Installing LaTeX on Macbook Pro

The cheapest, most stable, most popular option is (as Paulo says) to install MacTeX. It is downloadable as an all-in-one package file (.pkg); just double-click and you're good to go.

MacTeX comes with a few editors, namely TUG's TeXworks and the acclaimed TeXShop, but you can also get TeXstudio for Mac as well.

You will find that, as OS X is a UNIX-based environment, working with TeXnology may prove to be a little simpler than doing so under Windows.


Just out of curiosity why do you need MiKTeX? What is a particular TeX functionality you are seeking which is present in MiKTeX but not in MacTeX?

You question actually have a very simple answer and I am going to offer to you even though I am sure it will be down voted by the members of the community. It looks to me that you are very familiar with Windows but not so much with OS X. The good news is that Windows runs better on MAC hardware than on the native PC hardware.

All you need to do is go and by $300 of your favorite operating system. Unlike PC MAC do not have BIOS but Extensible Firmware Interface. Once you brake into it you can install Windows on Macbook Pro just like on any PC. Word of caution though. Once installed Windows will look really ugly as it will miss drivers for most of MAC hardware. No worries Apple people have already sold you hardware so they will give you Windows drivers. You just need to go to Apple store and get Boot Camp. Once you run it, it will automatically detect missing drivers and install it for you. After one more reboot you will have a magnificent Macbook Pro running you beloved Windows. Now you are ready for the final step. You can go download and install MikTeX just like you would do on the regular PC. IIRC the prefered way of installing MikTeX is using ProTeXt distribution.

Disclaimer: I not BS-ing you. I have actually done all of above for my boss who loves Apple hardware but prefers to run Windows mostly because of Microsoft Office product which is his bread and butter. Having compared MS Office Windows and OS X version I could tell you that makes lots of sense.

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