With Docker, you can easily create, run, manage, and share containers, both on your computer/laptop and in the cloud. There are two ways to work with Docker on MacOS:
- Through the Docker Desktop application. This comes with a GUI and offers both free and paid licenses.
- Docker recommends using Docker Desktop. Via Docker Engine from a terminal. Installing Docker Engine in MacOS is significantly more complex than installing Docker Desktop and is no longer officially supported.
In this tutorial, we will show you how to install the Docker Desktop application on a computer/laptop with MacOS.
System Requirements
To use Docker on MacOS, your computer/laptop must meet several system requirements, depending on your processor:
Apple Silicon:
No requirements, but Rosetta 2 is strongly recommended:
softwareupdate --install-rosetta
Intel CPU:
- macOS must be version 11 or newer. That is Big Sur (11), Monterey (12), or Ventura (13). We recommend upgrading to the latest version of macOS.
- 4 GB of RAM or more.
- No Virtualbox older than version 4.3.30 installed on your Mac.
Installing Docker Desktop
Step 1
Download Docker Desktop via this link.
Step 2
Double-click the downloaded Docker.dmg file to start the installation.
After the installation, drag the Docker icon to the Applications folder.
The installation of Docker Desktop is now complete!