8 exclusive Mac apps you won’t find on Windows

Most common applications available for Mac computers are also available for Windows computers. However, you won’t see all macOS apps on Windows, and vice versa. But if you’re on Windows, here are a bunch of Mac-exclusive apps you’re missing out on.

1 Safari

Safari is one of the most popular Mac applications and is exclusive to Apple devices. Sure, it was available for Windows PCs more than a decade ago, but today you won’t find Safari on Windows or on a third-party platform like Linux or Android.

Apple’s native browser offers a sleek, streamlined interface with features tailored for macOS, making it one of the best browsers for my Mac. Known for its efficiency, Safari is optimized to work seamlessly with Apple’s ecosystem, providing seamless integration with other Apple applications and services.

In addition to its features, I tweak a few Safari settings to improve my browsing experience on my Mac.

Download:Safari (Free)

2 Preview

Apple Preview is another invaluable application that you won’t find in Windows. Preview is a built-in application for macOS for viewing and editing PDF files and images. You can use Preview to annotate PDFs, combine PDFs, and create bookmarks.

You can even add signatures to PDF files, edit screenshots, and more using Preview. Preview has enough features that Mac users don’t need a third-party application like Adobe Reader to view PDF files.

3 Final Cut Pro

Final Cut Pro stands out as a powerful, professional-level video editing application exclusively for macOS. Featuring an intuitive interface and robust editing features, it’s no surprise that filmmakers, video editors, and content creators use it to edit videos on macOS.

Although Final Cut Pro has been a macOS exclusive since its inception, Apple launched an iPadOS version of the app in 2023. Microsoft doesn’t offer anything similar, so Windows users have to rely on third-party apps like Adobe Premiere Pro for video editing.

Download:Final Cut Pro ($299.99, free trial)

4 Logic Pro

If you’re into music production, you’ve probably seen Logic Pro recommended as one of the best recording programs for musicians. As one of the best digital audio workstations, Logic Pro offers a variety of powerful music production tools, including music recording, editing and mixing, making it a powerhouse for anyone in music production.

Logic Pro’s strength lies in its deep library of built-in sounds, loops, and instruments that allow users to create high-quality music without the need for extensive third-party plugins. In fact, you can create an entire track just using Logic Pro’s free samples.

Download:Logic Pro ($199.99, free trial available)

5 Sketch

Sketch is a native macOS design and prototyping app. Sketch’s key strengths come from its focused design and features tailored to user interface, user experience, and digital product design. Another strength is its pure focus on design, which makes it ideal for designers.

Download:Sketch ($14 per month, free trial)

6 Keynote

Keynote is Apple’s presentation software that is part of the iWork suite of applications. As an alternative to Microsoft PowerPoint, Keynote lets you easily create beautiful presentations using available tools and more than 40 themes designed by Apple.

You can add text, tables, charts, videos, shapes, etc. Keynote also lets you add animations and transitions for elegant presentations. In addition to Keynote, other iWork apps such as Numbers and Pages are free and exclusive to macOS.

Download:Keynote (Free)

7 Xcode

Xcode is Apple’s official integrated development environment (IDE) for developers. It offers a comprehensive set of tools that are seamlessly optimized for building apps in the Apple ecosystem.

Xcode is Mac-exclusive, making macOS the perfect platform for developing apps for iOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS.

Download:Xcode (Free)

8 Pixelmator Pro

Last on the list is Pixelmator Pro, which is an exclusive application for editing images and creating paintings and illustrations. It includes powerful image editing features, including subtle color adjustments. For vector graphics, it has a full set of vector tools and supports various formats, including Adobe Illustrator and Illustrator EPS.

Download:Pixelmator Pro ($49.99, free trial available)

If you’re thinking about ditching your Mac for a Windows PC, you should know what you’re missing out on. One of the key downsides is that you won’t be able to use these Mac-exclusive apps anymore. However, this list is not exhaustive; there are other Mac-exclusive apps.