macOS Setup Guide

Option A: Laravel Herd (Recommended)

Laravel Herd for macOS is the gold standard. It provides a zero-config development environment.

Steps

1. Download: Visit herd.laravel.com.

2. Install: Drag the app to your Applications folder.

3. Launch: Open the app. It will automatically install the latest PHP and Composer versions.

4. Database: Herd for Mac includes Herd Pro features, or you can download DBngin (free) to handle your MySQL/PostgreSQL database.

Option B: Homebrew (The Manual Way)

If you prefer to manage packages yourself.

1. Install Homebrew:

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

2. Install PHP:

   brew install php
   

3. Install Composer:

   brew install composer
   

4. Install Node.js:

   brew install node
   

Verification

Open your terminal (Command + Space, type "Terminal") and run:

php -v
composer -V
node -v

You should see version numbers for all of them.