Yes, Macs can get viruses. Sadly, your MacBook, iMac, or Mac Mini can all get infected with malware. Macs are less vulnerable than Windows computers, but viruses and hackers can successfully attack them too. It's easy to underestimate the risk when you buy a new MacBook.
Do you need virus protection on a Mac?
As we've explained above, it's certainly not an essential requirement to install antivirus software on your Mac. Apple does a pretty good job of keeping on top of vulnerabilities and exploits and the updates to the macOS that will protect your Mac will be pushed out over auto-update very quickly.
How do you check a Mac for virus?
How to check Activity Monitor for Mac viruses:
- Open Activity Monitor from Applications > Utilities.
- Go to the CPU tab, if you're not already in it.
- Click the % CPU column to sort high to low, and look for high CPU use.
- If you see a process that looks suspicious, do a Google search on it.