Pros & Cons
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- Perfect scores from two independent testing labs
- 100% detection of phishing fraud in our testing
- Firewall with intrusion prevention
- Private browser protects online activity
- Virus Protection Promise guarantees recovery
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- Privacy features require a separate purchase
Norton AntiVirus Plus for Mac Specs
| Behavior-Based Detection | |
| Firewall | |
| Malicious URL Blocking | |
| On-Access Malware Scan | |
| On-Demand Malware Scan | |
| Phishing Protection | |
| Website Rating |
More malware attacks hit Windows than macOS, so Windows antivirus apps often get more attention than Mac apps. Many security companies offer just the basics in their Mac edition, but with Norton AntiVirus Plus for Mac, you get cross-platform protection with features worthy of a security suite. Norton’s macOS antivirus doesn't match every feature available on Windows, but it’s much more than a simple antivirus. It earned perfect scores from two independent testing labs and also aced our phishing protection test. Along with the excellent Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac (you can read a direct comparison between the two here), it earns our Editors’ Choice award for Mac antivirus.
Pricing: Expensive, But Packed With Value
A one-year antivirus subscription to protect a single Mac typically costs either just under $40 (such as ESET Cyber Security for Mac, G Data Antivirus for Mac, and Trend Micro Antivirus for Mac) or just under $50 (such as Bitdefender, F-Secure Internet Security, and Intego ONE). At $59.99 per year for a single license, Norton is on the high side.
Pricing looks better when you choose a five-license subscription. Norton’s fee of $84.99 is about $5 less than Webroot Essentials or CleanMyMac. You’ll surely find a use for those five licenses, given that they also let you install Norton AntiVirus Plus on your Windows PCs.
The low end of the price range for Mac antivirus software is precisely zero. You don't have to pay a penny for Avast Security, AVG AntiVirus, or Avira Free Antivirus, for example.
When you install Norton 360 Deluxe on your Mac, you naturally get everything that’s in Norton AntiVirus. The biggest additions are a full-powered VPN and a dark web monitoring system. You pay $119.99 for Norton 360 Deluxe, which gives you five antivirus licenses, five VPN licenses, and 50GB of online storage for your (Windows) backups. If you want VPN protection, the $35 upgrade cost is a good deal, given that the VPN lists for $79.99 as a standalone app.
The Gen Stack Powers Norton and Its Sister Brands
Gen Digital owns Norton and numerous other security brands, including Avast, AVG, and Avira. Avast and AVG merged in 2016, and soon after merged their antivirus engines. Norton and Avira, by contrast, kept their own technologies until recently.
The developers have aggregated the best of these technologies into a single antivirus engine that they call the Gen stack. Norton, Avast, and AVG are built on this engine now, and Avira will likely follow soon. Initial testing with Avast, AVG, and Norton on Windows resulted in identical scores.
Installation and Setup: Simple to Install, Flexible to Configure
As with many modern security programs, you manage your Norton subscription online. During the purchase process, you create your Norton account (or log into an existing account). You can then download and install Norton protection on your Mac or email a link to install it on another device.
For a decade, Norton’s antivirus and security suite apps, both on PC and Mac, maintained a similar appearance. An airy, light-colored main window displayed security status in the top half, while the bottom half featured large panels for feature areas such as security, scans, and updates. Clicking one of those panels revealed further choices in the selected area.
(Credit: Norton/PCMag)The switch to the Gen stack also came with a complete redesign of the app’s user interface. The home page retains its security status display, but it’s now in the middle of the page. Down the left side, a simple menu offers access to Home, Security, Performance, Privacy, Store, and Settings.
A row of large buttons down the right side roughly replaces the once separate My Norton app. Here you can access such features as Norton’s password manager and private browser. You also get management-only access to Windows-only backup. Norton Genie Scam Protection, reached by clicking the Ask Genie icon at the bottom right, is mainly for your mobile devices; I’ll go over it below.
As with Norton AntiVirus, clicking Security brings up a page with three large panels. Under Windows, these panels represent Scans, Cloud Backup, and LiveUpdate. Backing up data isn’t a feature of macOS, so the middle panel on a Mac is labeled Antivirus. Clicking it takes you to a simple settings page for real-time protection.
(Credit: Norton/PCMag)Below those three panels, the security page provides access to additional security features: Browser Extensions, Cloud Backup, Intrusion Prevention, Norton Private Browser, Password Manager, Quarantine, Safe Web, Scam Protection, Security History, and Smart Firewall. Quarantine and Security History are self-explanatory, while clicking Cloud Backup simply takes you to the online management console.
Safe Web steers you away from dangerous and fraudulent websites—it works with any internet-aware application, not just browsers. Choosing Browser Extensions walks you through installing a collection of Norton extensions in Chrome or Firefox: Norton Home Page, Norton Safe Search, and Norton Safe Web. For Safari, only Norton Safe Web is available. As in the Windows edition, Norton automates the installation of extensions for Chrome and Firefox. You just sit back and click, click, click when prompted.
As for the remaining choices, I’ll discuss them in detail below.
(Credit: Norton/PCMag)Between its full malware scan and real-time protection, Norton should handle any malware attack, but if it doesn't, the company's Virus Protection Promise kicks in. You only qualify for this service if you enable automatic renewal, which seems like a reasonable exchange. Norton's tech support experts will analyze your problem and, if necessary, remotely control your Mac to battle the pernicious malware. In the unlikely event that malware wins the fight, you can apply for a refund. McAfee Total Protection offers a similar guarantee.
The macOS edition of Norton AntiVirus has some serious security chops that you can’t see. According to the company, all drivers and components support the platform’s new security standards, and all kernel modules have been replaced with more robust System Extensions. It also supports the M1 through M4 chipsets natively—no emulation required.
macOS Support: Tahoe, Sequoia, and Sonoma
A ridiculous number of Windows computers still run antique versions of the OS, even the defunct Windows 7 and 8, and the doomed Windows 10. Mac users, on the other hand, tend to keep up with the latest iteration, though they may wait a while for any bugs to shake out. Norton supports the current macOS version and the two previous versions. On that basis, you need Tahoe, Sequoia, or Sonoma.
Those stuck on an outmoded Mac operating system, perhaps due to antique hardware, still have choices. Bitdefender, ClamXav, K7 AntiVirus, and Panda Dome Essential all support versions from Yosemite (10.10) to the present. Given that Yosemite came out in 2014, that’s quite a span.
Antivirus Lab Tests: Perfect Scores All Around
When I test antivirus protection on Windows, I challenge each app to fend off dozens of malware samples that I’ve gathered and analyzed myself, using hand-coded tools to run the tests and record the results. My coding skills are Windows-only, though, and I don’t have a collection of Mac malware, so I can’t get quite as hands on with Mac antivirus apps. Luckily for me, two of the antivirus testing labs I follow regularly release reports on the efficacy of antivirus apps on macOS.
As with Windows antivirus utilities, AV-Test Institute rates Mac antivirus tools in three categories: Protection, Performance, and Usability. In layman's terms, that means effective protection against malware, minimal performance impact, and few or no false positives (valid files or websites mistakenly identified as malicious).
Programs can earn up to six points in each category. Norton swept the field with a perfect score of 18 points total. In truth, quite a few apps in the latest test matched Norton’s perfect score, including Avast, AVG, and Bitdefender.
The research experts at AV-Comparatives report the percentage of test malware each antivirus caught. They also report separately on how well each app detects PUAs (potentially unwanted applications) and Windows-specific malware. Along with Avast and AVG, Norton scored 100% in the essential Mac malware test. It also detected 100% of the Windows malware samples, as did almost all the tested apps. While it didn’t reach 100% against PUAs, its 99% score, shared with Avast, AVG, and Bitdefender, is the highest.
Avast, AVG, and Norton are the lab test darlings, with perfect scores from both.
Malware Scans: Fast Performance With Solid Detection
Like most Mac (and Windows) antivirus programs, Norton lets you choose between a full scan of your entire computer and a quick scan that checks only common malware locations. The time required for a quick scan varies wildly from app to app, but Norton is faster than most. In my testing, its quick scan proved to be truly quick, finishing in 30 seconds. A handful of competitors finished a quick scan even faster, among them AVG, Sophos Home Premium, and Malwarebytes Premium.
The current average full-scan time for recent Mac antivirus tools is about 42 minutes. Norton finished a full scan of the MacBook I use for testing in 28 minutes, well below that average. Intego ONE and MacPaw MoonLock came in under 10 minutes. Do note that a long scan time isn’t something to worry about. The scan happens in the background, so you can keep using your Mac while it’s going on.
As noted, I don’t have a collection of Mac-specific malware for testing. However, most Mac antivirus tools promise to detect and eliminate Windows malware as well. To test that ability, I copied the malware collection from my Windows antivirus testing to a thumb drive and plugged the infected drive into my test Mac.
(Credit: Norton/PCMag)As soon as I opened the folder on the thumb drive, Norton sprang into action, quarantining over half the samples. When I clicked each remaining sample, the antivirus caught several more, bringing the total to 72% detection. That’s better than the 51% Norton scored last time around, and a little better than the current average of 70%. Tested with the same collection, Intego managed 92% detection. Webroot and Avast reached 99% and 97%, respectively, though they were tested using my previous malware collection. It's true that Windows malware can't infect your Mac, but eliminating it prevents your Mac from becoming a carrier that infects other devices on your network.
(Credit: Norton/PCMag)Once you've installed your antivirus and completed a full scan, real-time protection should handle any new infections that crop up. That being the case, Bitdefender, F-Secure, Intego, Sophos, and a few others don't bother with scheduling scans. But a full scan couldn’t hurt, so Norton schedules a monthly full scan starting a few days after installation. You can edit that schedule or add more scheduled scans on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis, choosing a full system scan, a quick scan, or a scan that targets specific folders.
Phishing Protection: Perfect Detection in Testing
Phishing websites are convincing frauds that masquerade as anything from financial sites to gaming sites, hoping to steal login credentials from hapless victims. A virus or Trojan necessarily runs on a single target operating system. Some even exploit a vulnerability that exists only in a specific version of an OS. Phishing, on the other hand, cares nothing about the platform. A phishing attack just needs a browser. If you fall for a phishing scam and give it your credentials, you're hosed, whether you took the bait on your Mac or on an internet-aware cocktail shaker.
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(Credit: Norton/PCMag)To test an antivirus tool’s ability to detect and deter phishing sites, I start by scraping hundreds of reported fraud cases from phishing-tracking websites. I set up four browsers: one protected by the antivirus under test and the other three protected by the built-in antiphishing in Chrome, Edge, and Firefox. I launch each suspected fraudulent page in all four browsers and note what happens. For this test, any URL that fails to load in any of the four browsers or that doesn't clearly fit the phishing profile gets axed.
I’ve written a handy program that takes a list of suspected phishing URLs and lets me launch them in each browser, with buttons to record the browser’s reaction and move on to the next sample URL. However, it’s strictly a Windows program. For testing on the Mac, I resort to a flurry of button-mashing and copy-and-pasting the test URLs into a browser.
Norton does double duty when it encounters a fraudulent URL. It replaces the page in the browser with a big warning stating that it blocked a dangerous web page, for one. But the Safe Web component also pops up a notification. Redundant? Nope. If an app on your system that isn’t a browser encounters a fraudulent or dangerous site, you’ll still see that Safe Web warning.
With 100% detection, Norton aced this test, beating the three browsers by more than 20%. Quite a few competitors matched that perfect 100% score: AVG, Avira, Bitdefender, ESET, McAfee, Sophos, and Webroot.
(Credit: Norton/PCMag)All these antivirus apps seriously outperformed the built-in phishing protection in the three browsers. At the other end of the scale, several recent Mac antivirus apps lost against all three of the built-ins. And a quarter of them don’t use any phishing protection at all, including ClamXAV and Intego.
Norton Private Browser: Extra Security for Web Browsing
On Windows, all the Gen antivirus apps (Avast, AVG, Avira, and Norton) install a Chromium-based private browser. Each includes a Security & Privacy Center page that collects browser security features. Previously, this page displayed its features in multiple individual panels; now it’s divided into four regions: Browser Modes, Security Check, Settings, and Tools.
The browser’s private mode is equivalent to Incognito in Chrome or InPrivate in Edge. In between that and the regular browsing mode is a mode called Screen Sharing. This mode hides sensitive browser elements so you can share your screen without risking your privacy. As for Security Check, it reports statistics on blocked phishing sites and intercepted dangerous downloads.
(Credit: Norton/PCMag)This litany of online security features sounds impressive, but it’s just a tiny bit hollow. Clicking Norton Security just opens the antivirus, and clicking Password Managers just opens either Norton’s password manager or the browser’s password manager. As with other popular browsers, Privacy Cleaner lets you delete browsing traces from the last hour to all time. You even reach it with the same Shift+Command+Delete combo that works in Chrome and Firefox. As for Extension Guard, it blocks the installation of untrusted extensions, something I would expect the antivirus to handle.
Web Shield replaces Safe Web to keep you from accidentally visiting dangerous or fraudulent websites. I don’t see the logic in maintaining two separate features for this purpose.
(Credit: Norton/PCMag)That leaves Privacy Guard, an ad and tracker blocker that you’ll definitely want to enable. By default, the Basic setting blocks known trackers, pop-up, and banner ads. Raising the blocking level to the recommended Balanced Blocking extends its ban to social media ads and trackers. At the highest Strict Blocking level, it aims to prevent browser fingerprinting. Note that choosing Strict triggers a pop-up plea to refrain from doing so, to “keep our browser free”.
If you’re accustomed to Chrome, the Chromium-based Private Browser should be familiar. But how many users will actually switch to a new browser? I’d be happier to see Privacy Guard as a browser extension, available in the browser you’re already using.
Smart Firewall: Advanced Network Protection for Macs
Like McAfee and Intego, Norton includes a firewall for Macs. It warns when you're connected to an insecure network and automatically configures protection when you return to a trusted network. By default, it allows all outgoing network connections and blocks unsolicited incoming connections.
(Credit: Norton/PCMag)The firewall opens to a tab called Traffic Monitor. Here, you can see a graph of your recent internet traffic, a list of apps using the internet, and even a map of connection destinations for those apps. It’s fun to look at, but I don’t think it adds much to your security. I suppose if you see an unexpected connection to Tehran or Novosibirsk, you might be inspired to do a security sweep.
Above the list of active apps is a drop-down mode selector that initially shows Smart Mode. When an unknown program attempts to connect to the network, the firewall pops up to ask whether to allow it, optionally creating a rule to remember your answer for next time the program tries to connect. You can reconfigure it to allow all connections that don’t have a rule blocking them or block all connections that don’t have a rule allowing them. Most users should keep this setting set to Smart Mode.
(Credit: Norton/PCMag)When you flip to the Settings tab, the mode selector remains at the top of the page, and you still see the connections map on the right. Below you’ll find a few settings to fine-tune how Smart Mode works. By default, Norton allows all access to any app signed by a trusted publisher and allows connections on local and private networks. With these on, you’re not likely to see many pop-up queries. Toggling them off naturally results in more pop-ups, as seen in the screenshot above.
(Credit: Norton/PCMag)From the Settings page, you can manage the firewall’s rules for specific applications and connections. You’ll get a warning that these are advanced settings and that changing them without expertise can cause trouble. If you respond incorrectly to a pop-up query, blocking something you should have allowed, this is the place to correct that error.
Adventurous users exploring the settings will encounter a full history of all firewall actions and options for monitoring traffic. But as with most personal firewall components, the average user should leave well enough alone.
(Credit: Norton/PCMag)In the Windows edition, Norton's firewall is significantly more sophisticated. To start, it automatically configures network permissions for a huge collection of known and trusted programs. When the Windows version doesn't recognize a program, it closely monitors it for suspicious behavior and disconnects the network connection if it detects abuse. It doesn’t ask the user to make important security decisions.
Even so, the Mac firewall stands out. It’s not uncommon for a firewall component in a Mac security app to do nothing more than block unsolicited incoming traffic—Norton goes way beyond that.
(Credit: Norton/PCMag)Going even further beyond simple firewall tasks, Norton separately manages intrusion prevention. This feature watches for specific signs of network-level attacks. If it detects one, it both prevents the connection and temporarily blocks all traffic from the source. This feature also blocks attacks that aim to gain remote access to your Mac.
Norton Password Manager: Convenient, But Limited
The inclusion of Norton Password Manager isn't precisely a bonus since you can get it for free, but having it integrated is convenient. Read our review for full details.
Briefly, Norton Password Manager handles basic password manager tasks such as password capture, password replay, and filling web forms. It can sync your data across all your Windows, Android, iOS, and macOS devices. It includes an actionable password-strength report with automatic password updates for a growing number of popular sites, and now supports two-factor authentication. However, it lacks advanced features such as secure password sharing and digital inheritance, and its password capture system proved iffy in testing. You’d be smarter to choose one of the free password managers that we’ve rated as the best.
Norton Genie: AI-Powered Scam Detection
On the home screen, just below the Scans panel, there’s a panel labeled Scam Protection. Click that to set up Norton Genie, Norton’s AI-based scam detector. Scam Protection also includes filtering out scams from incoming SMS messages on your phone. My test phones aren’t provisioned for calling, so I didn’t see that feature in action.
I’ve reviewed Norton Genie as a standalone mobile app. Briefly, it aced my phishing protection test and proved it can analyze scams in images, text, or email. You interact with it in a typical AI chatbot style, asking for clarification as needed. I ran into some trouble installing it via QR code—it seemed to want me to install Norton 360 on my phone. But since Norton Genie is a free app, I got it installed anyway.
(Credit: Norton/PCMag)You can also access Genie from right within the antivirus, either by launching it from the Scam Protection page or by clicking the Ask Genie icon at the bottom left corner of the main window. In the resulting window, you can paste in the contents of a message that seems sketchy or drop in a screenshot. You can also ask for its opinion on any YouTube video you suspect may be fake, though this feature is marked “early access.”
(Credit: Norton/PCMag)Performance Features: Cleanup and Startup Tools
Tuning up performance may not seem like a security feature, but when a user turns off their antivirus because they think it’s slowing things down, that’s a security problem. Some security apps try to head off this fiasco by building in performance-enhancing features. To this end, Norton’s antivirus on Windows includes Software Updater, File Cleanup, Startup Manager, and Optimize Disk. File Cleanup and Startup Manager also appear in the macOS edition.
(Credit: Norton/PCMag)Like its Windows equivalent, the File Cleanup scan searches for temporary files, logs, and cache files. You can view what it found and even fine-tune exactly what gets deleted. On either platform, you can schedule automatic daily, weekly, or monthly scans for junk files.
(Credit: Norton/PCMag)The Startup Manager component in Windows lists all apps that launch at startup and lets you disable automatic startup or set an app to launch after a delay. For each app, it reports an estimated impact on startup time and the app's prevalence among Norton users. On the Mac, you don’t get those statistics, and there’s no option to delay startup. All you can do is reversibly disable the app from launching at startup.
Privacy Protection: Useful Extras Behind a Paywall
Clicking Privacy in the left-side menu opens a page with two features: AntiTrack and Privacy Monitor Assistant. Norton AntiTrack, available as a standalone utility, is a privacy tool that foils both standard tracking cookies and more advanced browser fingerprinters. This cross-platform solution can strip trackers from email messages and even provide a temporary email address service.
(Credit: Norton/PCMag)Privacy Monitor Assistant is also available as a standalone service. It’s a limited personal data removal tool—when I last checked, it covered just a few dozen of the most common data aggregators. Dedicated services like Optery and Privacy Bee seek and remove your data from hundreds of such sites.
Here’s the bad news. You don’t actually get either of these features with your Norton AntiVirus subscription. Both require a separate payment. It’s true that you can get a free Privacy Monitor scan online, but Optery and Privacy Bee also offer free scans, and they’re more comprehensive.