Update: Minitab 19 has now been released for Mac although it only works on Mojave, Catalina and Big Sur.
The instructions in this tutorial are only required if you want to run an earlier version of Minitab on your Mac such as Minitab 17/18 or if you are running macOS High Sierra 10.13 or lower.
Minitab is one of the best statistical software out there but unfortunately Minitab 17 and Minitab 18 for Mac do not exist.
Is Minitab Available For Mac?
Minitab 19 is now available for Macs running Mojave, Catalina and Big Sur (but not Monterey).
The latest version of Minitab 19 currently costs $1610 for a single user license so you may still find it considerably cheaper to follow the instructions below and install an earlier, cheaper version of Minitab anyway.
MInitab 17 and 18 are not available for Mac. The only way to run Minitab 17 or 18 on a Mac is to install Windows on a Mac.
We recommend using the Parallels virtual environment to do this as its by far the easiest way to install Windows on a Mac.
Alternatively, you can use Minitab Express on macOS Mojave or earlier which is a lite version of Minitab.
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Here then are two ways to get Minitab on a Mac.
1. Run Windows on Mac
You can run the Windows version of Minitab 17 and 18 on a Mac by using Parallels.
Parallels allows you to easily run Windows on a Mac so that you can conveniently switch between Windows only apps such as Minitab and your Mac applications at any time.
You can also use Parallels to run Windows on M1 Macs too.
The cool thing is that it doesn’t cost anything to use Windows 10 on Mac anymore either. Microsoft no longer requires you to purchase Windows 10 in order to use it.
You can simply download and use a free version of Windows that doesn’t require activation.
Alternatively, you can also run Windows on Mac using Boot Camp but the disadvantage of Boot Camp over Parallels is that you can only boot your Mac in either macOS or Windows.
Boot Camp also does not work on the latest M1 Macs.
Parallels works on Apple Silicon M1 Macs and also allows you to run Windows and macOS at the same time which is far more convenient.
If you choose to install Windows on your Mac to run Minitab, be aware that a Minitab license costs a lot more than Minitab Express which we’ll look at next.
2. Use Minitab Express for Mac
Minitab Express for Mac is a lite version of Minitab that you can download for macOS and offers much of the functionality and features of Minitab.
It’s important to note that Minitab Express does not work on macOS 10.15 Catalina, Big Sur or Monterey. It only works on macOS Sierra, High Sierra and Mojave.
In addition, Minitab Express is only available to educational institutions and students. If you’re not an educator or student, you’ll have to run Windows on your Mac using the method above and install Minitab instead.
Minitab Express is designed for introductory statistical courses but features things such as Probability Distributions, Summary Statistics, Hypothesis Tests, Resampling, Regression, ANOVA, Time Series and Control Charts.
There are however several features missing compared to the full version of Minitab such as ANOVA with > 2 factors, Nonlinear regression, design of experiments, Gage R$R etc.
You can see a full comparison table of Minitab vs Minitab Express here.
Another important difference to be aware of is that Minitab Express is only available on a subscription basis of $49.99 per year or $29.99 per six months.
There’s no standalone version like with the full version of Minitab.
If you have any problems using Minitab on your Mac using either of these methods, let us know in the comments below.