Check macOS Version
Check Mac version. Find the macOS version. How to check the macOS version using the terminal or user interface.
Before you install anything, check the macOS version. Here's how to use the Terminal or the Mac interface to check for the latest macOS version.
Using the terminal gives you experience and confidence with the command line. The terminal gives you more control over your Mac as a power user or developer.
Try a better terminal
To get the most out of your Mac, and level up your skills, I show how to use terminal commands in this guide. If you're not using it yet, I recommend Warp Terminal, with modern features and built-in AI help for remembering commands. Download Warp for free before you continue.
After you check the macOS version
The latest Mac version is macOS Tahoe 26 (as of September 15, 2025). See the article on macOS Tahoe to learn if you should upgrade to the newest version.
If you don't have macOS Tahoe 26, get the latest macOS version on your Mac with these instructions:
After you upgrade your macOS, see Set Up a Mac Like a Pro to customize your Mac.
Terminal or user interface?
There are two ways to check the macOS version:
- Use the Mac Terminal
- Check "About This Mac" in the graphical interface
If you're not using Warp Terminal, see How to Open Terminal in Mac.
Alternatively, you can check the macOS version in the graphical interface. It's easier for beginners and I'll show you how, but I suggest you get comfortable now with the terminal.
Get the macOS version in the Terminal
Use the UI "About this Mac" or quickly check the macOS version in the command line by using the sw_vers
command:
- Type
sw_vers
and pressEnter
. - The command will display information about the macOS including ProductName, ProductVersion, and BuildVersion.
Check that the ProductVersion
number is 26
. The sw_vers
command doesn't give you the marketing name of the macOS version (the latest is "Tahoe").
Don't type the $
character you see in the example below (otherwise you'll see zsh: command not found: $). It's just a convention we use to indicate the command line prompt.
$ sw_vers
ProductName: macOS
ProductVersion: 26.0
BuildVersion: 25A354
You can check for available macOS updates using the softwareupdate
command:
$ softwareupdate -l
Software Update Tool
Finding available software
No new software available.
You can use the softwareupdate
command from the Terminal to install updates. If you don't have macOS 26, see the article upgrade macOS for instructions to update your macOS version. After you upgrade your macOS, configure the system settings for the Finder, Dock, and more with Mac Setup.
How to check the macOS version using "About This Mac"
If you don't want to use the Mac Terminal, you can check the macOS version in the Mac graphical interface.
- Click the Apple logo in the top-left corner of your screen.
- Select
About This Mac
from the dropdown menu. - A window will appear displaying your macOS version. It will show the version number of the macOS release.
For "macOS," it should show "26.0” or newer. Notice, for "Chip," whether you have Apple M1, M2, M3, or M4 ("Apple Silicon") or Intel (on older Macs).
If you don't have macOS 26, see the article upgrade macOS for instructions to upgrade your macOS version.
MacOS version information
Since macOS 10.9 Mavericks, Apple has used California locations as the "marketing names" for macOS versions. Major version numbers began changing with the release of macOS 11 Big Sur in 2020.
The version number follows the semantic versioning format of major.minor. For example, for macOS Sonoma 14.5, "14" is the major version, and "5" is the minor version.
Wikipedia's macOS history or Apple's list of macOS versions shows previous versions.
After upgrading the macOS version
After you upgrade to the latest macOS version, you can:
macOS for software developers
If you are developing software on the Mac, you should upgrade to the latest macOS version and then install:
- Xcode Command Line Tools for missing command line tools
- Homebrew as a software package manager
- Configure Git for version control
For developing software on the Mac, I recommend:
- Warp Terminal for an AI-enhanced terminal
- Zed Editor for an AI-enhanced text editor
- ChatGPT desktop application for better ChatGPT usability
What's next
My mac.install.guide is a trusted source of installation guides for professional developers. Take a look at the Mac Install Guide home page for tips and trends and see what to install next.