Introduction
Netflix is the most popular paid streaming service, with more than 200 million subscribers worldwide. This is not particularly surprising; if you watch movies regularly, it makes far more sense to pay a small subscription fee for access to a library of movies than to buy each one individually. And Netflix has a very impressive library; there are thousands of movies and episodic shows available on the platform. Some of them, the so-called Netflix Originals, are exclusive to the platform. Examples include Stranger Things, Wednesday, and Arcane – chances are, you already know about these shows! So, all things considered, Netflix is a very useful service; but how precisely does it work? Is it possible to run Netflix on Mac? Read the article below for a detailed answer.
How to run Netflix on Mac
The easiest way to use Netflix on Mac is through a web browser. The best browser to use for this purpose is Safari, because it supports streaming in 4K resolution. However, if you don’t need this level of quality, you can also use Google Chrome (which supports resolutions up to 1080p) and Mozilla Firefox (up to 720p).
However, it is not possible to download Netflix content from the website; to do that, you need the Netflix app. This app is available on Windows, Android, iOS, and Apple TV, but not on MacOS itself. Thankfully, there are several workarounds.
Run Windows version of Netflix app
Run Netflix app on Mac with Parallels
If you wish to run Netflix app on Mac, Parallels Desktop can be a solution. This is an application that allows for Windows virtualization on Mac, and has full support for GPU acceleration. In simpler terms, what this means is that it allows you to install Windows 10 on Mac with just a couple of clicks and switch between macOS and Windows instantly. So you will be able to run Windows and install Netflix just like on a regular PC.
Run Netflix app on Mac with VMware Fusion
Another popular virtualization program is VMware Fusion. It can be used to run many operating systems, like Windows, Linux, and FreeBSD. It also supports hardware acceleration, so it can be used to run GPU-intensive applications and most modern games. Netflix is not a particularly demanding app, so it should run perfectly.
Run Netflix app on Mac with BootCamp (for Intel Macs only)
BootCamp is a program for Intel-based Macs that allows you to install multiple operating systems on your Mac. However, you won’t be able to switch between systems like in Parallels. Instead, you will need to reboot your machine every time you want to switch from Mac to Windows and vice versa. Additionally, you will need at least 64 GB of free space on your device; this space will be used to store Windows operating system and all Windows apps.
To install Windows on Mac with BootCamp assistant, please consult this guide.
Run smartphone version of Netflix app
Run Netflix app on Mac with Bluestacks
You can run Android version of Netflix on your Mac. To do this, you need an Android emulator, such as Bluestacks. It is a very powerful emulator with a variety of features specifically for games. This doesn’t really matter in our case, but what does matter is that Bluestacks is really fast. As such, you will not experience any lag while using Netflix.
Run iOS version on your iPhone or iPad
Unfortunately, it is not possible to emulate iOS. However, if you have an iOS device, you can install Netflix on that device, and download movies there. Then, simply stream the screen from your iPhone/iPad to your Mac. Unfortunately, movies streamed this way will have lower resolution. You can use Apple’s AirPlay or a third-party app to stream the screen from iOS to Mac.
Conclusion
If you simply want to watch Netflix on Mac, you can do so through any web browser. However, it is not possible to download content this way. To do so, you need to run the app; the easiest way to do so is by using a program called Parallels Desktop. It can run the Windows version of Netflix on Mac.