Metatrader installation for Mac OS

Introduction

Apple products are a great success. The company MetaQuotes Software Corp. is watching closely the computer technologies sphere and has already released special mobile apps for iOS-devices - MetaTrader 4 for iPhone and MetaTrader 5 for iPhone.

MQL4.community forum has repeatedly brought up the issue of launching MetaTrader4 under the Mac OS. This article tells how to use MetaTrader 4 under the popular operating system created by Apple with ease.

Install Wine on Mac OS

The client terminal can be installed and run on computers with Mac OS using Wine. Wine is a free software that allows users of the Unix-based systems to run applications developed for the Microsoft Windows systems. Among all the Wine versions there is one for Mac OS.

Note that Wine is not a fully stable application. Thus, some functions in the applications you start under it may work improperly or not work at all.

For the installation on Mac OS we recommend you to use the free application PlayOnMac. PlayOnMac - is a Wine-based software for easy installation of Windows applications on Mac OS.

PlayOnMac Installation

To install PlayOnMac, open the product's official web site, move to Downloads section and click the link for downloading the latest version.

After the DMG package is downloaded, launch it from Downloads section of your system:

PlayOnMac first launch window will appear. After clicking "Next", the installer will start checking and installing the various components necessary for work.

The first necessary component is XQuartz. This is a software for using X Window System on Mac OS. X Window System provides standard tools and protocols for building the graphical user interface in Unix-like OS.

If you have already installed XQuartz or want to install it later, select "Don't install XQuartz for the moment" or "I've downloaded file by myself", respectively. XQuartz installation is performed in several stages. First of all, you should read the important information (Read Me) and accept the license conditions.

Before the installation you will be required to enter your account's password:

Wait for the installation to complete. For changes to take effect, you should restart your PC.

After restarting the system, launch PlayOnMac again from the setup file in Downloads folder. The first launch window will appear again. This time, the installer will offer to install MS Windows fonts necessary for correct operation.

Accept the license agreement conditions and wait till the installation is complete. After that PlayOnMac is ready for use. Its main window will appear:

Updating Wine

Wine v. 1.4 is installed together with PlayOnMac. Wine 1.4.1 is the latest stable version at the moment. Также для скачивания доступна бета-версия Wine 1.5.21, beta release containing many improvements is also available for download. However, it may be less stable. It is recommended to install the latest version of Wine. To upgrade Wine to the latest version, open PlayOnMac upper menu and select Manage Wine Versions:

The window with Wine versions available for installation will open. Select the latest version (1.5.21 at the moment).

Move the latest Wine version to the right side of the window. The installation will start.

After the installation is complete, the new version of Wine will appear in the left part of PlayOnMac Wine versions manager window. You can then close the window and install the trading terminalMetaTrader 4.

MetaTrader 4 Installation

To install MetaTrader 4 download its distribution kit from the official websitewww.metatrader4.com. After the download is complete launch the setup file. PlayOnMac will be used to open it automatically.

After the standard terminal installation process is launched, follow all of its steps:

When the installation is complete, PlayOnMac will offer you to create the shortcuts for the terminal components - the client terminal itself and MetaEditor for editing the code:

After creating the necessary shortcuts, you can start using the MetaTrader. Double click on it in PlayOnMac window to launch the terminal.

This is what the client terminal looks like launched under Mac OS:

Known Issues

As was already mentioned above, Wine is not a completely stable software. Thus, some functions of the terminal may work improperly. Currently the following issues are discovered:


Except for the above problem, you can enjoy all the features of the client terminal on Mac OS.

Terminal Data Directory

PlayOnMac creates a separate virtual logical drive with necessary environment for each installed program. The default path of the installed terminal's data folder is as follows:

Library\PlayOnMac\WinePrefix\Client_Terminal_\Drive C\Program Files\Client Terminal