R for macOS Developers

Starting with R 4.0.0 we are building R using standard Apple tools (Xcode) and GNU Fortran (see tools for downloads and details). Since R 4.3.0 we maintain two binary builds:

• big-sur-x86_64 build supports legacy Intel Macs from macOS 11 (Big Sur) and higher
• big-sur-arm64 build supports arm64 Macs (M1+) from macOS 11 (Big Sur) and higher

Nightly Build Installers

Changes since R 4.3.0 Builds

R 4.5.0 CRAN builds use the same SDK and target, but updated GNU Fortran 14.2 compiler.

Note that although M1 Macs can run the Intel build via Rosetta2 the native arm64 build is typically faster. All dependent static libraries are available in the bin directory. Please make sure you remove any modifications to build flags from your home (~/.R) since no custom compilers are used anymore. For more information about alternative OpenMP options (as in older version) see the openmp page of this site.

Index

• Nightly builds of R for Mac OS X
• Nightly builds of the R.app GUI
• Tools for R development
• Most current R manuals
• Sources for tools and libraries
• Legacy OS X support
• Other binaries and tools (e.g. RSwitch, Graphviz, GTK+, ..)
• Will R Work on Apple Silicon? (Information on the status of the port to Apple's new M1 architecture.)

Nightly builds for macOS

R framework

The installer image (*.pkg) is packaged exactly the same way as the CRAN release of R (including the GUI) and it will update your R version (unless you use pkgutil - see instructions during installation and/or the "Multiple versions" section of the R Installation and Administration manual).

Alternatively, you can use the tar-ball (*.tar.gz) in the table above. The tar-ball must be unpacked in the root directory using:

$ tar fvxz R*.tar.gz -C /

NOTE: The tar-ball does not contain the GUI (see below for a separate download), it only contains files under /Library/Frameworks/R.framework so either run it via /Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Resources/bin/R or create a convenience symlink if desired. The installer includes Tcl/Tk package which will install in /opt/R/arm64 or /opt/R/x86_64. It is optional (only needed for the tcltk R package) and can be unchecked at installation time.

If you see any issues with the builds, please contact Simon Urbanek (the macOS maintainer of R) or report on the R-SIG-Mac mailing list.

For old OS X El Capitan nightly builds of R 3.x.x please see the old OS X builds page.

Persistent "last-success" binaries

We have introduced "last-success" binaries which are always available (even if the nightly build fails) and intended mostly for CI/CD automated systems to install latest versions. The two locations are split by the build: high-sierra (x86_64) and big-sur (x86_64 and arm64). The xz tar balls contain only the R.framework directory of the final package, so must be unpacked into /Library/Frameworks.

Mac OS X GUI

To install, open the image and drag the R icon to your Applications folder. Alternatively the GUI can be run directly off that image without copying if you just want to test it. Build configurations with "64" suffix are 64-bit builds, all others are 32-bit (except for Debug). If you want to use both, rename one of them or place them in different directories.

Tools

CRAN macOS master

Apple silicon (aka arm64, aarch64, M1+)

The big-sur build of R requires XQuartz 2.8.5 or higher to use the X11 components.

Legacy R

Other legacy binaries

• GTK+ 2.24.17 framework - 64-bit build of GTK+ 2.24.17, necessary for binary R packages that use GTK+ version 2 (such as RGtk2+). R 3.0.0 and higher, Snow Leopard build
  Download: GTK_2.24.17-X11.pkg (ca. 41MB)
   
• GTK+ 2.18.5 framework - universal build of GTK+ 2.18.5, necessary for binary R packages that use GTK+ version 2 (such as RGtk2+). R 2.10.0 - 2.15.3, Leopard build
  Download: GTK_2.18.5-X11.pkg (ca. 58MB)
   
• RSwitch - a small GUI that allows you to switch between R versions quickly (if you have multiple versions of R framework installed).
  Download: RSwitch-1.2.dmg (ca 67kB, universal, updated 2011/03/24 to support R 2.13.0 and up)
  Sources: RSwitch-1.2.tar.gz (Xcode project and sources)
  

  NOTE: Bob Rudis is maintaining a new version of a tool which has RSwitch functionality and more - see 3rd party RSwitch replacement (NOT related to R-Foundation or CRAN!).

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