be used offline

4. VPS Server

mt4 vps server on mac

There are several platforms such as VPSForexTrader that offer Virtual Private Servers (VPS) which allow professional traders to trade faster using dedicated 24/7 servers.

Since you’re connecting to MT4 remotely, it doesn’t matter whether you have an Intel or Apple Silicon Mac as VPS servers works on both.

This provides a direct ISP connection to a private server so you can enjoy better hardware to trade faster, without any interruptions 24 hours a day.

These servers are private and for your use only so you don’t have to share bandwidth or processing power with other users, thus providing a faster and more stable trading environment.

VPS servers also allow you to run MetaTrader in the cloud so all you need to do is subscribe to one of their plans and then use a remote desktop software to connect to MetaTrader remotely.

A VPS provider usually charges a monthly fee for use of a virtual private server and the cost differs depending on the power of the servers you subscribe to.

The more powerful the server, the more instances of MetaTrader you can install and the more processing power you have.

Here’s how to run MetaTrader 4 on a Mac using a VPS Server.

run mt4 on mac vps server

  • Then simply click “Start” at the top of the app.

vps server for metatrader mac

  • You’ll then see your VPS Server desktop where you’ll be able to install and run multiple versions of MetaTrader depending on the account you’ve signed-up for.

 

Pros:

  • Hosted in the Cloud so nothing to install
  • Allows you to run multiple versions of MT4
  • Works on Apple Silicon Macs
  • Allows you to trade 24/7

Cons:

  • Requires a subscription to a VPS
  • Requires remote desktop software
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